The short answer
Give leftovers a clear plan: cool and refrigerate them promptly, record the date, and decide when you will eat or freeze them. This guide follows Health Canada’s household advice.
The awkward part of leftovers is often the decision you put off: which container, when to put it away, and whether you will actually eat it tomorrow. Decide those things while you still know what the food is and when it was cooked.
Cool and put away promptly
Use clean, shallow containers and refrigerate promptly. Leave uncovered or loosely covered until chilled. Very hot food can briefly stop steaming first; do not wait for it to become cold. Discard cooked food left at room temperature over two hours. See Health Canada’s leftover guidance.
Make the fridge do its job
Keep the refrigerator at 4°C (40°F) or below and the freezer at −18°C (0°F) or below. Store raw meat and seafood in sealed containers on a bottom shelf so juices cannot drip onto ready-to-eat food. These are the temperature and separation precautions in Health Canada’s storage guidance.
Label now; decide when to eat it
Label the contents and cooking date. The dedicated leftovers guide recommends eating refrigerated leftovers within 2 to 3 days, or freezing them. This assumes safe handling. Health Canada explains these limits.
Our organizing suggestion: put a note on tomorrow’s meal plan while you put the food away. A label helps you make a decision later, but it cannot correct missing information about how food was handled.
Reheat the portion you will eat
Use a digital food thermometer to check that reheated leftovers reach 74°C (165°F). Stir midway through microwave heating and use microwave-safe containers. Discard uneaten reheated leftovers. Follow Health Canada’s reheating instructions for the method you use.
When the history is unclear
Do not taste food to test whether it is safe. Health Canada’s storage advice says smell and taste are unreliable. If you cannot establish that it was stored safely, discard it. This is household guidance for Canada; follow your local public-health advice and any more specific instructions for the food.
Sources reviewed October 22, 2026. Based on Health Canada household guidance. Food-specific storage tables may differ; this follows its dedicated leftovers page.