Who doesn’t love bread? You can do so much with it: make sandwiches, avocado toast, or just eat it with butter. There is nothing worse, however, than realizing that your bread has gone stale. Have no fear. I am here to tell you of some of the best uses of stale bread. From breakfast to dessert, you can use stale bread for everything.
1. French Toast
Making French toast is the classic use for stale bread. Using the stale bread allows it to soak up more of the yummy egg wash. It’s such a delicious weekend breakfast.
2. Panzanella
In panzanella, the cubed stale bread is used to soak up the vinaigrette. If you don’t have stale bread, however, you can always cube fresh bread and toast it in a pan. This is a healthy and simple use for stale bread.
3. French Onion Soup
The best part of a French onion soup is the crusty and cheesy bread on top, don’t you agree? Since the bread is already hard, you don’t have to toast it before placing it on top of the soup.
4. Breading
One of the most useful uses for stale bread is to make breadcrumbs. To make the chicken Parmesan, you’ll have to season your homemade breadcrumbs with parsley, pepper, oregano, and other Italian spices.
5. Bread Pudding
My favorite dessert in the world is bread pudding, and this cinnamon brown sugar bread pudding looks to die for. Is it weird that I can’t wait for some of my bread to go stale, just to make this?
6. Meatballs
Instead of using bread crumbs, like for the chicken Parmesan, this meatball recipe has you soaking the bread in milk. This will massively help the texture of the finished product. And who doesn’t love a good meatball?
7. Strata
Strata is a cross between a quiche or frittata and a bread pudding. The base ingredients are egg, cheese, and bread, but you can add however many mix-ins as you want. It is a quintessential brunch dish.
8. Meatloaf
Stale bread is used to make meatloaf because it helps bind the meat together. Here are some great ideas on how to change up the classic recipe.
#SpoonTip: Make sure to soak the bread before adding it to your mixture.
9. Croutons
No salad is complete without croutons. Instead of wasting money on the ones in the store, make your own croutons with stale bread and some seasoning
10. Stuffing
Everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving side is the best when made with stale bread because it’s able to better absorb all the liquid from the stock and flavors. This stuffing is definitely a win in my book.
11. Crostini
The best part about crostini is the crustiness of the bread. Since your bread is already dry, you only have to toast it enough to be hot. This goat cheese and prosciutto crostini sounds like it would be the perfect appetizer or snack.
So instead of throwing away your old bread, adopt one of these uses for stale bread. I know that I can’t wait for my bread to go stale, just so I can make some bread pudding.