Leftover bread recipes (2024)

A collection of the best ways to use up leftover bread. 19 recipes and ideas you’ll come back to over and over.

Leftover bread recipes (1)

There are ways to store bread to make it last longer. But sometimes you’d rather just be done with it! And whether you’ve made the loaf or bought it, it feels wrong to just throw it out.

Here are the best recipes for leftover bread that will help you use up any kind: from rustic sourdough to plain sandwich bread to hot dog buns.

Bread Pudding

Leftover bread recipes (2)

Bread pudding is a great use of leftover bread, and it’s a versatile recipe because the type of bread doesn’t really matter: you can use anything from a soft challah to a rustic sourdough. You will want a stale bread for this recipe.

It’s easy to make and can be made ahead. You simple make a sweet custard of milk and egg, pour it over the cubed bread, and bake.

One of the best things about bread pudding is how many variations there are: you can make it plain, add chocolate chunks, or try one of these varieties

Breadcrumbs

You don’t really need a recipe for these. You just put stale bread in the food processor and whirl until you have.. bread crumbs. You can use fancy artisan bread, plain old sandwich bread, or even leftover hot dog buns.

Breadcrumbs are perfect for everything from breading chicken to topping baked mac and cheese. And they are so easy to make, that when you don’t feel like a big production they are a perfect way to avoid wasting your bread.

Pop these in a freezer bag and freeze what you don’t use right away; they will last for months.

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Croutons

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Croutons take a few minutes to make but are so useful. Even a super plain salad with nothing but lettuce and dressing feels special with some homemade croutons on top. And a good crouton is absolutely necessary for making the best French onion soup.

To make croutons, you’ll want a sturdy bread that holds its shape when diced. A few days old is best. All you need to do is:

  1. Dice the bread in cubes
  2. Toss in olive oil or melted butter.
  3. Sprinkle on some herbs.
  4. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.

You can use my crouton recipe or you can just sort of eyeball it. It’s not rocket science.

They freeze great too!

Panzanella (aka bread salad)

If you love Italian flavors, then you’ll love panzanella. It’s plate of stale bread which has been soaked in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar and tomatoes. You can add more herbs and seasonings if you want.

Panzanella is a recipe that’s best with a sturdier bread. You want each piece to stay firm, not turn to mush. It’s a bread salad after all, not a pudding!

Stuffing

Homemade stuffing is a leftover bread classic. It’s simple cubed bread with some broth and seasonings that’s baked and served alongside (or inside) meat.

You can use any kind of bread for more stuffing recipes, and even leftover cornbread is delicious.

Stuffing is traditionally made on holidays, but there’s no reason you can’t serve this for any family dinner. If you’re a regular bread baker with lots of leftovers, you’ll want to make stuffing more than twice a year. Comfort food at its best.

If you are looking for more ways to use a sturdy bread, try this recipe for sourdough stuffing.

French toast

You can use pretty much any bread for a French toast recipe, but if you happen to have leftover brioche or challah bread, you’re in luck. The softer and sweeter the bread, the better your French toast will turn out.

This popular brunch dish is one of the few leftover bread ideas that uses bread slices. Topped with whipped cream or maple syrup, it’s a crowd pleaser.

Breakfast strata

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Breakfast strata is a breakfast casserole with big cubes of leftover bread with eggs and savory seasonings poured on top. The same technique as a bread pudding, but savory and breakfast oriented. One of the best things about these recipes is that they are completely flexible. You can add veggies, bacon, sausage, more seasonings, or anything else you wish.

They can also be made at night, popped in the fridge, and baked in the morning.

French toast casserole

These recipes are somewhere between bread pudding and strata. It’s a dish that can be made in the morning or the night before, but it’s sweet and custard based.

Most of these recipes do best with a sturdy bread like homemade sourdough, but if you’re making it in the morning a softer bread will work too.

Some of our favorite French toast casseroles:

Slow cooker stuffing recipes

These are something you may never have tried, but they are easy and delicious dinners. Basically you spray your slow cooker liner with cooking spray, add cubed bread and meat, broth, and seasonings and let it slow cook.

These recipes are some of the best:

Crostini

It’s just a fancy way to say little toasts with stuff on top. If you’ve ever had bruschetta, just think of the little toasted slices of bread served alongside it. Brushed with olive oil and baked or broiled, crostini are begging for a yummy topping. Spinach and artichoke dip goes from football food to gourmet dish when you pair with these little guys.

These are, obviously, easiest with a long and narrow loaf like a baguette.

Some dips and serving ideas for these yummy slices:

And that’s all!

Hope you found a leftover bread recipe that’s perfect for what you need.

Leftover bread recipes (6)

Leftover bread recipes (2024)

FAQs

What dish can be made from stale bread? ›

There are many ways to use stale bread in recipes, including French onion soup or grinding stale bread into savory breadcrumbs for venison meatballs or stuffed bell peppers. Satisfy a sweet tooth with French toast with apples and pecan or a dessert like bread pudding and Apple Brown Betty.

What can I do with overdue bread? ›

Leftover bread recipes
  1. Bread pudding. A star rating of 4.8 out of 5. ...
  2. Chocolate & banana French toast. A star rating of 4.5 out of 5. ...
  3. Czech bread dumplings (knedlíky) A star rating of 0 out of 5. ...
  4. Panettone pudding. ...
  5. Peanut butter-stuffed French toast. ...
  6. Tuscan-style ribollita. ...
  7. Easiest ever bread pudding. ...
  8. Bread and butter pudding.

How do you reuse stale bread? ›

Here are a few ideas: Make breadcrumbs: Pulse the bread in a food processor or blender to make fresh breadcrumbs. You can use them to coat chicken or fish, or sprinkle them on top of baked mac and cheese. French toast: Cut the bread into thick slices and use it to make French toast.

How do you recycle old bread? ›

Whizz up your stale bread in a food processor (or grate it) to create breadcrumbs. These crumbs can then be used in recipes – to top savoury dishes, 'bread' meat, stuff poultry, make burgers and sausages, or thicken stews, soups or gravies.

How do you not waste stale bread? ›

Moisten your bread under cold water, without soaking it. Bake it for about 5 minutes on the oven rack. The bread will be soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, just like fresh bread! We advise you to eat it quickly and not to wait for the next meal.

Should I throw stale bread? ›

Any bread not affected by mold, but is simply getting dry or stale, can be eaten in any of a number of ways. You can make it into crumbs, which can be used as breading for fried food or binding for meat loaf. The crumbs can be completely dried and stored until needed.

Can you eat expired bread if there is no mold? ›

Bread is perfectly safe to eat unless there is mould on it. This is unlikely to happen until several days after the expiry date, although in moist and hot conditions, it might even happen before the expiry date. Mind you, some mould can look exactly like flour unless you look closely, so do check.

Is it fine to eat day old bread? ›

Bakery bread can last up to two to three days after it is bought. However, you can safely eat it after this time, but it may not be as fresh.

Can I eat expired bread if I cook it? ›

Bread. Bread will generally become stale past its expiration date, but it's still safe to eat. If it's moldy, toss it out. To extend its shelf life, toss it in the freezer.

Does toasting stale bread fix it? ›

The trick is to heat the bread up so that water can be reabsorbed into the starch granules once again so it can revert to its springy, fresh-bread state. Now, if you have sliced bread you want to do this too. You can simply pop it into the toaster for a few seconds.

Can I freeze stale bread? ›

There's nothing sadder than a stale, unusable loaf of bread. Keep your bread fresh well past its best-by date by freezing it for later use.

Does putting bread in the fridge keep it from going stale? ›

The starch molecules in bread recrystallize very quickly at cool temperatures, and cause the bread to stale much faster when refrigerated. *Shop-bought loaves should be kept in an air-tight plastic bag at room temperature rather than in the fridge.

Do restaurants recycle bread? ›

But yes, a lot of restaurants recycle their bread," he once told Oprah. Bourdain noted that the main reason restaurants reuse uneaten bread boils down to what he calls the first rule of classical cooking: "Use everything, waste nothing." In 2018, George Mahe, dining editor for St.

What to do with expired bread reddit? ›

Cut into cubes and season before drying for croutons to put in your soups and salads. Old bread is also a good filler for meatballs and hamburger patties because it holds the meat together and stretches the meat farther (thus saving a little money).

Why do you put bread in a bread bin? ›

You can keep your fresh loaf in a bread box for a few days. With its dark and dry interior, a bread box helps maintain a decent balance of moisture to keep the inside of the bread soft and its exterior crusty. Make sure there is plenty of room inside for good air circulation.

Can you cook stale bread? ›

If your oven has a "warm" setting and you've been waiting to use it, this is your moment. If not, just set it to 300-325 degrees and pop the bread in the oven, directly on the rack.

Does stale bread go moldy? ›

Bread may carry a “best before” date but it can be edible even when stale and completely hard and dry. Remember that “aging” in bread is a battle between becoming hard and dry, and becoming moldy due to staying moist. Don't eat moldy bread, but you can turn old stale/dry bread into croutons or breadcrumbs.

Can stale bread be recycled? ›

About 20-30% of the old bread can be recycled. It's dried out and finely ground. This creates sourdough again, which the bakers can then add to their new dough.

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