Yes, refrigerate an opened jar of standard supermarket maraschino cherries. An unopened jar stays in the pantry, and cocktail cherries such as Luxardo may carry different wording. Below: what each label says, what to do after a party, and what to do if the syrup crystallizes.
Do maraschino cherries need to be refrigerated?
Yes, after opening, for standard supermarket jars. Store-brand labels and Tillen Farms say to refrigerate after opening, and we recommend it. Keep unopened jars in a cool, dry pantry, and the store labels say 40 to 80°F. Storage wording can differ for cocktail cherries such as Luxardo, so the instructions on your own jar should control. General canned-fruit guidance also points to the fridge after opening, but it isn’t a maraschino-specific rule.
For a complete pantry storage reference, see our Food Storage Guide. For the full shelf-life timeline, see our guide on whether maraschino cherries go bad.
📋 Do Maraschino Cherries Need to Be Refrigerated: At a Glance
| Unopened jar | No. Cool, dry place. Store-brand labels say 40 to 80°F |
| Opened, standard supermarket jar | Yes. Store-brand labels say refrigerate after opening |
| Opened, Tillen Farms | Yes. Refrigerate after opening and serve cold |
| Opened, Luxardo | Follow your jar’s label. One retailer’s listing advises a closed jar in a cool, dry place |
| Luxardo 6.6 lb jar | A distributor’s sheet says not to refrigerate. Cold may crystallize the syrup |
| Left out at a party | We found no source. We’d put the jar back in the fridge afterward |
| Fridge outage | FoodSafety.gov’s outage chart says keep opened canned fruit and candied fruits. It doesn’t name cherries |
| Freezing | One retailer’s listing of Luxardo’s label says no. We found no guidance for standard jars |
Key Takeaways
- Yes, refrigerate an opened jar of standard supermarket maraschino cherries. Giant’s and Best Choice’s store-brand labels both say to refrigerate after opening, and Tillen Farms says the same for its cherries.
- Unopened jars don’t need the fridge. Both store-brand labels say to keep them in a cool, dry place at 40 to 80°F.
- Some Luxardo materials differ from standard supermarket labels. A distributor’s sheet for the 6.6 lb jar says not to refrigerate, because cold may crystallize the syrup. A retailer’s listing for the 400 g jar advises a closed jar in a cool, dry place and no freezing. Luxardo’s own sheet gives no storage instruction, so check your jar.
- General canned-fruit guidance also points to the fridge after opening, in NDSU Extension’s guide and a Wyoming Department of Health chart based on USDA’s FoodKeeper. That isn’t a maraschino-specific rule, and neither names maraschino cherries.
- Follow your own label if it differs. We did not locate an authoritative timeframe for how long an opened jar lasts, and our shelf-life guide covers what we found.
Bright red supermarket jars, naturally colored cherries and Luxardo-style cocktail cherries have different labels. For the full shelf-life timeline, see our guide on whether maraschino cherries go bad. For other jarred sweets, see whether jelly needs to be refrigerated and whether chocolate syrup needs to be refrigerated.
Which Jars Need the Fridge?
Start with the jar you have, because supermarket jars, naturally colored cherries and Luxardo have different labels. These are maker, store-brand and extension figures, not guarantees.
| Jar | Fridge? | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard supermarket jar, unopened | No. Cool, dry place, 40 to 80°F | Store-brand labels |
| Standard supermarket jar, opened | Yes. Refrigerate after opening | Store-brand labels |
| Tillen Farms, opened | Yes. Refrigerate after opening and serve cold | Tillen Farms |
| Luxardo, unopened | Follow your label. A distributor sheet for the 6.6 lb jar says dry and cool, 68 to 72°F | Luxardo distributor sheet |
| Luxardo, opened | Follow your label. One retailer’s listing advises a closed jar in a cool, dry place | Retailer’s listing |
| Homemade, processed in a canner | Follow the recipe’s processing steps | Oregon State University Extension |
Do Standard Maraschino Cherries Need to Be Refrigerated?
Yes, once it’s open. Giant’s Our Brand Maraschino Cherries page and Best Choice’s Jumbo Maraschino Cherries page both print two storage lines. Before opening, store the jar in a cool, dry place at 40 to 80°F. After opening, refrigerate it.
FDA’s Compliance Policy Guide on maraschino cherries describes maraschino cherries as red-dyed cherries soaked in sugar and packed in sugar syrup. It says nothing about storage. The store-brand labels list corn syrup, Red 40 and the preservatives potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and sulfur dioxide.
No agency lists maraschino cherries. The closest official rows are for opened canned fruit, and they point the same way. NDSU Extension’s Food Storage Guide and Wyoming Department of Health’s food storage times chart both list opened canned fruit in the refrigerator. The Wyoming chart draws on USDA’s FoodKeeper. Those rows cover canned fruit in general, so we use them only for the fridge direction. Our guide on whether maraschino cherries go bad covers how long a jar lasts.
Do Tillen Farms Cherries Need to Be Refrigerated?
Yes, once it’s open. Tillen Farms’ Merry Maraschino Cherries page says to refrigerate after opening and serve cold for best results. its Bada Bing Cherries page gives the same line.
Tillen Farms colors its cherries with vegetable and fruit concentrate and says they’re free from dyes and corn syrup. That direction is for Tillen Farms’ own products, so don’t assume it covers every naturally colored cocktail cherry. The pages we read give no unopened storage instruction or time span, so follow the label on your jar.
Do Luxardo Cherries Need to Be Refrigerated?
Some Luxardo materials differ from standard supermarket labels. Luxardo’s own data sheet and product page give no storage instruction. A distributor’s sheet for the 6.6 lb jar says storage should be dry and cool at 68 to 72°F. It adds that you shouldn’t refrigerate, because cold temperatures may crystallize the syrup. The sheet for the 14 oz jar also calls for dry and cool and doesn’t mention refrigeration.
For an opened jar, A UK retailer’s listing for the 400 g size advises keeping the jar closed in a cool, dry place and not freezing it. That is one retailer’s wording of what looks like Luxardo’s label, and we couldn’t confirm it with Luxardo. Check the label on your own jar before relying on pantry storage after opening.
Crystallized syrup is a texture issue. It doesn’t mean the cherries have spoiled, and it doesn’t establish that refrigeration is unsafe. Let the jar come to room temperature and check the other signs.
Do Unopened Maraschino Cherries Need the Fridge?
Keep unopened jars in a cool, dry cupboard, away from the stove. The store-brand labels give a 40 to 80°F range, and Luxardo’s distributor sheets give 68 to 72°F. A pantry shelf fits both.
The labels we read ask for a cupboard, not the fridge, for an unopened jar. A distributor’s sheet for Luxardo’s bulk jar advises against refrigerating it.
Can Maraschino Cherries Sit Out?
We found no source on how long an opened jar of maraschino cherries can safely sit out. FoodSafety.gov’s power outage chart covers refrigerator power outages. It lists opened canned fruit and candied fruits as “Keep” when held at 40°F or above for more than 2 hours. It doesn’t name maraschino cherries, and it isn’t guidance for a party or the counter.
For a party, we’d set out a small bowl, keep the jar in the fridge, and put leftovers back at the end of the night. We’d discard cherries that sat out in a bowl with drinks and fingers in them.
Can You Freeze Maraschino Cherries?
The retailer prints a line that appears to come from Luxardo’s label and says not to freeze its jars. That is one retailer’s listing, so check your jar. We found no guidance for freezing standard supermarket jars, and we wouldn’t freeze them.
If you want to keep a big jar longer, refrigerate the opened jar, keep the cherries under the syrup and use a clean utensil. Those are our habits, not agency rules.
Do Homemade Maraschino Cherries Need the Fridge?
Oregon State University Extension’s Making Maraschino Cherries guide has a 3-day method for homemade maraschino cherries, and we read a copy hosted on a Utah State University Extension site. It ends with filling jars and processing them for 5 minutes in a boiling water canner. The guide was revised in 1992 and gives no storage statement.
Follow its processing steps if you want canner-processed jars. For any batch that isn’t processed that way, we’d keep the jar in the fridge from the start, as a general safety precaution. That is our suggestion, not Oregon State’s.
What Goes With Maraschino Cherries?
Maraschino cherries are mostly a garnish. Stocking a home bar? See our guides on whether whiskey goes bad, whether vermouth goes bad, whether brandy goes bad and whether amaretto goes bad. For desserts, see red, white and blue 4th of July desserts and apple dessert recipes.
If red syrup lands on your shirt, see our guide on how to get berry stains out of clothes. For other sweet pantry items, see whether jelly goes bad and whether corn syrup goes bad.
Signs Something Is Wrong
- A leaking or bulging lid, liquid that spurts when you open it, or a foul odor. NDSU flags these signs for packaged foods in general.
- Mold on the cherries, the syrup or the underside of the lid.
- Our added cautions: bubbling or fizzing, a sour or boozy smell, slimy cherries, or cloudy or stringy syrup.
The first item follows NDSU’s general packaged-food guidance. The rest are our own cautions, not a maraschino-specific agency list. We don’t suggest tasting to test.
Normal Things That Aren’t a Problem
- Sugar crystals in the syrup after a stretch in the fridge. A Luxardo distributor sheet says cold can crystallize its syrup.
- An unopened jar on the pantry shelf.
- Cherries that have faded a little in color.
The first is from Luxardo, and the others are our observations. None overrides the signs above.
Quick Storage Reference
- Unopened: Cool, dry cupboard. 40 to 80°F on store labels.
- Opened, standard supermarket jar: Fridge.
- Opened, Tillen Farms: Fridge, serve cold.
- Luxardo: Follow your jar’s label. Materials vary by size.
- Syrup crystals: A texture change, not proof of spoilage.
| Situation | What to Do |
|---|---|
| Unopened standard jar in the pantry | Fine. Both store-brand labels say to keep it in a cool, dry place. |
| Opened standard jar in the pantry for a week | Refrigerate it now. Store-brand labels say to refrigerate after opening, and we found no source on how long an opened jar can safely sit at room temperature. |
| Opened standard jar in the fridge | Fine. That is what the store-brand labels and Tillen Farms say. |
| Unopened Luxardo jar in the fridge | A distributor’s sheet for Luxardo’s 6.6 lb jar says not to refrigerate. Check the label on your jar, and consider a cool, dry spot if it gives no instruction. |
| Opened Luxardo jar in the pantry | A retailer reproduces wording that advises a closed jar in a cool, dry place. Confirm the instructions on your package or with Luxardo before relying on pantry storage after opening. |
| Bowl of cherries on the bar for 3 hours | Put the jar back in the fridge. We found no source on cherries left out, and we’d discard cherries that sat in a bowl with drinks. |
| Fridge lost power for 6 hours | Keep it, going by the closest rows in FoodSafety.gov’s outage chart (opened canned fruit and candied fruits above 40°F for more than 2 hours). The chart doesn’t name maraschino cherries, so check the signs above. |
| Syrup crystallized in the fridge | Normal for syrup. A Luxardo sheet says cold can crystallize it. That is a quality issue, not proof of spoilage. |
| Jar with a bulging lid | Discard it. |
| Jar with mold on top | Discard it. We wouldn’t scoop out the mold. |
In October 2026 we read FDA’s Compliance Policy Guide on maraschino cherries, NDSU Extension’s Food Storage Guide and packaged food Q&A, and a Wyoming Department of Health chart based on USDA’s FoodKeeper. We read FoodSafety.gov’s power-outage chart and Oregon State University Extension’s maraschino cherry recipe, which we found on a Utah State University Extension site. We read Giant’s and Best Choice’s store-brand pages, Tillen Farms’ product pages, Luxardo’s own data sheet and product page, two Luxardo distributor sheets and a retailer’s listing for Luxardo’s 400 g jar. None of the official charts lists maraschino cherries, and we did not locate an authoritative timeframe for an opened jar. Our own suggestions say we’d or we suggest. This article is general information, not medical advice.
Do Maraschino Cherries Need to Be Refrigerated FAQ
Do maraschino cherries need to be refrigerated?
Standard supermarket jars do after opening. Store-brand labels and Tillen Farms say to refrigerate once the jar is open. Luxardo wording can differ, so follow the label on your jar.
Do maraschino cherries need to be refrigerated after opening?
Yes, for standard supermarket jars and Tillen Farms. Giant’s and Best Choice’s labels say to refrigerate after opening, and Tillen Farms says to serve them cold.
Do unopened maraschino cherries need to be refrigerated?
No. Both store-brand labels say to keep the jar in a cool, dry place at 40 to 80°F.
Do Luxardo cherries need to be refrigerated?
Check your jar’s label. A distributor’s sheet for the 6.6 lb jar says not to refrigerate, and a retailer’s listing for the 400 g jar advises a closed jar in a cool, dry place. Luxardo’s own sheet gives no storage instruction.
Can maraschino cherries sit out?
We found no source on how long an opened jar can safely sit out. We’d keep the jar in the fridge and put out only a small bowl.
Why did my cherry syrup crystallize?
A Luxardo distributor sheet says cold can crystallize its syrup. That is a texture issue, not proof of spoilage, and it doesn’t establish that refrigeration is unsafe. Let the jar warm up and check for mold or bubbling.
Can you freeze maraschino cherries?
One retailer’s listing of what looks like Luxardo’s label says not to freeze. We found no guidance for standard supermarket jars, and we wouldn’t freeze them.
How long do maraschino cherries last in the fridge?
We did not locate an authoritative timeframe for an opened jar. Follow your label, and see whether maraschino cherries go bad for what we found.
What if my fridge lost power?
FoodSafety.gov’s outage chart lists opened canned fruit and candied fruits as Keep after more than 2 hours above 40°F. It doesn’t name maraschino cherries, so check the jar for the signs of spoilage.
Do homemade maraschino cherries need the fridge?
Oregon State University Extension’s method ends with processing jars in a boiling water canner and gives no storage statement. For an unprocessed batch, we’d keep the jar in the fridge as a general precaution.
Do other jarred sweets need the fridge?
Each has its own answer. See whether jelly needs to be refrigerated and whether chocolate syrup needs to be refrigerated.
Further Reading
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