How Long Does Feta Cheese Last After Opening?

If you've ever found yourself purchasing a block of feta cheese to try out some viral TikTok recipe only to forget that the ingredient exists in your fridge, you're not alone. At some point, a purchase of feta cheese has led plenty of us to a moment many days later where we ask ourselves if that portion of a block is still safe to eat. Though it goes without saying, we will say it anyway: When you find mold on your softer cheese specifically, do not eat that cheese. Hopefully, you won't get that far with your feta but hey, life happens sometimes.

According to the great minds at cheese.com, you can serve feta at room temperature and leave it out for two hours before it becomes too risky to ingest. But if you're wondering about the shelf life of this product in the refrigerator, the straightforward answer would be one week when wrapped lightly in paper. However, there are a couple of ways to extend this limited timeframe. 

Though freezing your feta cheese for up to six months is an option, experts advise against this despite how tempting it might be. Thawing is a process that can totally affect the texture of most cheeses and no one wants to deal with that. What you want to do to make your feta last without destroying the feta's consistency is mix together a quick brine, which is just a fancy word for saltwater. Brine is essentially salt water (heavy on the salt) that is used as a preservative for meats and during the pickling process. Mix up a super salty brine and pour it over the feta in your ready to seal container. As long as the cheese is fully submerged, your brine will keep the product safe to eat for up to six months without altering the flavor much. Everyone knows that the best feta already comes from the store packed in brine, so this method shouldn't come as a surprise. 

One more option that is sure to alter the cheese's flavor (in a great way) would be to use olive oil the same way. Cover all of your cheese until it's fully submerged in the oil and seal. This method won't last as long, a month at most but the flavor combination can't be beat.