A List of Cupboard Staples and their Expiration Dates
Is your pantry poppin’?
Surprisingly, cleaning out your cupboards can save you time, and money and keep you safe.
For example, have your bread crumbs gone bad? Likewise, is vegetable oil on the verge? To begin with, here is a list of some cupboard staples and their expiration dates. In addition, always remember to always store your staples in air-tight containers in a cool dry place.
Cupboard Staples
- Brown Sugar: Indefinite shelf life.
- Granulated Sugar: Indefinite shelf life.
- Coffee (canned, ground): 2 years if unopened, 1 month if opened.
- Coffee (whole beans): 1 month in the freezer.
- Dried Pasta: 1 year.
- All-Purpose Flour: 10 to 15 months, unopened or opened.
- Whole Wheat Flour: 1 to 2 months in the pantry, 6 months in the freezer.
- White Rice: Indefinite shelf life.
- Brown Rice: 6 months in the pantry, 1 year in the freezer.
- Bread Crumbs: 3 to 6 months in the pantry, 2 years in the refrigerator.
- Potatoes: 1 month. Do not refrigerate.
- Onions: 1 to 4 weeks in the pantry.
- Nuts: 1 month if unopened, 2 to 3 months in refrigerator or freezer, if opened.
- Honey: Indefinite shelf life.
Continuing on…
- Maple Syrup: 1 year in the refrigerator, indefinite in the freezer.
- Ketchup: 1 year if unopened, 4 to 6 months in the refrigerator, if opened.
- Vegetable Oil: 3 months in the pantry, 6 months in the refrigerator.
- Olive Oil: 12 to 18 months.
- Vinegar: Indefinitely if unopened, 6 months if opened.
- Mayonnaise: Follow use-by-date if unopened, 2 months if opened.
- Soy Sauce: 1 year in the refrigerator, if opened.
- Worcestershire Sauce: 12 years, unopened or opened.
- Frozen Vegetables: 18 to 24 months if unopened, 1 month if opened.
- Salsa: 1 year if unopened, 2 weeks in the refrigerator, if opened.
- Eggs: 3 to 5 weeks in the refrigerator.
- Pre-Grated Cheese: Follow package date if unopened, 3 to 4 weeks if opened.
- Peanut Butter: 6 months. Keep natural type in the refrigerator.
- Spices: 1 year. Some spices should be refrigerated.
Is your pantry poppin'? Cleaning our your cupboards can save you time and money and keep you safe. Share on X
In conclusion, it’s a good idea to periodically check the expiration dates on all your cupboard/pantry supplies. For more reading on this subject:
10 Steps for Cleaning Out Your Pantry
How long will your favorite food or beverage stay safe and tasty? What’s the best way to store it?
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
What an awesome list! Thank you for doing that research. It looks like I might need to do some releasing. Oy. The big winner is Worcestershire Sauce with a 12-year shelf life. Wow! It’s the one sauce I don’t think we have.
Linda, my challenge is dry spices. I like to cook, but don’t use some spices quick enough. I hate to toss them once they get old when I have only used a small amount.
Fabulous list, Janet. I have a similar list in my book: Now What? A Simple Organizing Guide. I also have a list of how long things will last in your freezer!
I love lists like this, because I never remember how long things last.
Wow! Great list! I didn’t realize the Worcestershire Sauce has a 12 year shelf life. I saw on The Kitchen show on the Food Network that you can store Worcestershire Sauce in the refrigerator. I am now trying that.
Yes. I store Worcestershire Sauce in the frig. Mine has never lasted 12 years though.
This is amazing! It’s hard to remember the shelf or refrigeration life of anything. I did read that eggs last better in their original carton and up to a 3 weeks past the expiration date? Does that sound right?
Ronni, just from personal experience, that sounds about right to me.