Thankfully, you can freeze your shrimp, allowing it to last for much, much longer without expiring! But how long does frozen shrimp last for specifically?
The length differs between raw shrimp and cooked shrimp, both will last you a good deal of time when frozen in the freezer.
Frozen shrimp is able to last in your freezer for anywhere between 12 and 18 months, but it’s best that you eat it on the sooner side of things, anywhere between 3 and 12 months of it having been frozen.
However, there’s plenty more to learn about how long frozen shrimp will last in your freezer for, and we’ve got all the answers in our guide below!
We’ve got essential information on how you should freeze your shrimp, too. Read on!
Does Frozen Shrimp Go Off?
All foods have an expiration date and will go off at some point. When it comes to shrimp, its expiration date all depends on its state when you began freezing it.
As a result, you won’t find a specific expiration date for frozen shrimp, but it’s best to eat it before 3 months have gone by. After this point, especially between 6 and 12 months of freezing, the shrimp could have gone off.
How Long Does Frozen Raw Shrimp Last For?
You can freeze your shrimp both raw or cooked, but each will have different lengths of time that it’ll last.
If you’re freezing raw shrimp, then you need to make sure that you have sealed it properly in an air-tight container and that the seafood isn’t touching other foods.
Under the right freezing conditions, frozen raw shrimp should last for up to 18 months, but it’s best enjoyed within the 3 month period.
If you’re eating it after 6-12 months, it’s possible the shrimp has gone bad, and you’ll need to look for the signs (which we cover later!)
How Long Does Frozen Cooked Shrimp Last For?
If you’ve cooked your shrimp and you’re then putting it in the freezer, you’ll again need to make sure that you’re keeping it in the correct conditions.
Your cooked shrimp needs to be properly sealed inside an air-tight container, and you need to ensure that it’s the only thing in that container.
Under these correct conditions, cooked shrimp can be frozen for up to 6 months.
It might be the case that you cooked the shrimp with some sauce, and in these cases you might have a problem, because it might cause the shrimp to separate out when you thaw it and recook it.
This can cause the shrimp to become rubbery.
Can You Put Raw Shrimp In The Fridge?
If you want to refrigerate your raw shrimp instead, rather than freeze it, you still need to ensure that it’s stored properly.
This means that it’s put into an air-tight sealed container, and that container is on the bottom shelf so it doesn’t contaminate as much. Stored this way, raw shrimp will last up to 2 days in the fridge.
This means that if you defrost your frozen raw shrimp, you can then put it in the fridge for 2 days before it goes bad. It’s essential that you don’t refreeze the raw shrimp – it could get bacteria and affect your health.
Can You Put Cooked Shrimp In The Fridge?
On the other hand, you can also put cooked shrimp in the fridge. Once again, the seafood needs to be kept in an air-tight sealed container with a tight lid.
Stored this way, cooked shrimp can last up to 2 days in the fridge, after which point it’ll go bad.
This means that if you’ve defrosted your cooked shrimp, it will last a further 2 days stored properly in a fridge.
How Do You Know If Shrimp Has Gone Off? (The Signs)
It’s always important that you check your frozen shrimp hasn’t gone bad when you come to defrost it and eat it. Eating gone off shrimp can give you health problems.
It’s best you enjoy your shrimp within 3 months of freezing it, because shrimp between 6 and 12 months frozen could have gone off.
To see if your shrimp has gone bad, inspect its smell, texture, and appearance. Gone-off shrimp will smell awful, take on a slimy texture, and be discolored. None-expired shrimp will be firm.
Is 2-Year Frozen Shrimp Safe To Eat?
As we’ve said, frozen shrimp is best enjoyed within 3 months. However, it can be frozen for up to 18 months, with a slight chance that it goes off in this time.
This means that shrimp that has been frozen for 2 years (or even 19 months!) is absolutely off-limits – DO NOT EAT IT! It will have gone off and could affect your health.
Final Thoughts
Shrimp is a delicious seafood that, if stored properly in an air-tight container, can last up to 18 months in the freezer. However, it’s best eaten before 3 months.
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
