Does Chicken Noodle Soup Go bad?

Good old chicken and noodle soup. It’s a fact that if you have a head cold, typically a virus, chicken noodle soup helps you recover. Scientists have looked at chicken noodle soup but failed to pinpoint the element that helps cure a common cold. Granny was right; the chicken noodle soup has the same effect if it is fresh or from a can.

Chicken soup is amazing, and few would doubt its validity and therapeutic overtures, but does chicken and noodle soup go bad?

This article will take a dive into chicken noodle soup and answer the frequently asked questions so you have the information you need to use this delicious food to its best.

Let’s dive in.

Does Chicken Noodle Soup Go bad?

It is somewhat of a loaded question, and here is why Chicken and noodle soup can be made fresh. It can be in a can or can be dried, and in a packet, so the question is valid but somewhat difficult to answer precisely.

It makes sense to go through the different options of chicken and noodle soup so you can answer the question altogether.

Ok, so you have boiled the whole chicken and have the broth. The broth is an essential element of chicken and noodle soup, and it’s thought that the broth holds therapeutic benefits to chicken and noodle soup. Home-made chicken and noodle soup, hmm, what could taste better?

Here are the typical ingredients for homemade chicken and noodle soup:

• 2 ½ lbs of chicken thighs.
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• 1/2 a teaspoon full of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of canola oil.
• 1 large onion.
• 1 garlic clove minced.
• 10 cups of chicken broth.
• 4 celery sticks were chopped.
• 4 medium carrots chopped.
• 2 bay leaves.
• 1 teaspoonful of fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon of dried thyme.
• 3 cups of egg noodles.
• 1 Tablespoon of fresh parsley.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Now you have made the soup and eaten it, how long can it be kept in the fridge? You now have three to four days in the fridge, but before you place the soup in the fridge, let it cool sufficiently for less than two hours on a countertop, place it in airtight containers, and then refrigerate for maximum life.

The great thing about fresh soup is that you know when everything was prepared, and you can freeze the soup to extend its shelf life for a further four to 6 months.

How long do canned chicken and noodle soup last before it goes bad?

Canning soup extends the shelf life of the soup dramatically. What would otherwise last a short time in the fridge for up to 5 years and beyond and be perfectly edible?

There are caveats; the can should be free from rust and dents. Rust and dents could allow the ingress of bacteria into the can and spoil the contents.

Similarly, if the can have become swollen, there is an issue with the content, which should be disposed of immediately.

If five years is not long enough for you after you have eaten what you want from the can of chicken and noodle soup, you can freeze the contents once it has cooled, further extending the shelf life of the chicken and noodle soup.

How long does canned soup last once opened?

Canned chicken and noodle soup would be deemed a low acid soup, so after the soup has been cooked, it can sit in the fridge for three to four days, then reheated and consumed.

For the best flavor profile from the canned soup, store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge.

Do powdered chicken and noodle soup go bad?

Dry mix sops are an anomaly; they do expire but not as you would expect. The expiry date for dry mix soups is going to be around 18 months. It takes a long time to have your packets of soup lying around in the pantry, but while the soup box may look worse for wear, the hermetically sealed dry mix stays in good shape.

Rather than go bad, the dry mix soup starts to degrade. It becomes stale and loses its flavor profile. It can still be eaten but will be less appetizing than fresh soup but needs must when the devil drives!

Can you freeze powdered soup after cooking?

Yes, 100%. You will need to let the soup cool first. Do this in the fridge for the best results. Once the soup is cool enough to handle, you can place it into an airtight container and freeze the soup for up to four months.

Soup often tastes better after being frozen, and it gives the flavor profile a chance to develop and mingle with the other flavors.

How long are leftover chicken and noodle soup from a restaurant good for?

With portion sizes being quite large, it is customary to ask for leftovers to be packed so they can be consumed at home but are restaurant chicken and noodle soup accepting of being stored in the fridge at home?

Allegedly restaurants don’t use preservatives in their chicken and noodle soups, and making them from scratch is an easy process, so why not.

The soup should last for three to four days in the fridge, and the ingredients are fresh, so that’s in line with homemade soup.

The problem arises when the restaurant has made its noodles. It’s perfect when it leaves the kitchen to your table, but if the noodles are left for hours. The noodles become saturated and break up.

This doesn’t mean the soup has turned bad or is inedible, but you will not get the same dining experience, but it should still taste yummy.

Does chicken soup base expire?

If you find preparing chicken broth a hassle and time-consuming, you may opt to buy a chicken soup base. It’s convenient and comes in a handy vacuum-sealed package.

The soup base will expire and needs to be refrigerated until it’s opened. Once opened and used in the chicken and noodle soup, the soup base will remain usable for three to four days.

It can be frozen with the soup contents for up to four months.

Why does my chicken noodle soup taste sour?

Did you keep your soup for more than four days in the fridge? If you did, it could have bacteria growth, and the sour taste is a by-product of the bacteria’s waste.

Safety organizations recommend that soup is only refrigerated for a maximum of four days. After this time, you should discard your chicken and noodle soup.

Can you eat out-of-date packaged chicken and noodle soup?

As a rule of thumb, yes, but there are caveats. Canned soup has a massive shelf life, so the expiry date is somewhat theoretical, meaning that it is intended that the soup is best before this date, but you all know soup in an undamaged can is perfect for a very long time.

If you open the canned soup and it smells funky, it’s funky, so don’t eat it. Your nose is not going to lie to you.

If the noodles in the can occupy most of the can’s volume, they have absorbed most of the moisture, which is not a good sign, so discard the canned soup.

Powdered soup is different. It will not smell funky and just look like regular dry soup, but when the content is cooked and dehydrated, you may notice that the flavor is odd or the soup has no flavor. This is an indicator that the dried soup has come to the end of its life and should be thrown away.

How do I know if my chicken and noodle soup are bad?

There will be a distinct smell that is definitely a sign that something is wrong with the soup. The soup may change in color and take on a green tone. By this time, it will smell awful.

If you have cooked the soup and not noticed any tell-tale signs the soup is bad, the soup will taste sour. Do not eat the soup. You will run the risk of food poisoning.

If your food looks different and smells bad, it is bad for sure, so dispose of the soup correctly.

What happens if you eat bad chicken noodle soup?

What happens then if you consume poor chicken noodle soup? You’ll undoubtedly have stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea if you consume poor chicken soup. In rare instances, the symptoms may be severe enough to necessitate emergency care, but generally, stomach trouble subsides within a few hours to two days.

Final thoughts

Chicken and noodle soup is delicious and consumed by millions of people daily, but in terms of the longevity of the soup, it can only be stored for four days in a fridge before it’s bad.

However, to get the most bang for your buck, you can freeze chicken and noodle soup for up to a few months and still enjoy this incredible meal.

It is not just homemade soup you can freeze. You can freeze cooked, canned soup and cooked dried soups for the same amount of time.