How long does Tomato paste last in the fridge once opened?
Turning the range into a date
Tomato paste keeps 5 days in the fridge once opened. Two clocks run on this item: one from the day it went into storage and one from the day the seal broke. Both are listed below, 3 rows in all.
- In the freezerUse by2 months to 3 months after the day you stored it
- Unopened · in the pantryUse by27 months after the day you bought it
- Once opened · in the fridgeUse by5 days after the day you opened it
What opening the package actually costs
Opening the package is the decision that settles this page. Sealed, the item holds 27 months sealed in the pantry; once open it holds 5 days open in the fridge, the same food measured in days instead of months, a drop of 162 times. On the same shelf it sits 11 of 70, between Corn syrup at 3 years and Chocolate syrup at 2 years.
Every storage figure the USDA publishes for this item
All three places the USDA recognizes are rated here — pantry, refrigerator and freezer — which only 65 of the 466 foods in the data manage.
- In the freezer2 months to 3 months
- Unopened · in the pantry27 months
- Once opened · in the fridge5 days
Can you freeze tomato paste?
Yes. The USDA gives tomato paste 2–3 months in the freezer, and held at 0 °F food stays safe beyond that: the figure is about quality. Freeze it well wrapped while it is still well inside its fridge window: the freezer keeps quality, it does not restore it.
How to tell if tomato paste has gone bad
Go by the date first: tomato paste keeps 5 days in the fridge once opened. A sour or off smell, mold, slime or an odd color mean it goes out. The bacteria that make people sick change none of these, so past its window it goes out even if it seems fine. Never taste to test.
Sources: USDA FSIS: the danger zone USDA FSIS: freezing and food safety USDA FSIS: molds on food FDA: are you storing food safely FoodSafety.gov: the FoodKeeper app.
Is it still safe to eat, or just past its best?
The answer at the top of this page reads 5 days in the fridge once opened. What decides that is the food and not the shelf the source files it on: Tomato paste is acid, dry, sweet, alcoholic or pure fat. Past it, whether it has gone bad is yours to judge by look and smell: this window rates quality, not the day it turns hazardous.
It is past the date. Now what?
Say the calculator above puts Tomato paste past its 5 days in the fridge once opened window. Past that the calendar stops deciding and the food itself does. A rancid, paint-like smell in a nut, an oil or a seed, mold around the neck of a bottle, or a swollen can mean it goes out whatever the date says.
The whole rule, including the cases the source does not cover, is set out under what to do when the date has passed.
Items that behave the same way
The 6 items nearest it sit inside a band of 2 years to 2 years — a tight cluster, and this item at 27 months is inside it.
- Chocolate syrupkeeps 6 months in the fridge once openedup to 2 years sealed in the pantry
- Popcornkeeps 1 year in the pantry once openeddry kernels in jar · up to 2 years sealed in the pantry
- Black pepperkeeps 2 years sealed in the pantryground, dried, commercially bottled or…
- Cajun seasoning blend, ground, dried, commercially bottled or purchased in bulkkeeps 1–2 years sealed in the pantry
- Flaxseedkeeps 2 years sealed in the pantrywhole seed
- Almond oilkeeps 2 years sealed in the fridge
Where these numbers come from
Every storage time on this page is the USDA’s own published figure from the FoodKeeper data, one of the 9 it keeps per food, reproduced unchanged and never an estimate of ours. Where the USDA lists several kinds under one name, each kind keeps its own windows, and the page names the kind its answer is for. The dates and multipliers are ours, computed from those ranges.
Source: USDA FoodKeeper, retrieved 1 September 2026. Found a figure that does not match the source? Tell us on the contact page. How the site is built is on the method page.
KeepsUntil is an independent reference built on public USDA data. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Administration. Whether a given window is a safety limit or a quality window is stated on the page that prints it.