Here's How Long Almond Milk Stays Good For After Opening

Whether you have a dairy allergy or you just prefer the taste, almond milk is the most popular alternative to cow's milk in the U.S. currently, with this plant-based non-dairy beverage raking in over a billion dollars in sales from June 2021 to June 2022. So it stands to reason that if you can't drink regular cow's milk, you likely have a bottle or container of almond milk in your fridge or pantry (you can make your own at home, but who has time for that?). But how long do you have to finish it once it's opened, before it starts to go bad?

Good news — you have well over a week to finish that almond milk, more in the range of 10 days, and this applies to both the kind you get in the refrigerated section of the supermarket, as well as the shelf-stable type. Of course, like the former, the latter almond milk must be stored in the fridge after opening, and (once opened) should not sit out on the counter for longer than two hours.

Almond milk might not be a dairy product, but it's definitely perishable, and as mentioned, it should be kept in the refrigerator when not actively being used (to make vegan milkshakes, for example). However, where you keep it in the fridge matters and can impact how soon it starts to go bad. While it would, admittedly, be super convenient to keep it in the door of the fridge, it's not the best place because the items there are exposed to temperature fluctuations every time you open it. Instead, if you can't store it where the fridge is coldest — on the lowest shelf, in the back — at least keep it near the back on any shelf.

Did you know you can also freeze almond milk? Almond milk will keep its just-opened quality for up to six months (it will stay drinkable for longer, but the quality might degrade). Consider freezing it in ice cubes, stashing them in a freezer-safe bag, and using those in your morning cold brew or smoothie.

Of course, you could store your almond milk perfectly and it might still not last up to 10 days (especially if you have a penchant for drinking from the bottle or carton!). The first indication that you might notice is the container that it's in can start to bulge (this is due to contamination creating gas inside the package); you can also look for a color change in the milk, from its typical light or medium beige to a darker shade.

There is also the smell to consider; bad almond milk will just not smell right, anything from slightly yucky to super putrid (if the liquid is far gone). If you aren't quite sure if it's off, you can try a little sip and the taste should clear things up, too. Finally, if you pour the almond milk out and see mold swimming in your beverage, you're going to want to toss the entire container, because it's undrinkable at this point.