Part 2 of my Baking Basics series: An extensive list of commonly used baking ingredients in the pantry, fridge and freezer and their shelf lives so that you know when it’s time to replace them for the best baking results.
We all know expiration dates are a thing, but some people take them more seriously than others (remind me to tell you about my husband’s history with expiration dates some time).
When it comes to baking ingredients, fresher is always better – especially when we’re talking about leaveners, as it can make or break the results of your recipe. It’s hard to keep track of the shelf life of everything in your pantry, fridge and freezer, so I wanted to provide you with charts about all my most commonly used ingredients as a point of reference.
A few tips for shelf life hygiene
- Keep in mind, this all assumes that the ingredients are stored properly.
- If you’re not sure how long you’ve had something, and/or there’s no date on the package, it’s time to toss it for a new one.
- If you can’t read the expiration date on a package because it’s worn off… that’s a good sign it’s time to replace it.
- I’ve made it practice to replace my baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch before the holidays to make sure I’m giving my best to all the Christmas goodies.
How do I know if my baking powder is expired?
I call out baking powder because this is the most common troublemaker. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to test if your baking powder is still active!
- In a small bowl, pour ½ cup hot water (not boiling) over 1 teaspoon baking powder
If the mixture immediately starts fizzing and dissipates all of the baking powder, you’re golden – it’s still active.
If there’s no bubbling, that means the baking powder doesn’t have it’s magical powers anymore and needs to be replaced.
Check out the short video below to see what I mean!
Dry pantry staples
| Ingredient | Shelf Life |
| Baking powder | 1 year |
| Baking soda | 2 years |
| Candy melts | 18 months |
| Chocolate baking bars | 1 year |
| Chocolate chips | 1 year |
| Cocoa powder | 1 year |
| Cornstarch | 1 year |
| Cream of tartar | 2 years |
| Espresso powder | 3 months |
| Flours | 6 months |
| Marshmallows | 6 months |
| Marshmallow Fluff | 6 months |
| Salt, no additives | Forever! |
| Salt, sea or fleur de sel | Forever, but best to use date on package |
| Sprinkles | 3 years |
| Sugar, coconut | 2 years |
| Sugar, granulated | 2 years |
| Sugar, light or dark brown | 2 years (but technically, never goes bad and get be re-softened) |
| Sugar, powdered | 2 years |
| Yeast | Date on package |
Liquid pantry staples
| Ingredient | Shelf Life |
| Broths (chicken, beef, vegetable) | Unopened: 1 year Opened: 5 days |
| Coconut milk | 2 years |
| Extracts (almond, mint, imitation vanilla, etc.) | 2 years |
| Honey | Forever! |
| Maple syrup, real | 1 year, unopened |
| Milk, shelf stable | Date on package |
| Milk, sweetened condensed | 1 year |
| Molasses | 2 years |
| Oil, coconut | 2 years |
| Oil, vegetable or canola | 1 year |
| Oil, extra virgin olive | 6 months |
| Oil, non-stick spray | 1 year (or date on package) |
| Vanilla, pure extract | Forever! |
Canned goods
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Applesauce | 1 year |
| Broths (beef, chicken, vegetable) | 2 years (or as noted on package) |
| Fruit (peaches, pineapple, cherries, etc.) | 1 year |
| Pumpkin, puree | 1 year |
| Seafoods (salmon, tuna, etc.) | 2 years (or as noted on package) |
| Tomatoes (crushed, diced, stewed, sauce) | 12 months |
Condiments
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Dressings | 1 year (or as noted on package) |
| Hot sauce | 5 years |
| Jams | 2 years |
| Jellies | 2 years |
| Mayonnaise | 3 months |
| Mustard, yellow or ground | 2 years |
| Peanut butter | 9 months (unopened), 3 months (once opened) |
| Sesame oil | 1 year |
| Soy sauce | 3 years |
| Vinegar, any kind | Forever! (but best if used within 2 years) |
| Worcestershire sauce | 1 year |
Dried goods
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Breadcrumbs | 6 months |
| Chia seeds | 3 years |
| Fruit (cranberries, figs, raisins, etc.) | 12 months |
| Nuts | 6 months |
| Oats | 12 months |
| Pasta, dried and boxed | 2 years |
| Rice, brown | 6 months |
| Rice, jasmine | 2 years |
| Rice, white | 2 years |
| Rice, wild | 6 months |
Commonly Used Spices
These are the spices I use most often and that you’ve seen in recipes on this site. Outside of this list (generally speaking):
- Whole spices will last 4 years
- Ground spices will last 3 years
- Dried herbs will last 2 years
| Spice | Shelf Life |
| Allspice | 2 years |
| Bay leaves | 1 year |
| Chili powder | 2 years |
| Cinnamon, ground | 2 years |
| Cinnamon, sticks | 3 years |
| Cumin | 2 years |
| Garlic powder | 2 years |
| Ginger, ground | 2 years |
| Mustard, ground yellow | 3 years |
| Nutmeg | 2 years |
| Onion powder | 2 years |
| Oregano, dried | 2 years |
| Parsley, dried | 2 years |
| Pepper, black | 2 years |
| Pepper, white | 2 years |
| Poppy seeds | 3 years |
| Thyme | 1 year |
| Vanilla, whole beans | 1 year |
Refrigerated
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Bacon | 2 weeks |
| Butter | 3 months |
| Buttermilk | 2 weeks |
| Cheese, hard | 6 months (unopened) |
| Cheese, soft | 1 week |
| Cream cheese | 2 months, or date on package |
| Eggs | 1 month |
| Heavy cream | 2 weeks |
| Mascarpone cheese | 2 months, or date on package |
| Milk, dairy | 1 week |
| Milk, non-dairy (refrigerated) | 10 days |
| Milk, non-dairy (not refrigerated) | 1 month |
| Sour cream | 3 weeks |
Frozen
| Product | Shelf Life |
| Bacon | 6 months |
| Cool Whip | 4 months |
| Corn | 1 year |
| Cranberries | 1 year |
| Ice cream | Date on package |
| Peas | 1 year |
| Phyllo dough | 3 months |
| Pie crust | 1 year |
I hope this helps! Are there any questions about ingredient shelf life that I didn’t answer? Let me know in the comments below!
Other content in the Baking Basics series:
- How to Make a Lemon Twist Garnish
- How to Store Leftover Champagne
- How to Make Simple Syrup
- How To Freeze Cookie Dough
- What is “stress baking”?
- How to Make Buttermilk
- Sprinkles 101: The different types of sprinkles and how to use them
- How to Ship Cookies in the Mail
- How to Make Cake Flour
- Why You Mix Dry and Wet Ingredients Separately
- How to Make Muffin Liners Out of Parchment Paper
- Flour 101: How to Use Different Types of Flour
- What Room Temperature Butter Means (and why it’s important)
- How to Convert Temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius
- How to Clean Your Silicone Mats
- How to Calibrate Your Oven for Better Baking Results
- Volume Conversions for Baking Recipe Ingredients
- Baking Pan Conversions Made Easy
- How to Measure Ingredients for Baking
- Shelf Life of Common Baking Ingredients
- How to Store Common Baking Ingredients
- Introducing the Baking Basics Series
- Essentials for Hosting a Stress-Free Thanksgiving
- Baking Tips: 5 Steps You Should Never Skip
- How to Store Fresh Fruit
- 25+ Holiday Baking Tips
- How to Make Shredded Chicken
Laurel McKinney
Oy vey! Don’t let my husband see this list or we will be pitching out everything in our pantry! He’s a stickler for expiration dates while I’m the one who on January 7 was still drinking milk dated December 25. I’m a new follower of Stress Baking and love it. Baking is so therapeutic.
Leslie Kiszka
Thank you for joining the Stress Baking community, thrilled to have you! And as for your pantry… well, it’s painful, but someone has to do it :)