Storage advice varies meaningfully by brand here. Impossible Foods says opened patties are good for 3 days and can even be re-frozen if needed. Beyond Meat says thawed patties last 10 days — and explicitly recommends against refreezing. Neither brand is wrong; check which one you actually bought.
How long do plant-based burger patties last in the fridge?
Impossible Foods’ own FAQ states that once opened, their patties should be finished within 3 days, or by the “best by” sticker date, whichever comes first.
Beyond Meat’s own product page gives a notably different number: “Once you decide to thaw, Beyond Burgers have a 10-day shelf life.” If you bought Beyond patties frozen and thawed them yourself, Beyond’s 10-day window applies; if you bought them already refrigerated, follow the retailer’s “use-by” sticker instead.
Either way, don’t leave patties out of the fridge for more than two hours per USDA’s Danger Zone guidance.
Can you freeze plant-based burger patties?
Yes, but the two leading brands give conflicting advice specifically about re-freezing after opening. Impossible Foods’ FAQ explicitly says “you can re-freeze Impossible Beef to use later if needed” — unusually permissive. Beyond Meat takes the opposite position: their own FAQ states “we do not recommend refreezing” once a product has been purchased thawed, and recommends following the stickered best-by date instead.
Some Beyond product lines are even stricter — their Beyond Stack Burger line states refrigeration isn’t recommended at all, and that accidentally-thawed patties should be discarded rather than cooked. That’s a specific sub-product, not the standard Beyond Burger, but it shows how much this can vary even within one brand’s own lineup.
Given this split, the safest approach: check your specific brand and product line before refreezing anything. If you can’t find brand-specific guidance, treat “do not refreeze” as the safer default.
How to tell if plant-based burger patties have gone bad
- Smell: a sour or distinctly “off” odor, different from the product’s normal mild smell
- Texture: sliminess or a tacky, sticky surface
- Appearance: significant discoloration beyond normal minor browning
- Packaging: a puffed-up or bulging vacuum-sealed package — several sources flag this specifically as a sign of bacterial gas buildup. Discard without tasting.
Storage tips
- Note whether you bought your patties fresh/refrigerated or frozen — the correct storage window depends on which
- Store opened packages in an airtight container, not just the original packaging re-folded
- Thaw frozen patties in the fridge, not on the counter — expect roughly 8–24 hours depending on brand
- When in doubt about refreezing, check your specific brand’s website before doing it
Why isn’t this covered by USDA?
FreezerOrFridge.com’s 732 core pages pull their storage times from the USDA FoodKeeper database, which tracks traditional beef burgers but doesn’t currently include plant-based patties — a newer product category that hasn’t made it into that federal dataset yet. This page instead relies on Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat’s own published storage guidance.
Related foods
Storage guides for related meat pages:
Plant-Based Ground Meat · Ground Beef · Browse all Meat storage guides →
→ Check storage times for 732+ other foods on FreezerOrFridge.com
Author Bio: Written by our food storage team, using manufacturer guidance for products not yet in the USDA FoodKeeper database.