These Are the Best Solutions for Avoiding Unsafe Leftovers

Safety in the kitchen goes beyond knife skills and protecting your hands from the stove. Your food and leftovers can also harbor bacteria that can make you really sick. While you might immediately think of undercooked meat, you also have to be careful with leftover grains and pasta. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that food be placed in the refrigerator before it reaches the “danger zone” between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F (4 degrees C and 60 degrees C). That’s the temperature range where bacteria proliferate most easily.

Avoiding the danger zone with your appetizing leftovers is simple, if you have the right tools. To help you get your leftovers stored away safely, we rounded up our favorite food storage solutions, starting at just $8.

Best Food Safety Solutions at Amazon

Rubbermaid Brilliance 3.2-Cup Food Storage Containers Set

One of the most effective ways to store leftovers is placing them right into an airtight container, then storing them in the fridge. The latching lids, air vents, and easy-to-clean silicone seals all make Rubbermaid’s Brilliance line of food storage containers one of our favorites. The 3.2-cup size is more than enough room for a full meal, plus the Tritan plastic is resistant to stains, even when it’s spicy pasta sauce or turmeric rice. 

Homberking 24-Piece Glass Food Storage Containers Set

Glass food storage isn’t as lightweight as plastic, but it does mean the containers are safe in the oven and microwave. This nontoxic food storage container set comes in three shapes with capacities from 1.3 cups to 4.5 cups, so you can store your leftover pasta, rice, sauce, and sides separately or together. The silicone gasket is removable, as are the lid latches, when you want to do a thorough cleaning.

Bentgo 2-Compartment Reusable Meal Prep Containers Set

One way to avoid leaving food out overnight is to portion all of your servings right away, and that’s easier if you have meal prep containers on hand. Each of the Bentgo meal prep containers holds two cups of your entrée plus one cup of sides, a generous amount of space for a meal. You can divvy up portions of stir-fry and rice, and stack tomorrow’s lunch in the fridge before sitting down for dinner.

Hometall Freezer Storage Containers Set

Freezing food is another simple way to reduce the chance of getting food poisoning from leftover soups, sauces, and curries. We love this set of freezer containers because the twist-on lid prevents any mishaps once the freezer door is closed. Plus, the lid is large enough for a detailed label. Of course, these containers can be used for snacks or leftover lunches.

Homberking 8-Cup Food Storage Containers Set

We understand the temptation to leave a Sunday night pasta bake out on the counter for an hour or two, but that will let your pasta enter the food poisoning danger zone. Instead, you can quickly scoop your casserole into these two large 8-cup food storage containers. And since they’re glass containers, they can go right into the oven when you want to reheat your leftovers.

YouCopia FreezeUp Freezer Food Block Maker

The space at the top of freezer containers creates an opportunity for annoying ice crystals to form, and storing in freezer bags can help you to avoid that. If that’s your preferred way to store leftovers, gallon-sized freezer bags fit snugly in the YouCopia FreezeUp. Simply load your Ziploc in, fold the top down like you would with a trash bag, pour in your leftovers, seal and band, and you’ll have a storable block to place in your nicely organized freezer.

Stasher 56-Ounce Reusable Food Storage Stand-Up Bag

Reusable silicone food storage bags are another way to store your leftovers before they become dangerous. Stasher’s stand-up bags even have an advantage over plastic bags: Since the flat bottom keeps the bag upright, you can spoon rice right in without having to hold the bag. Stasher bags can handle heat up to 425 degrees F, so if you end up with a frozen block of leftovers, it’s safe to drop the closed bag into a pot of simmering water to defrost.

Souper Cubes 1-Cup Silicone Freezer Trays

Freezing your chicken and rice soup into single servings is effortless when you have Souper Cubes. Each well is marked for a half-cup or full-cup serving, and the entire silicone tray is reinforced with a steel rim, which makes handling easy. After spooning in your soup or sauce, you can place the entire tray in the refrigerator to cool down before the freezer. Souper Cubes also come with plastic lids for stacking. 

Smirly Wooden Cutting Boards Set

Cross contamination in the kitchen can easily lead to food poisoning, so another practice to reconsider is having a designated cutting board for meats and another for vegetables. Each board in this set is designed with a juice groove, a feature that helps keep your counters clean and sanitized, and they all fit nicely into the holder for better storage.

ThermoPro Digital Meat Thermometer

An instant-read meat thermometer in your kitchen reduces risk two ways. First, by making sure you cook your meats to a safe temperature, and being able to quickly assess the temperature of food when reheating. The 5.3-inch probe of this ThermoPro model will reach the thickest part of a beef roast. It also has a backlight that makes it easier to read and automatically shuts off to preserve battery life.

ThermoPro 2-in-1 Instant Read Thermometer

This advanced meat thermometer includes a laser infrared thermometer along with an instant-read probe. Infrared thermometers offer a simple way to accurately gauge the temperature of a pizza oven or grill—or in the case of left-out leftovers, the temperature on the surface, which is the coolest portion. The probe of this ThermoPro is also better than basic. It’s activated when you flip it away from the base, and it can read the ambient temperature along with the internal temperature.

GoodCook BestBake Nonstick Carbon Steel Cookie Sheet

Spreading your food on a half-sheet baking pan or cookie sheet increases the surface area, which helps it cool quickly. Doing so on a nonstick-coated sheet, like this one from GoodCook, means the residual heat on your rice or pasta won’t cause a gummy mess. Plus, the generous sidewalls make scooping the leftovers effortless.

Nordic Ware 2-Piece Half Sheet Pan Set

Larger leftovers can cool more quickly if they’re exposed to airflow underneath, which is made easier by placing everything on a wire rack. This set from Nordic Ware includes a durable aluminum half-sheet pan along with a stainless steel rack that fits perfectly into the pan. The sheet pan’s rolled edge helps to prevent warping, and both items are safe in the oven.

OXO Good Grips Soap Dispensing Palm Brush Storage Set

Thoroughly cleaning all your cookware, kitchen tools, and knives is the most important way to avoid food poisoning and cross contamination. The interior chamber of the editor-favorite OXO Good Grips palm brush holds your soap, which is easy to dispense in the sink. The nylon bristles, meanwhile, scrub away all the dirt, grime, and foodborne bacteria.