Most cooked meal prep keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge, as long as your fridge is at 4°C or colder and the food went in soon after cooking.[1] After that, freeze it or throw it out. Here is what Health Canada advises, how to make your meals last the full time, and how to reheat them safely.
3 to 4 days
Cooked meat, poultry, fish, egg and vegetable dishes in the fridge[1]
2 hours
Longest time leftovers should wait before the fridge or freezer[3]
4°C
Fridge at this or colder; freezer at -18°C or colder[1]
74°C
What reheated food should reach, at least[3]
01 · The short answer
How long does meal prep last in the fridge? 3 to 4 days
Health Canada gives cooked meat, stews, egg and vegetable dishes 3 to 4 days in the fridge, and the same for cooked poultry and fish. Soups are shorter, at 2 to 3 days.[1] Its advice for leftovers is to use them as soon as possible, ideally within two to four days.[3]
Times from Health Canada.[1][2] The fridge times are for safety; the freezer times are for quality.[1]
Count from the cooking day
Start counting on the day the food was cooked, not the day you open the container. A chicken and rice bowl cooked on Sunday is already on day four by Thursday.
02 · The calendar problem
Why one big prep day runs out before the week does
The classic plan is to cook everything on Sunday and eat it all week. The trouble is the calendar. With a 3 to 4 day window, Sunday's food covers Monday to Wednesday, maybe Thursday. Friday's lunch is on day five.
One Sunday cook-up, one week
Sun
Cook
Mon
Day 1
Tue
Day 2
Wed
Day 3
Thu
Day 4
Fri
Day 5
Sat
Day 6
Inside 3 to 4 daysLast dayPast the window
There are two easy fixes:
1
Cook twice a week.
A Sunday batch and a Wednesday batch keep every meal inside the window.
2
Freeze the second half.
Put Thursday's and Friday's portions in the freezer on the day you cook, then move each one to the fridge the night before you eat it.[3]
Knowing how long food lasts tells you when to cook. The other half of planning is how much to cook.
It's the same calculator as on our goal plan page: the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, a standard formula built from measurements of 498 healthy adults,[7] plus how active you are and your goal. Health Canada estimates energy needs from the same things.[8]
Calorie calculator
How much should you prep? Work out your daily calories
Answer five quick questions to see the calories you need each day. Split that number across the meals and snacks you prep for each day, and you know how much goes in every container.
Treat the number as a starting point. Health Canada says your weight over time, whether you're losing, steady or gaining, is the best sign you're eating the right amount.[8] For children and anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, energy needs also cover growth or making milk,[8] so ask a doctor or a registered dietitian.
03 · Storing it
How to store meal prep so it lasts
Good storage won't stretch the window past four days, but poor storage can shorten it. These habits keep your meals good for the full time:
- Get it cold fast. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within two hours.[3] Shallow containers cool food faster than one deep pot.[4]
- Check your fridge. It should be at 4°C (40°F) or lower, and a fridge thermometer tells you for sure.[4]
- Leave room for air. Don't overstock the fridge, so cool air can move around the food.[3]
- Keep sauces on the side. Sauces and dressings in their own container keep rice, grains and greens from going soggy.
- Seal it and date it. A tight lid stops food from drying out or picking up smells, and a strip of tape with the cooking date ends the guessing on day three.
04 · Freezing it
Freezing meal prep: what works and what doesn't
If you won't eat a meal within 3 to 4 days, freeze it on the day it was made, not on day four. Keep your freezer at -18°C (0°F) or colder.[1] Health Canada's fridge times are about safety, and its freezer times are about quality.[1] So freeze early, while the food is at its best.
Freezes well
Cooked meat, stews, egg or vegetable dishes keep their quality for 2 to 3 months, cooked poultry and fish for 4 to 6 months, and soups for 4 months.[1]
Softer after freezing
Rice and pasta. You can freeze a Reset Meals meal, but the texture of its rice or pasta softens.[5]
Don't freeze
Deli or homemade salads. Keep them in the fridge and eat them within 3 to 5 days.[1]
Thawing
Thaw frozen meals in the fridge, never at room temperature. Once a meal has thawed, don't freeze it again.[3]
05 · Reheating it
How to reheat meal prep safely
Health Canada says reheated food should reach at least 74°C (165°F).[3] In practice, that means steaming hot all the way through, including the centre.
1
Take the lid off.
Remove the lid and any sauce container before the meal goes in the microwave.[5]
2
Heat, then stir.
Stir or turn the food halfway through, so there are no cold spots.
3
Check the middle.
If the centre is still cool, give it a little longer. A food thermometer should read 74°C or more.[3]
4
Heat only what you'll eat.
Health Canada says you shouldn't reheat the same leftovers more than once.[3]
How to tell if meal prep has gone bad
You can't tell if food is unsafe by its smell or taste, and colour doesn't always tell you either.[1][3] So the cooking date matters more than the sniff test. If a meal is past its window, or you're not sure how old it is, follow Health Canada's rule:
When in doubt, throw it out.
Health Canada[1]
06 · Our kitchen
How we keep Reset Meals fresh
At Reset Meals, everything is cooked fresh the day before delivery: for a Sunday delivery, we cook on Saturday. Nothing is frozen.[5] Like any meal prep, count from the cooking day.
We deliver twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays, across Toronto and the GTA.[5] That splits your week into two short windows, so one batch of food never has to last seven days.
Two deliveries, counted from the cooking day
Sun
Day 1
Mon
Day 2
Tue
Day 3
Wed
Day 1
Thu
Day 2
Fri
Day 3
Sat
Day 4
Delivery day (cooked the day before)Inside 3 to 4 daysLast day
Eat each delivery before the next one comes, and every meal stays inside Health Canada's 3 to 4 days.[1]
Order by
Wednesday
for Sunday delivery
Order by
Saturday
for Wednesday delivery
Good to know
- Freezing is fine if your plans change, though the texture of rice and pasta softens.[5]
- To heat a meal, remove the lid and the sauce container first. Most meals take two to three minutes in the microwave, and every meal has its own instructions on the label.[5]
- Our recipes leave out preservatives, along with seed oils, dairy, refined sugar and artificial dyes, so the four-day rule is worth keeping.[6] Read more in our food philosophy.
Skip the Sunday cook-up: a few dishes from the à la carte menu
Breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, cooked fresh the day before delivery and never frozen. Tap a dish to see its ingredients, allergens and nutrition.
The dishes change, so see this week's à la carte menu for what you can order now.
07 · Quick answers
Questions people ask
Can I eat meal prep after 5 days?
It's not recommended. Health Canada gives cooked dishes 3 to 4 days in the fridge. If you know you won't get to a meal in time, freeze it early instead.
How long can cooked food sit out before it goes in the fridge?
No more than two hours. Health Canada says to refrigerate or freeze leftovers within two hours.
Can you freeze meal prep?
Yes. Freeze it soon after cooking in a sealed container, keep your freezer at -18°C or colder, and thaw it in the fridge. Don't freeze it again once it has thawed.
Can you reheat meal prep twice?
Health Canada says you shouldn't reheat the same leftovers more than once. Heat only the portion you're going to eat.
How much meal prep should I make for a week?
Cook for 3 to 4 days at a time, then cook again or freeze the later portions on the day you cook. For portion sizes, work out your daily calories with the calorie calculator in this guide and split them across the meals and snacks you prep for each day.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Health Canada, Safe food storage
- Health Canada, Storing leftovers
- Health Canada, Food safety and you
- Health Canada, Safe food handling in the home
- Reset Meals, Frequently asked questions
- Reset Meals, Our food philosophy
- Mifflin and others, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1990), A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals
- Health Canada, Dietary reference intakes tables: Overview
Sources checked on 1 November 2026. General advice comes from the Government of Canada and the calorie formula from its published study; facts about Reset Meals come from resetmeals.ca.