Two to three days, which is shorter than almost anything else with meat in it.
Cooked rice and meat together spoil faster than either alone, and the pot the dish was made
in usually shortens it further.
That last part is the bit worth knowing. Pilaf is traditionally left covered “to rest”,
and a heavy cast-iron pot holds heat for hours. The dish spends that whole time in the range
where bacteria multiply fastest, and the shelf life is spent before it ever reaches the
fridge. Whatever is not eaten within an hour or two should go into a shallow container
and get cold — waiting for the pot to cool on its own is what costs you the days.
In the freezer pilaf keeps two to three months, and it survives better than plain rice
usually does. The grains are coated in fat, so they do not dry into crumbs and they reheat
without turning to paste. Flat containers, single portions, straight from frozen —
and do not refreeze.
Reheating has one requirement. Rice gives up moisture in storage, so plain warming leaves
it dry. Put the portion in a pan, add two or three tablespoons of water or stock, cover,
and give it five to seven minutes over low heat. A microwave works as well provided you
cover it, otherwise the top layer simply dries further.
Meat-free pilaf runs three to four days rather than two to three — the arithmetic is the
same, there is just less protein in it.
And treat a sour smell, sticky grains or any slipperiness in the container as the end of
the discussion. Cooked rice is a hospitable medium, and “it looks fine” is not a useful test.
Also in the reference:
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Why pilaf turns into porridge