Can Lasagna Sit Out Overnight?

Last updated on September 21st, 2022 at 08:15 am

Lasagna may be a favorite meal for you and your family. Usually, it is eaten up quickly. So, in order to solve this problem you decided to make extra this time around. 

Everyone had their usual helpings and once all stomachs were full of the yummy food, You glanced to see how much was eaten. To your surprise there were leftovers. But not to worry, they can be saved for later. 

Maybe for lunch tomorrow or sometime this week. Feeling exhausted from all the hard work of the day you just don’t feel like taking the time to cover and refrigerate or freeze the lasagna. Can you just let it sit out overnight?

You cannot let lasagna sit out overnight because it will go bad. The longest lasagna can be left out is two hours before it should be refrigerated or frozen.

Lasagna contains ingredients that can go bad if they are left out. Pasta can actually last for a little bit but in the lasagna, the pasta noodles are drenched in sauce and cheese. 

Tomatoes are acidic meaning they can spoil quickly if left out and the same goes for meat and cheese. Bacteria will begin growing on the food a short while after being left out. 

Temperatures of 40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit are considered the danger zone for bacteria growth. So, it is best to refrigerate or freeze the lasagna right away after you are done eating. 

Lasagna should only be left out for about 2 hours. If lasagna is left out past the two hour mark, it is best to just toss it because you don’t want to chance getting sick. 

It will only take a couple minutes to either refrigerate the lasagna or freeze it. Don’t leave your lasagna out overnight and store it the right way so you can save the food from going bad. 

That will also save you time and effort in the future. Because leftovers means you can have your favorite pasta dish for a meal again sometime.

What Is The Best Way To Store Lasagna? 

There are alot of good ways to store lasagna besides just leaving it out on the counter. Which you should never do because it will go bad very quickly. 

What is the best way to store lasagna?

The best way to store lasagna is to put it in the refrigerator or freezer to keep it good for weeks or months. 

That’s right. Resist the temptation to just let it sit there on the counter, pull up your sleeves and take a couple minutes to put it away. 

For refrigerating lasagna, you can leave it in the casserole dish it is cooked in and wrap plastic wrap across the top to seal in the freshness for 3 to 5 days. You can eat this for lunch or dinner in the upcoming week. 

It will be easy to pull out of the fridge to reheat in either the oven or the microwave.

Your next option for storing lasagna is to freeze it. It is said that you should freeze lasagna after it is put together but before it is baked. But if you end up with leftovers after a meal obviously this lasagna is already baked. 

This isn’t anything to worry about because baked lasagna will still freeze just fine. After it is thawed and reheated, it will taste a little different and its texture won’t be quite the same as when it was first baked but it will stay good frozen for up to 2 to 3 months.

Can You Freeze Homemade Lasagna? 

Your homemade lasagna is just too good to throw away. You want to store it long-term to eat weeks or months later. 

Can you freeze homemade lasagna?

You can freeze homemade lasagna by following some important steps to keep the dish fresh and good for whenever you are planning on eating it.

If you have a foil pan, transfer your lasagna over into it. That is unless your lasagna is already in one. Then tightly cover it with foil. 

If your lasagna is in a freezer-safe and oven safe baking dish then you can freeze it in this too.

An easy way to freeze lasagna is to line the baking dish you are baking the lasagna in with foil, bake it, let it cool, then go ahead and stick the whole dish into the freezer and wait until it is frozen. 

Once frozen, grab the edges of the foil and wrap the lagana well with more foil to store it in the freezer.

To cook the frozen lasagna, you can either thaw it first or bake it while still frozen. It will take longer to bake a frozen lasagna but it can be done. 

If you prefer to thaw it first, leave the lasagna in the fridge (not sitting out) overnight. When it’s time to cook your dinner, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the whole lasagna for 45 minutes. 

Individual slices of the dish will take less time to heat up. If you have portioned out your lasagna before freezing it, then a quick way to reheat it is to just pop it into a microwave, cover (so it doesnt pop everywhere) heat for a few minutes until it is the desired temperature and you are ready for your meal!

An interesting tidbit is how lasagna actually can about. 

Mitalia Kitchen explains how lasagna came into existence in their article, The Story of Lasagna. 

In the article they state that, “The origins of the word lasagne or lasagna can be traced back to Ancient Greece. What we know as lasagne or lasagna is derived from the word “laganon”, which was the first form of pasta…As you might expect, Laganon looked very different from what we know to be a typical lasagna dish today. It consisted of layers of pasta and sauce without traditional Italian ingredients…Eventually, the dish evolved and took on the same name.” 

Final Thoughts

Don’t let lasagna sit out on the countertop overnight. All the ingredients will spoil and bacteria will grow making the food inedible. 

Store lasagna the correct way in the refrigerator or freezer. By storing the lasagna properly,you will get many more uses out of the delicious dish.