18 recipes and other tricks to take advantage of stale bread

One way to soften stale bread is to put it back in the oven. But that’s not the only thing you can do with it, there is also the option of reusing it in an original dish.

Freshly made bread is delicious: it has a tender crumb or center and a crispy crust, without leaving aside its attractive aroma. That’s why when you pass by a bakery, you end up buying a loaf or baguette . The problem is that, if you have it at home, it will be too much and it will no longer be as soft as the first day. So what to do with your leftover stale bread?

You should know that if the bread has not developed mold, it is possible to recover it through different methods and preparations . Regarding this, we will tell you both five ways to soften stale bread and 13 ideas for simple and tasty recipes that will surprise your friends and family.

What to do with stale bread?: Don’t throw it away!

Let’s be honest, nowadays we all want to save a little and the alternative of throwing away stale bread does not fit that philosophy. It is a waste of both money and food, and this is a very serious problem today .

In fact, the UN Environment Programme, in its Food Waste Index , noted that food loss in households represented 11% of total food production for the year 2019.

As we indicated before, as long as the bread is not moldy, it still has salvation and is safe for your health to eat. There are two ways you can do this: use it as an ingredient in a new recipe or soften stale bread so you can consume it in the same way . Which one interests you more?

13 recipe ideas with stale bread

It is the most creative option. In fact, stale bread can become the basis of an original recipe, which will make your family lick their fingers. We will give you both ideas that are very easy to make and others that require a little more cooking and technique . Of course, they are all delicious.

1. Breadcrumbs

It is the perfect alternative for what to do with stale bread for those who do not have time or are not very good in the kitchen. Preparing the breadcrumbs is not difficult at all: just put them in the food processor or blender and that’s it. To elevate it you can add oregano or even a little parmesan cheese , it’s great for breading!

2. Toasts

Toasts are a classic that never goes out of style and you can use a hard baguette to make them . Cut it into slices and heat them in a toaster or toaster oven, so they will gain a crispy texture.

Then top them with cheese, ham or any other sausage you like. You can even make them gourmet , for example, a boletus toast with caramelized onion is perfect to serve at a gathering with friends at home.

3. Shepherd’s Crumbs

If we talk about recovering stale bread in simple recipes, shepherd’s crumbs couldn’t be missing . This dish from Extremadura has sautéed chorizo, bacon, paprika and garlic. What the bread will do is absorb these flavors , taking on a soft or crunchier texture, depending on the cooking time.

Finish with a top of fried eggs, which will give that moisture to the dish when you break the yolk and the liquid reaches the crumbs. We recommend placing one for each guest you cook for .

4. Bread and cheese rolls

Among the original ideas of what to make with hard bread, rolls stand out, not only with cheese, but they can also be with ham, salami or chorizo. To make them, you are going to soak slices of bread in milk, to give them moisture so that you can roll them easily.

The next thing is to place a slice of cheese or sausage of your choice and wrap them. The next step is to coat in egg, breadcrumbs and fry. You can even put them in the oil fryer to avoid excess fat . They make great snacks for movie night.

5. Bread cake

This recipe is known in many ways: cake, pie or bread pudding . It is a very tasty dessert in which crumbled hard bread is combined with milk, eggs and sugar, cooked in a bain-marie, to give it a moist texture.

6. Pizza bread

If you don’t know what to do with stale bread and you have children at home, then pan pizza or panini pizza is the right option . It’s no secret that children love pizza and, by making it with that leftover bread, you will spoil them without wasting food.

The ideal is to make it with a long, thick bread, like peasant bread. You just have to open it (as if you were going to make a sandwich), add your homemade tomato sauce and the topping that your children like the most, to finish with a lot of cheese. Put it in the oven until it melts and enjoy.

7. French toast

Without a doubt, French toast is excellent options for breakfast or a snack. Their preparation will not take you much time and they are made with sliced bread, baguettes , peasant bread or whatever you have at home. Mix an egg with milk and pour slices of bread into it. Then, put them in the pan with a little butter or olive oil.

For breakfast you can add honey, fruits or some jam ; while if you make them for a snack, the ideas can be more risky: ice cream, chocolate drops or whipped cream. On the other hand, if you are worried about excess fat, the best option is to make them in the oven or air fryer.

These two traditional Spanish soups have tomato, olive oil, garlic and stale bread in common. To prepare them, chop and place the bread in a bowl with a little water, so that it softens and is easier to mix in the blender with the rest of the ingredients. Then you strain it, put it in the fridge and that’s it: enjoy your cold soup!

In the case of Andalusian gazpacho , you can also use stale bread as decoration croutons . You do this by chopping it into squares—like the ones in Caesar salad—and placing them on top of the soup when serving. For its part, salmorejo is usually decorated with pieces of ham or hard-boiled egg.

9. Garlic soup

Use stale bread in soup recipes, such as garlic soup . The first step is to sauté several cloves of garlic in olive oil and add pieces of bread so that they are impregnated with that wonderful flavor. Also add ground paprika, to give it color and a different nuance.

Next, you should add chicken or meat broth and cook the soup for about 25 minutes. You finish the dish by adding an egg for each person you are going to serve and let it cook for about three minutes. This way, they will have a similar texture to poached eggs.

10. Quiche

Do you like savory pies? So, you can make a delicious one with your leftover stale bread. Moisten the bread chopped into pieces with a little milk and an egg, in order to form a dough. You are going to spread this on a floured cake pan and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes.

The filling of the quiche is your choice, it can be vegetables and cheese , ham, chorizo or whatever you like the most . Combine it with four eggs and put it back in the oven until cooked. Without a doubt, it is an original idea of what to do with stale bread and a delicious lunch or dinner.

11. Ice cream

Yes, you heard right, with stale bread you can make a very interesting creamy homemade ice cream . To do this, you must grind the bread, as we indicated in the breadcrumbs and mix it with whipping cream, vanilla essence and condensed milk. It is also worth adding raisins or chocolate drops to give it nuances and textures.

The next thing is to put it in the refrigerator so that the ice cream forms, in the consistency that you like best. If you don’t have it at home, start by whipping the whipping cream and then, without stopping beating, add the rest of the ingredients until you have a full-bodied mixture.

12. Torrijas

Torrijas could not be missing from a list of what to do with stale bread, a classic of Spanish gastronomy. These are very easy to prepare: place the milk, sugar, vanilla essence and lemon zest in a saucepan, without letting it boil, to create an infusion of these flavors.

Finally, sprinkle cinnamon and powdered sugar on top. If you’re worried about excess fat, just like with French toast, you can make it in the air fryer .

13. Onion soup

We finish the recipe ideas to recover stale bread with another classic, but—this time—from French cuisine. To make it, the first step is to caramelize the sliced onions in a pot with melted butter and sugar. That will be the base of the soup, where you will add the meat broth and cook for about 15 minutes .

The next thing is to serve this broth in individual oven-safe bowls, cover them with a slice of bread and add lots of Parmesan cheese on top. You put it in the oven until the cheese melts and voilà : a scrumptious onion soup .

How to soften stale bread?

The second option for what to do with stale bread is to soften it, with the idea of eating it in the same way you bought it. There are several methods to restore that lost softness and here we share different options, from the best known to other uncommon ones.

1. Recover stale bread in the oven

It is the most common way to make bread edible again and the truth is that it is not very complicated. In less than 20 minutes you can enjoy your bread , spread with butter or whatever you like most. Let’s go step by step:

Moisten the crust of the bread with the help of a spray bottle.
Preheat the oven to less than 200°C.
Place the bread inside and let it heat up for about seven or eight minutes.
Take out the bread and it will be soft and ready for you to consume.

2. Use the microwave

The microwave oven brought many changes to cooking and with its help you can soften stale bread in the blink of an eye. Of course, you must be very careful because if you give it too much time it can get even harder . Below, we share how to do it:

Dampen a kitchen towel with water and wrap the stale bread with it.
Put the bread in the microwave and heat it for 10 seconds.
Check the bread to see if it is soft enough. If not, repeat the process for 10 more seconds or until it is to your liking.

Another modality that you can apply, if the idea of putting a cloth in the microwave does not please you very much, is to place a glass with water inside when you heat the bread . From there it will take the moisture it has lost.

3. The traditional steam

Do you have a steam cooking basket at home ? Then, it will help you recover stale bread. This way may take a little more time than the previous one, but it is longer lasting . It is the following:

Boil water in a pot.
Place the steamer basket over the pot and place the stale bread inside.
Wait 10 to 15 minutes for the steam to soften the bread.

On the other hand, if you have an electric steamer, the procedure is very similar. You place the stale bread in it, add water to the designated compartment and program it for 10 minutes.

4. The toaster can help

While it is true that the toaster is for “toast”, it can also be used to soften stale bread. It is quite useful with sliced bread, as it has the exact shape of the slices . We recommend doing it in the following way:

Moisten the sliced bread, without dripping water, with the help of a spray bottle.
Put the bread slices in the toaster.
Select the lowest browning level.
Wait for the cycle to finish.

5. The newest: with an air fryer

In the recipes section we tell you about several of them that can also be made in the air fryer , since this small appliance is useful for softening the bread that you have left over from the previous days . The procedure is as follows, look for a pencil and paper:

Apply water to your stale bread, with a spray bottle or damp kitchen cloth.
Set the air fryer between 170 and 200°C.
Place the stale bread into the air fryer basket and close it.
Wait five to seven minutes.
Check the bread and if it is soft, you are done.

Now you know what to do with stale bread!

From a delicious gazpacho to putting it in the oven to recover its soft texture, there are many ideas of what to do with stale bread from previous days. It all depends on what you want to prepare or how you want to eat it.

Before finishing, we want to give you a final tip so that you can keep your bread fresh at home for longer: store it in a cloth , paper or bread bag . Stay away from plastic bags, because they make the bread take on a chewy texture and that’s not what you want, right?