Leftover Bread Recipes

Stale bread is an ingredient, not garbage. Croutons, puddings, soups and more start here.

Stale bread soaks up liquid better than fresh, which is exactly what most of these dishes want. Turn it into bread pudding, French toast, a bread salad like panzanella, a thick bread soup, or bind it into dumplings.

Have bread plus other ingredients? Find recipes with what you have

What can I make with leftover bread?

Bread pudding
Soak the bread in a sweet custard and bake it into dessert. Try Belgian Waffle Bread Pudding.
French toast
Dip slices in egg and milk and fry them until golden. Try French Pain Perdu.
Bread salad
Toss torn bread with tomatoes and dressing so it soaks up the juices. Try Lebanese Fattoush.
Bread soup
Stir the crusts into a vegetable soup until it turns thick and hearty. Try Italian Ribollita.
Bread dumplings
Bind cubed bread with egg and milk, then simmer into dumplings. Try Czech Bread Dumplings.

Got more than bread to use up? Find recipes with what you have.

How to decide what to make with your leftover bread

The right dish depends on the state the bread is in, not on the recipe you feel like cooking. Find yours below.

Firm and a day or two old: Perfect for croutons, panzanella or French toast. Slightly stale bread soaks up dressing and custard without collapsing, which fresh bread cannot do.
Rock hard: Blitz it into breadcrumbs, or simmer it into a thick bread soup like ribollita where the bread is the body of the dish.
Crusts and end pieces: Cube and bind them with egg and milk for bread dumplings, or bake them into a bread pudding with whatever fruit needs using.

How long does cooked bread keep, and how to store it

The fridge is bread's enemy: Cold speeds up staling. Keep a loaf you will finish in a paper bag or bread box at room temperature; freeze anything you will not.
Freeze it sliced: Sliced bread toasts straight from frozen, so you only ever take what you need and the rest stays fresh.
Keep a breadcrumb jar in the freezer: Blitz stale ends as they appear and add them to the same bag. Breadcrumbs keep for months and never need thawing.

The best way to reheat leftover bread

Revive a whole loaf with water and heat: Run the crust briefly under the tap, then bake at 180C for ten minutes. The steam softens the crumb and the crust crisps again.
Toast beats microwave, always: Microwaved bread turns soft and then instantly leathery as it cools. Dry heat is the only route worth using.

Mistakes worth avoiding with leftover bread

Throwing out bread that is dry but not mouldy — dry is a feature for most of these dishes.
Using fresh soft bread for panzanella or French toast; it turns to paste.