Ground chicken is a great alternative to use for ground beef or ground turkey. You can substitute most recipes using ground chicken.

If your minced chicken has a sour or foul smell then it has gone bad. Also looking at the color and texture of the chicken are other ways of checking to see if it has spoiled.

It is important to know how to tell if the ground chicken is bad in order to keep you from getting a sour stomach, or worse, food poisoning.

ground chicken in a red bowl with white polka dots

How to tell if the ground chicken is bad? A foul sour smell is the most obvious sign of ground chicken that has gone bad.

If it is sticky, slimy, or has become dull in color and no longer a light pink color then it has spoiled.

Top 3 Ways To Tell If The Ground Chicken Is Bad

It is imperative that you use these 3 steps to decipher if your ground chicken has gone bad or not. You do not want to cook with any ground meats if they have spoiled.

The process of meats being ground up creates more surface area for bacteria to cling to so it is really important to make sure that it fresh before cooking with them and making sure they are thoroughly cooked.

You can also find out here how to tell if ground turkey and ground beef have gone bad.

1. Smell the ground chicken

You will notice right away if it has a sour smell when you open the package. Fresh ground chicken doesn't have much of a smell to it at all if any.

If it has an off smell or sour smell at all it should be thrown away and not cooked with. It isn't worth the risk if you are questioning it.

Like with any poultry meat, it can carry bacteria like E.coli and salmonella.

2. Feel the minced meat


If it is slimy then it has spoiled and it should not be cooked with. Sticky ground chicken is also another indicator that it has gone bad.

Ground chicken that is fresh will be a little wet but not slimy or sticky.

3. Look at the ground chicken

This is the hardest way to tell if your minced chicken has spoiled. It should have a light pink hue to it if it is fresh.

If you notice that it is dull looking and not as bright as when you bought it or looking gray at all then you don't want to cook it. It's best to call it a loss rather than risking getting ill.

Check out these other cooking tips on how to tell if spinach is bad or how to tell if salsa is bad.

How to tell if ground chicken is cooked with a thermometer

When you are cooking ground chicken it is really important that it gets cooked all the way through just like you would if you were any other poultry.

You want to cook it so that it is all a light brown in color. Any pink at all means that you should cook it longer.

If you are using a thermometer you want your ground chicken to at least 165°F but closer to 170°F. The same goes for ground turkey and ground beef also.

Ground chicken is lean meat so you do not want to overcook it but you also want to make sure that it is thoroughly cooked to prevent any foodborne illnesses.