How Long does Fish Pie Last in the Fridge?

In Britain, a typical filling for fish pie, also known as fisherman’s pie, contains smoked whitefish, prawns, potatoes, cream or cheese sauce, and occasionally hard-boiled eggs. You can prepare it in individual or family-size amounts, and it tastes fantastic and fills you up whether you eat it right away or later.

Whether you are cooking your fish pie or buying one, you want to ensure that you properly store it in your fridge. If you do not, you could have an unpleasant odor, freezer burn, or a bloated texture. The best way to store fish pie is in an airtight container with no cracks or holes. This ensures that you can enjoy your fish pie as long as possible.

Fish Pie

What is a Fish Pie?

We briefly described fish pie above, but now let’s delve deeper into this special British dish. Despite being common across the entire United Kingdom, some people think it was invented in Scotland.

The fish and ingredients are covered by potatoes rather than a dough or pastry casing in a fish pie, which is more of a casserole and closely resembles Shepherd’s pie.

You guessed it: fish is usually present in fish pie. Haddock or cod is the typical whitefish used, and prawns are frequently added.

Additionally, potatoes, onions, butter, milk, and flour are used to make fish pie. In addition, cheese, corn, and peas may be present. There are occasionally hard-boiled eggs, though these must be left out if you are planning on freezing fish pie.

How Long does Fish Pie Last in the Fridge?

If you’re unclear when you get around to eating it, freezing fish pie is the best way to preserve it. This is because fish pies, both cooked and uncooked, can remain significantly longer when frozen.

Uncooked

Uncooked fish pies can be stored in the freezer for up to three months! It can be kept in the fridge for only three or four days, so this is much better, right?

The best approach to enjoy it at almost the same quality as when it is eaten freshly prepared is to freeze it before it is cooked. It’s a terrific idea to do it if you’re meal preparation for a future occasion, whether it’s a dinner party or just a regular weeknight dinner, as I’ve previously stated.

Or, if you neglected to make a plan, didn’t have time to go to the market, etc., you may have it frozen and ready for a last-minute supper. Frozen fish pies are a great thing to have on hand.

Cooked

Cooked fish pie is kept in the freezer for about three months, just like when it’s raw. As a result, freezing fish pie is preferable if you accidentally make too much and don’t believe you’ll get around to eating it within three or four days because it keeps for a lot longer.

Because it’s so delicious, I believe having too much is preferable to having too little because you can easily freeze any leftovers you may have for a future meal.

What are the Methods of Freezing Fish Pie?

Maybe you cooked a fish pie and didn’t get to eat it all. Fish pie keeps far longer in the freezer than in the refrigerator, so properly wrapping and freezing any leftovers will ensure that you always have a satisfying dinner available whenever you want for fish pie strikes.

It is never a good idea to freeze food when it is hot. Therefore you must first allow the prepared fish pie to cool completely before freezing it.

The fish pie should be covered with plastic wrap and aluminum foil as soon as it has a cold, or it can be divided into smaller portions for quick, one-serving meals.

As an alternative, you can store it in freezer-safe, sealed containers.

Fish pies that have previously been prepared can be frozen for up to three months. Just a friendly reminder that if you add them, the cooked eggs shouldn’t be frozen because doing so will make them rubbery.

In addition, if you intend to freeze the fish pie, it might be advisable to omit the peas because it is not recommended to refreeze previously frozen food.

How to Defrost a Frozen Fish Pie?

Frozen fish pies are fantastic because you can eat them right out of the freezer without ever having to defrost them. Simply reheating it on the spot works nicely. It is, of course, quite OK to defrost the fish pie ahead of time to shorten the cooking time afterward. But, preparation and sometimes is needed.

Fish pie can be defrosted by simply putting it in the refrigerator and giving it about 16 hours to defrost completely. The precise amount of time will, of course, depend on how big the fish pie is. However, it would be best if you didn’t defrost it too soon. After defrosting, it must be heated up and consumed within three days.

Reheating it or cooking it when it’s frozen is the simplest method. The results are equally as good, and it doesn’t take long. Please remove the plastic wrap and cover it with aluminum foil to complete the task. After that, cook it for 85 to 100 minutes at 410 degrees Fahrenheit or until the fish pie is thoroughly heated. Avoid using the microwave while cooking or reheating the frozen pie for the best results.

How to Reheat Fish Pie?

When the time comes, you can reheat your fish pie in the microwave or the oven. The best part is that frozen fish pie doesn’t need to be defrosted before reheating!

Remove the plastic wrap, cover the fish pie with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 12 hours to reheat frozen fish pie in the oven. When the top is golden brown, remove the foil, increase the heat to 400 degrees F, and cook for 30 minutes or more.

Your cooking time will undoubtedly be reduced if you have time to let your frozen fish pie defrost in the refrigerator before reheating. After it has thawed, bake a frozen fish pie for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees F or until it is well heated.

Finally, heating your fish pie in the microwave is a quick and easy supper if you’ve frozen it in small, freezer- and microwave-safe containers.

Before doing this, you should thaw your fish pie in the refrigerator beforehand. You may reheat your previously prepared, defrosted fish pie in the microwave by cooking it on high for roughly 3 minutes.

Which Side Dish Pairs Best with Fish Pie?

Vegetables are a great choice as a side dish for fish pie because they are hearty and creamy.

Avoid cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, which can be excessively heavy in this cuisine. Fish pie goes well with vegetables like shredded cabbage, glazed carrots, or sauteed spinach.

The thick layer of potatoes in fish pie also means you probably won’t need any more starches on the table, so feel free to skip the bread and french fries.

Serve your meal with a light salad, such as gem lettucelad, a traditional garden salad, if you’re attempting to lighten things up. Keep creamy dressings away from fish.

How to Tell Fish Pie has Gone Bad?

If your fish pie feels slimy or has a strong stench, there’s a sign that something is amiss. It’s spoilt if it smells fishy. It also has a bluish color and a taste that gets worse. Salmon shouldn’t have any white lines on its surface; if it does, your salmon is probably bad. You can tell if the fish has to be thrown out by the scent of rotting food.

Texture

The fish pie won’t become slimy as it deteriorates once cooked. Check to see if it has a strong fishy aroma because all fish, whether cooked or not, will smell like fish. It will become more potent if the cold fish starts to smell fishy.

As long as the fish pie has shiny flesh and skin rather than slimy skin, it can be cooked and eaten. Throw aside any seafood that has an overpowering ammonia odor, is slimy, mushy, or otherwise suspicious-looking. It is better to be cautious than sorry.

Smell

An unpleasant odor is the second indication that something is wrong with the fish pie. If the fish pie has a bluish color or has a fishy odor, it is likely past its sell-by date. It would be best to discard something when it becomes mushy and spongy. It’s likely ruined if it’s slick and soft. The skin is probably ruined if it appears slimy. Time to get rid of it.

Last but not least, keep an eye out for a degraded odor. A fish pie with rotten flesh will have an unpleasant odor. If the skin is brown, it has been spoilt. Throw something aside if it smells like rotting fish. Nevertheless, the skin will be sticky and should have a musky odor. The fish should not be consumed if it smells foul.

Fish pie has a fishy smell, whether it is raw or cooked. As the salmon starts to degrade, the fishy stench will get worse. When the fish pie starts to smell, it should be thrown out immediately. On the other hand, fish that has gone bad in the refrigerator will start to smell fishier. Give this smelly fish enough time.

What are the Risks of Eating Bad Fish Pie?

Dangerous food bacteria are divided into three categories, according to Mr. Mellor: “the ones you’ve got to kill with heat [as with chicken],” “the ones that form spores which can escape being killed by heat and can come out of hibernation if you don’t keep them at the right temperature after cooking,” and “the ones that form heat-resistant toxins so it doesn’t matter if you’ve killed them, they’ve left their mess behind.”

Reheating meat pies poses a risk “if they have been prepared and not rapidly chilled,” according to the third group. When this occurs, warming the pie to a high temperature throughout should destroy the bacteria, but it may have already left its toxins behind, which can cause us danger.

According to Mr. Mellor, to keep meals out of the danger zones where germs might thrive, hot foods must be maintained above 60 degrees and cold foods below 5 degrees.

As a result, even if you reheat food above 60 degrees if stored outside those windows, the toxins from the toxin-bombing bacteria may still be there.

Staphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen discovered in improperly preserved meat pies and can result in vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.

Therefore, put any remaining hot pies into as soon as possible into the refrigerator and don’t leave them out at room temperature for more than two hours before reheating.

Reference: FishPIE: A universal phylogenetically informative exon markers set for ray-finned fishes

On 203 species from 31 orders of Actinopterygii, we tested FishPIE, a nested PCR primer set of 82 phylogenetically informative exon markers. We showed that the FishPIE indicators could answer phylogenetic queries at various taxonomic levels. FishPIE orthologous sequences from published genomes and transcriptomes were merged, and a phylogeny of 710 species from 190 families and 60 orders was created. Similar to earlier phylogenomic research, the derived phylogenies have topologies.

Conclusion

A quick and incredibly affordable one-pot meal option is fish pie. Various fish are used to make the pie (usually, they will charge you less than the market price). The fish is cooked in a combination of fish stock, milk, sautéed leeks, and parsley before being covered with a thin layer of mashed potatoes and baked till golden brown. Use any fish on hand for the pie, or ask your fishmonger about different fish scraps.

The most important way to keep your fish pie fresh is by using the right fish. For this dish, you should avoid tuna, swordfish, and other oily types of fish. Instead, opt for non-oily fish such as cod or salmon. These types of fish are flaky but aren’t too tough.