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Original poster

To eat this pasta bake tonight?

180 replies

BlueBoatVillage · 11/10/2025 09:30

Argh, made a lovely pasta bake last night and did enough for tonight as well as today is going to be manic so won’t really have much time to cook.

We ate half of it and it was on the side, cooling down. I put cling film over it, with the intention of putting it in the fridge once cooled (as I usually do)

Came down this morning and realised I’d forgotten to put it in the fridge Sad I did so straight away when I realised.

Do you think it would be okay to eat tonight or should I bin it?

OP posts:
pixiedust79 · 11/10/2025 10:17

VoodooQualities · 11/10/2025 09:33

It will be absolutely fine. Just heat it up tonight until it's piping hot throughout.

The only thing that will have happened overnight is a small amount of bacteria will have started to grow in it, and heating it up to nice and hot will kill all of these no problem.

That isn’t how it works. Bacteria produce toxins and those toxins are very often not destroyed by heat and can make you very unwell. It’s the cooling and storing that are more important than the reheating.

The lack of food safety understanding on this thread is shocking. I hate food waste as much as the next person but chicken soup left festering for days with a quick simmer before eating, grim. 🤢

thisishowloween · 11/10/2025 10:16

soupyspoon · 11/10/2025 10:15

My partner does this it causes a lot of arguments. Even things that are just on the date today, he wouldnt eat it.

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I'd be telling him buy all his own food if he's going to be so wasteful.

NamelessNancy · 11/10/2025 10:15

Wouldn't hesitate to eat this. It's only been overnight in an unheated room in October in the UK. Yes pasta can be a problem (bacillus cereus toxin) but it'd need to either be significantly warmer, for a longer time or both to make me throw it away.

soupyspoon · 11/10/2025 10:15

beaniebabby · 11/10/2025 10:08

Reading these threads make me realise how people end up with such high shopping bills if they throw so much edible food in the bin

People throw out food in the fridge if past it's sell by date without even giving it a sniff. Unreal.

My partner does this it causes a lot of arguments. Even things that are just on the date today, he wouldnt eat it.

dontforgetme · 11/10/2025 10:14

I also did this with last nights chilli left overs. I will be eating it tonight, after nuking the shit out of it.

Sez1990 · 11/10/2025 10:14

Yes I would eat it. Bacon is cured so that makes it safe in my mind 😂. Chicken or fish maybe not but cured meat and cheese I would risk. But I’d heat it up really really hot!

thisishowloween · 11/10/2025 10:13

TVStanding · 11/10/2025 10:09

Please, please don't! I made myself very ill doing this exact same thing with a vegetarian cheese pasta bake. I was so horribly ill!

How did you get sick? Did you not heat it through properly?

Swiftie1878 · 11/10/2025 10:12

BlueBoatVillage · 11/10/2025 09:41

It was cheese and bacon pasta bake! Argh! No heating on in the kitchen overnight or this morning, normal room temperature

I’d eat it.

TVStanding · 11/10/2025 10:09

Please, please don't! I made myself very ill doing this exact same thing with a vegetarian cheese pasta bake. I was so horribly ill!

Strollingby · 11/10/2025 10:09

I would eat without a thought. Would think twice for chicken or prawns but would eat tuna too unless it was a hot summer day.

shhblackbag · 11/10/2025 10:08

GreyCarpet · 11/10/2025 09:43

That's fine.

I wouldn't even think twice about that.

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Same. Just heat it through.

beaniebabby · 11/10/2025 10:08

Reading these threads make me realise how people end up with such high shopping bills if they throw so much edible food in the bin

People throw out food in the fridge if past it's sell by date without even giving it a sniff. Unreal.

Dutchhouse14 · 11/10/2025 10:07

If your kitchen is cool overnight then I think it will be fine and I'd eat it.

childofthe607080s · 11/10/2025 10:07

Surprised the human race lasted long enough to create fridges

CurlewKate · 11/10/2025 10:07

Make sure it’s properly heated through. Don’t waste food.

soupyspoon · 11/10/2025 10:06

thisishowloween · 11/10/2025 09:54

Reading these threads make me realise how people end up with such high shopping bills if they throw so much edible food in the bin 🙈

This.

Its terrible.

Comes up time and time again. I cant bear the thought of throwing away edible food.

ninjahamster · 11/10/2025 10:05

Cheese and bacon will be fine.

gannett · 11/10/2025 10:04

I can't believe so many people would throw it away. It will be absolutely fine.

If we're cooking in the evening we almost always leave it out overnight - still too warm to go in the fridge. It's always fine the next day. (Wouldn't do that in a heatwave but then in a heatwave we're not cooking bakes or stews anyway.)

beaniebabby · 11/10/2025 10:02

I'd eat it

GooseberryFoolish · 11/10/2025 10:02

I accidentally bought a really small fridge and subsequently do this routinely. Not in summer and not with chicken or prawns and not fed to babies or vulnerable people. My house is freezing most of the year and the food is well covered. It's never been an issue.

We didn't have a fridge until I was 6 and everyone survived while still eating leftovers.

LizzyEm · 11/10/2025 10:01

I'd eat it. What do you think ppl did before fridges. It's October.

VoodooQualities · 11/10/2025 09:56

Let us know what you decide OP!

If you do eat it please update this thread tomorrow with how you're feeling.

I would reheat and eat without a second thought. People didn't have fridges until recently, and they sure as hell didn't throw food away that was cooked the night before.

My Mum makes chicken soup with leftovers whenever she has a roast, and they leave it in a big pot on the stove, eating it until Wednesday. It gets heated right up to boiling each lunchtime and simmered for several minutes. Never so much as a burp never mind food poisoning. I questioned her once why she didn't keep it in the fridge and she looked at me like I was daft. Her Mum did it and her grandma before her.

(I don't eat chicken so my husband takes care of our carcasses!)

thisishowloween · 11/10/2025 09:54

Reading these threads make me realise how people end up with such high shopping bills if they throw so much edible food in the bin 🙈

youalright · 11/10/2025 09:52

I thought pasta was really dangerous to leave out like rice. I wouldn't risk it. It starts growing bacteria within 2 hours of being left out

TiredofLDN · 11/10/2025 09:49

Yeah I’m really risk averse in terms of food, but cheese and bacon? Would reheat and eat no problem. I’m sat in a cafe right now with pastries on the counter that inc, savory cheese and ham options- willing to bet they’ve been at ambient temp the same about of time as your pasta, with many of the same ingredients.