How to repurpose stale bread

There’s nothing worse than good food turned bad. We try to minimize waste, but things happen! With a little forethought, you can save any scrap of leftover hand-made bread from landing in the trash.

Friday mornings are a great time to make a call on any remaining bread from a Sunday delivery. If you don’t have plans to enjoy it for lunch or dinner, here are my favorite ways to repurpose stale bread.

1: Save in freezer for breadcrumbs

This is your easy, hands-off, “get to it when there’s time” option. Tear stale bread into rough chunks and toss in a gallon zip-lock in your freezer. That’s it!

Add scraps to this bag until it’s full, then make a batch of breadcrumbs. Or do like me and start a second bag to deal with later (haha!)

To make bread crumbs, spread frozen chunks out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake on 300ºF, stirring every 15 minutes until dried through. Let cool then pulse dried bread pieces in a food processor until desired coarseness. Store these in a jar or zip-lock in the fridge or freezer (mine stay good in the freezer for months).

2. Save in fridge for brunch

If time allows, I highly recommend at least one yummy breakfast/brunch per weekend. Repurpose your bread into French toast or brunch bread pudding, sweet or savory varieties.

To avoid any surprise mold come Sunday morning, pop your leftover bread in the fridge. This will dry out a fresh loaf but helps keep it safe for the last day or two.

3. Fry up some croutons for dinner

If brunch isn’t your vibe, stale bread also makes great croutons for a dinner salad. The fridge is your friend with this option too, and here’s a yummy recipe to get you going.

Get ahead of stale bread by storing your bread with these tips in mind.