How Long Do Cooked Broad Beans Last?

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Broad beans are delicious, nutritious, and you can prepare them in a variety of ways, from adding to soups and stews to using them in pasta dishes and salads.

Not like pork chops or chicken cutlets, broad beans are a little trickier to portion out. And if you cooked one broad bean too many, you may be wondering how to store the leftovers and how long they will keep.

For the answers to your questions and the ones you didn’t know you had to ask, read on below.

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How Long Can You Keep Cooked Broad Beans?

Cooked broad beans last 1-2 hours at room temperature and 3-4 days in the fridge. Frozen cooked broad beans stay safe to eat indefinitely, but they only retain their best quality for 9-12 months.1“Leftovers and Food Safety,” Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety

The most important thing when it comes to safely storing cooked broad beans is not to keep them at room temperature, which food safety experts call the danger zone.2“How Temperatures Affect Food,” Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/how-temperatures-affect-food, for too long.

Bacteria multiply rapidly in the temperature range of 40°F (4.4°C) to 140°F (60°C) and grow well on cooked broad beans. A dozen bacteria on your leftover broad beans probably won’t do much harm, but a few hundred can do plenty.

Can Eating Old Cooked broad beans Make You Sick?

If you suspect that the cooked broad beans have been on your kitchen countertop, dining room table, or in your refrigerator for longer than the times specified above, err on the side of caution and dispose of them.

You can get food poisoning from eating cooked broad beans that haven’t been stored properly or that have been kept for too long, even if they look perfectly fine and don’t feel, smell, or taste spoiled.

This is because the pathogenic bacteria that cause food poisoning are not the same as the spoilage bacteria that cause the broad beans to spoil. Disease-causing bacteria don’t alter the cooked broad beans’ texture, aroma, or flavor in any way, and so they’re virtually undetectable.3“Do spoilage bacteria make people sick?” AskUSDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Do-spoilage-bacteria-make-people-sick

How to Store Leftover Cooked Broad Beans

If you made more broad beans than you and the family can eat in a single meal, remove them from the heat, allow them to cool down as quickly as possible, then refrigerate or freeze them.

Fridge temperature (40°F/4.4°C or lower) slows down the grown of bacteria on our food, but doesn’t stop it. So use up the cooked broad beans within no more than 4 days from refrigeration, or they may become overgrown with bacteria and no longer be safe to eat.

To refrigerate leftover cooked broad beans, place them in a ziplock bag or food storage container with the lid closed and store them in the lower compartment of your fridge, where it is coldest.

Freezer temperature (0°F/-18°C or lower) puts all bacterial activity on pause. This means that, technically, frozen cooked broad beans stay safe to eat forever.

However, they will eventually dry out and lose their texture, aroma, and flavor, so be sure to use them up within 9-12 months.

To freeze leftover cooked broad beans, place them in a freezer bag or heavy-duty food storage container with the lid closed and store them in the freezer. Wrapping the broad beans loosely in aluminum foil or plastic wrap isn’t enough as they may get freezer-burnt.

How to Tell If Cooked Broad Beans Are Spoiled

As with all other vegetables, there are some very specific signs you should look for to determine if the broad beans you cooked have gone bad.

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First, touch the broad beans. If they feel sticky and slimy to the touch, then they’re probably spoiled. Second, give them a smell. If you notice any off odors, whether sour or musty, this is also a sign that they’re past their prime.

The last and final sign of spoilage is the taste. If the cooked broad beans are unpleasantly bitter or have a funky, unpleasantly weird taste, DO NOT eat them.

The problem with spoiled food is that you have no reliable way to tell if it’s safe to eat, so it’s better to just play it safe.

In Conclusion

As a general rule of thumb, cooked broad beans last:

  • 1-2 hours when left out on the kitchen countertop or dining room table
  • 3-4 days when properly refrigerated
  • 9-12 months when frozen

Cool the broad beans down quickly after you’re done cooking them and refrigerate or freeze them, but don’t let them sit out at room temperature. Now, you know the reasons why.

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