How long does cooked seafood last? And is it safe to reheat?

Australia Broadcast Center

15-05-2025

Many of us find cooking overwhelming at the best of times, and seafood can be a step too far for many.
Is the rest of the prawn pasta going to be OK for tomorrow's lunch? What about the fish curry from Sunday night?
The good news is that if you're nervous around leftover seafood, you're probably overthinking it.
Food and nutrition scientist Emma Beckett, and senior scientist with the CSIRO Rozita Vaskoska, explain the basics.
There's no need to panic about microwaving your leftover seafood, according to the experts. However, if you work in an office, the subsequent smell could be a separate issue for you and human resources.
Dr Beckett says once seafood is cooked, to follow "standard leftover rules", such as storing it correctly and not leaving it out on the bench for too long.
"If you've cooked [prawns] into a pasta or something, then the same kind of leftover rules apply.
"No more than a few days in the fridge."
Dr Vaskoska agrees that — once cooked — seafood is generally "very similar" to other leftovers.
"[For] cooked food, we normally say up to three days to four days," she says.
"The growth of the microorganisms will be quite similar between the categories of food if they are cooked."
To reduce the risk of food poisoning when eating leftovers, the NSW Food Authority recommends cooling and covering them within 2 hours, splitting them into smaller portions and storing them away from raw meat.
It also recommends eating leftover cooked rice and pasta within 2 days.
For those concerned about food safety, Dr Vaskoska says seafood — like a lot of food — poses more of a risk when it's raw.
She says it can be easier to tell when raw seafood is off because differences in the taste and smell can be pronounced.
This may be adding to consumer perception that seafood is more volatile, she says, which is more about its "sensory shelf life" than safety.
While it's safe to save leftovers for later, Dr Beckett says any fish, prawns and mussels need to be "safe" when they go into the seafood marinara.
How quickly raw seafood should be used depends on the type and how it's been handled, but "for things like prawns, you want to use them within a few days of purchase".
When buying seafood, "you want it to look fresh", "you don't want the eyes of a whole fish to be cloudy, and you don't want the fish to be slimy", Dr Beckett says.
"You want it to be still that kind of springy kind of texture that you'd expect from freshness."
Quoting her brother, Dr Beckett says, "fresh seafood smells like the ocean, old seafood smells like fish".
Dr Beckett says you can reheat meals that contain seafood like other leftovers, but always "reheat thoroughly".
Dr Vaskoska says to make sure food is hot and not warm.
It should be reheated to 60 degrees Celsius at a minimum, but 70 to 75 degrees Celsius would be preferable.
Dr Vaskoska says, "you don't want cold spots", but if you're reheating just a portion for lunch or dinner, that's usually pretty easy to achieve.
Dr Vaskoska says to be mindful of the "4-hour rule".
If you're planning to eat leftovers cold, once they're taken out of the fridge, you have 2 hours to eat them or return them to the fridge, but after 4 hours, they need to be thrown away.