Food & Kitchen
How long does cooked rice last in the fridge?
Estimated wait
~4 days
Based on published sources
Timeline guide
- Faster cases~2 days
- Average cases~4 days
- Slower casesUp to 4 days
The real danger is the cooling step, not the fridge time: cool cooked rice and refrigerate it within about 1 hour, never leave it out to cool for hours, and reheat only once until steaming hot.
US government sources (USDA FSIS and FoodSafety.gov) treat cooked rice as a leftover, safe for 3 to 4 days in the fridge at 4 °C or below. The UK Food Standards Agency is more cautious and advises eating cooked rice within 1 day.
More details
The difference is caution, not fact: 3–4 days is the general leftovers window, while the 1-day rule targets Bacillus cereus — a bacterium whose spores survive cooking and, if rice sits warm, make a heat-stable toxin that reheating does not destroy.
Last updated: 4 Jul 2026
Information is for general knowledge only.