If you love Mexican or South American food, you’ve likely already tasted a yummy dish called ceviche. While especially commonplace in Mexico and South America, more and more people in the United States are beginning to love it as well. Ceviche isn’t all that complicated to make, but if you have a lot of leftovers you might start to wonder how long you can keep ceviche.
How Long Ceviche Is Good For
Ceviche is good for 24 to 48 hours, and only if it’s kept in the refrigerator. The fact is, ceviche doesn’t last very long and can actually be unsafe to eat after just two days. Once you learn how it’s made, you’ll understand why.
How Long Does Ceviche Last at Room Temperature?
Ceviche is a dish made out of uncooked fish, fruits and sometimes vegetables, and various types of citrus juice. The dish is not actually cooked or baked. Instead, it is covered in various citrus juices and is ‘cooked’ that way. Basically, ceviche is marinated and then served as is, even though the ingredients allow it to keep ‘cooking’ after it is done according to the recipe. That being said, it’s important to keep in mind that raw fish is one of its ingredients and, therefore, it should always be served within two hours of keeping it at room temperature.
This means that if you marinate the dish for one hour, you should try to eat it within an hour after it’s done. It is simply unsafe to keep a dish like this (that isn’t cooked the regular way) at room temperature for very long.
How Long Does Ceviche Last in the Fridge?
You can put your leftover ceviche in the refrigerator when you’re done with your meal, but you’ll still need to finish up the ceviche leftovers within two days. Keep in mind that lemon and lime juice might ‘cook’ the fish, but it doesn’t necessarily kill off bacteria or parasites. Instead, it just cures the fish and the other ingredients. After two days, the fish will become mushy even if it’s been kept in the refrigerator, and the juices will continue to break down the proteins in the fish. This means it may not taste the same even if you eat the dish within two days.
Types of Ceviche and How Long They Last
Shrimp Ceviche
If you use precooked shrimp and you don’t use avocados, you can keep the ceviche in the fridge for up to four days. Avocados turn brown easily, so if you use them, always eat the dish within 48 hours.
Salmon Ceviche
Just like most ceviche dishes, salmon ceviche should be eaten within 48 hours of making it.
Crab Ceviche
If there are ingredients in the ceviche that are pasteurized and you want the dish to last for more than 48 hours, you can freeze dry it and keep it frozen for up to two months. Otherwise, crab ceviche is only good for around 48 hours.
Whitefish Ceviche (Tilapia, Halibut)
Any type of whitefish ceviche, such as a variation that contains tilapia, needs to be eaten within 48 hours, regardless of the other ingredients used in the dish.
Tuna Ceviche
Tuna ceviche, like other types of ceviche, should be eaten within 48 hours of marinating it.
As you can see, 48 hours is the maximum amount of time that most ceviche dishes can be kept in the refrigerator for. Why? Because the citrus acid in the juices only cures the meat and doesn’t cook it. Almost immediately, the proteins in the fish will start to break down, and this affects both the fresh taste and the texture of the dish with each passing hour. Even if you find a ceviche recipe that says you can keep it in the fridge for longer than 48 hours, it’s still recommended that you stick to the 48-hour timeframe.
How To Tell if Ceviche Is Bad
The best way to tell if ceviche has gone bad is to smell it. Just like most other raw seafood, fish smells bad when it’s no longer healthy to eat. Also, take a look at the dish to see if you notice anything that may look ‘funny’ or different about it. If the fish feels hard or slimy, or if the edges look a little out of shape, it means it has gone bad, which should be easy for you to ascertain. In other words, trust your instincts, and if there is any doubt whatsoever about how good or bad the ceviche is, it’s best to throw it away immediately.
What Happens if You Eat Spoiled Ceviche?
The reason it is so important to eat ceviche right away is because it does spoil very quickly. Even if it’s only been 24 hours since you placed it in the refrigerator, if you notice that the dish has a bad smell or looks funny in any way, it’s best to throw it out immediately. Eating ceviche that has gone bad can cause headaches, itching, dizziness, diarrhea, and a bad rash. Food poisoning can be extremely dangerous, so it’s best to go ahead and throw out the ceviche if you aren’t sure about its condition.
How To Store Ceviche
Storing ceviche properly is crucial because the dish can go bad even quicker if it is stored incorrectly. When storing your delicious ceviche, regardless of what type it is, it is imperative that you store it in some type of plastic resealable bag or other type of airtight container. You should also place it on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator for the best results.
Can You Freeze Ceviche?
The majority of food experts recommend never freezing ceviche. This is mostly because it goes against the nature of a ceviche dish, which is that it’s a dish best eaten fresh. But there’s more to it than that. The truth is, ceviche does not freeze well because both the texture and the taste of the dish will decline quite a bit if you freeze it. Regardless of how careful you are when freezing ceviche, it will never taste the same as it did when you first made it. These are just a few of the reasons why experts recommend never freezing this dish.