People absolutely love Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch. It is one of their most popular oil-based sauces. But, how can you store it?
Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch is shelf-stable. This means that it can be stored in your pantry without any issues. However, you can squeeze a few extra months of life out of it when stored in the fridge.
Let’s explain.
Choosing a Storage Container for Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch
You don’t need a storage container for Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch. The glass jar that it comes in should be fine.
If, for some reason, you want to take it out of the glass jar then you can place it into an airtight plastic pot.
However, we have absolutely no idea how long it would last like that, since it has not been designed to be removed from the glass jar unless you are eating it.
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Storing Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch in the Pantry
You can store the Chili Onion Crunch in the pantry using the glass jar that the oil came in. It will keep pretty well.
Once it is open, the Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch should retain its flavor for about 4 months., After that, the flavor will be lost a little bit. There will be a best-before date on the product, but you can ignore that if you have already opened it up.
It is worth noting that because this is an oil-based product, it is never really going to expire. It doesn’t really harbor bacteria as there is no water in there.
There have been people that have been consuming the product a year after they have opened it up without any issues. However, at that point, there isn’t going to be a huge amount of flavor there. You may as well purchase a new bottle.
Refrigerating Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch
You do not need to put Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch in the fridge after you have opened it up. It will keep well in the pantry.
That being said, some people have reported that the flavor of the product is a little bit better when stored in the fridge for the long-term. If you open it up and put it in your pantry, then the flavor will probably diminish within 3-4 months.
If you leave it in the fridge, then it may be a year or two before that flavor starts to diminish. Although, once again, we probably wouldn’t store it that long without buying a new bottle. Why would you want to take the risk?
Do bear in mind that this is something that only applies if you have no water coming into contact with the oil product.
If water comes into contact with it, then the product is no longer shelf stable and you should start to eat it pretty quickly or bacteria may start to thrive. So, never dip something into the oil directly!
Freezing Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch
There is absolutely no need to freeze Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch.
While oil-based products do freeze well, they are also shelf-stable for an incredibly long time because they have a very low amount of water in them.
The bacteria cannot thrive in the oil at all. This means that, as long as you don’t open the product, it can be kept in the pantry for a good couple of years (often well past the expiry date) and, even if you did open it, it can last 3-4 months without any issues.
If you must freeze it, then let the product fully defrost before you use it.
If you want, you can also freeze the product in ice cube trays. This way, you are only ever taking out what you need when you need to use it.
However, in our opinion, this is just going to be a whole lot of extra hassle for a product that you really don’t need to be freezing in the first place.
It is probably going to be a lot better just to place the product in the fridge and take a spoonful every time that you need to use some.
Using Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch After Storage
If you have been storing the Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch in the fridge, we recommend that you let it cool down to room temperature before you use it.
Just so it doesn’t mess up any of your recipes if you are cooking. After all, if you throw cold product in a dish, then it is going to bring the temperature all the way down.
This part isn’t going to matter too much if you are using it as a dip, as some people do (it is delicious, after all!).
If you have frozen the oil, then your best bet is to let it defrost first. Do not put it in the microwave to defrost it. Let it defrost naturally, otherwise you are going to be making incredibly hot oil, and that isn’t going to be pleasant in the slightest.
If you have stored the product in your pantry, then you don’t need to do anything special with it. Just grab a dry spoon and scoop the amount that you need out. You can then replace the lid and the product will be good for a while longer yet.
Remember, at no point, do you want to get water into the Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch. If you do, then the product will start to lose its quality very fast.
Final Thoughts
You can store Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch in the pantry.
If you store the product in the pantry, then it should keep for a good 3-4 months after you have opened it. It will keep for 24-months if you store it in the fridge.
There is no need to freeze the product. While oil does freeze well, the product is stable enough that it would just be a waste of time to freeze it.
