How Long Should You Keep Eating Your Thanksgiving Leftovers?

One of America's favorite times of year has come and gone.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to celebrate everything you are grateful for with your family and friends while gathering together for a fantastic meal. Now that we've stuffed ourselves with turkey and our favorite sides and fixings, one fundamental question remains?

What Do You Do With All The Leftovers?

Considering that the average American consumes more than 3,000 calories on average when eating Thanksgiving dinner, the approximate equivalent of at least 6 Big Macs, there's no doubt you'll have tons of leftover food. There's likely to be so much food that you'll eat it for days. But how long should you hang on to it? And, an even more critical question: how many different meals and snacks can you form out of the goodies that didn't get eaten when the family came over?

There are all kinds of different meals you can use those leftovers for, things like:

• Turkey Sandwiches,
• Turkey Soup,
• Turkey Pot Pie,
• Mac & Cheese Pizza,
• Fried Mashed Potato Bites,
• Stuffing/Dressing Hash and Eggs,
• Cranberry BBQ Sauce,
• and several more items.

So, how long can you go having turkey casserole before tossing it all away?

How Long Should Your Leftovers Last?

According to officials from both the US Department of Agriculture and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, your leftovers should last no more than four days.

Use the Monday after Thanksgiving as a reminder that it is the last day you can safely eat leftovers. If you want to keep leftovers longer, freeze them within that four-day period.
-US Department of Agriculture

But, since when do we listen to what the USDA and CDC have to say?!

Who better to tell us what to do than our neighbors, so I went our X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook networks to get the official word about what we should do from the people.

It seems that the vast majority of people say their leftovers last no more than two days, which would mean it's gone by Saturday. While a few people said they are going until Sunday.

Growing up, my family used to have to make that food last a little while - however, those days are long as most of the food in the Nice household is gone Thanksgiving night.

How long are you going to save your thanksgiving leftovers?