3 Delicious Ways To Use Up Stale Bread

It's a fact of life that once in a while your loaf of bread will go stale before you get a chance to use it, but there's no need to resort to making bread crumbs for the millionth time or, even worse, throwing out that rock-hard loaf. These 3 easy recipes will show you some inventive new ways to use old bread in delicious new ways. Bread pudding, bread salad, bread dumplings – you can make an entire feast out of the leftovers you were just going to throw away!

1. Bread Pudding

Yield: 1
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 55 minutes
Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients:

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup mixed nuts
• 1½ cups milk
• 6 eggs
• 16 oz stale pastries (croissants, cinnamon rolls, donuts, etc.)
• ⅔ cup powdered sugar
• berry sauce to garnish

Instructions:

Heat the sugar in a deep skillet or sauté pan (10-inch) over low heat. Once the sugar has melted, add the mixed nuts to the pan and caramelize them lightly before adding the milk. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the eggs. Place the pan back on the stovetop, tear the stale pastries into smaller pieces, stir them into the mixture in the pan, and let sit over low heat for 15 minutes. Transfer the pan to a preheated oven and cook at 350°F for 45 minutes. Flip the bread pudding over onto a serving platter, dust with powdered sugar, and garnish with berry sauce before serving.

2. Bread Salad

Yield: 1
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients:

• 16 oz stale bread
• 8 oz mixed tomatoes
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 red onion, sliced
• ¾ cup mixed olives
• juice of 1 lemon
• grated parmesan to garnish

Instructions:

Cut the stale bread into smaller pieces, spread them out on a baking tray, top with the mixed tomatoes, and cook in a preheated oven at 350°F for 10 minutes. Mince the butter, garlic, parsley, and salt together, spread the garlic herb butter over the toasted bread pieces and tomatoes, and mix well. Place the mixture in a bowl, add the red onion, mixed olives, and lemon juice, and mix to combine. Let the bread salad sit for 15 minutes and then garnish with grated parmesan before serving.

3. Bread Dumplings

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients:

• 16 oz stale bread
• 1¼ cups milk, hot
• 1 onion, diced & sautéed 
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup chopped parsley
• salt, pepper & nutmeg to taste
• mushroom gravy, cranberry sauce & rosemary to garnish

Instructions:

Cut the stale bread into smaller pieces. Pour the hot milk and sautéed onions over the bread pieces and let the mixture steep for 15 minutes. Mash the mixture with a potato masher, add the egg, parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and mix to combine. Place the mixture in the middle of a clean dish towel, roll it up into a log inside of the dish towel, and secure the ends with cooking twine. Pour boiling water into a large roasting pan and place it on the bottom of a preheated oven set to 275°F. Place the bread dumpling log inside of the dish towel directly on the middle oven rack and cook for 35 minutes. Unroll the bread dumpling from the dish towel and cut it into several equally-sized pieces. Fry the bread dumpling slices on both sides in a pan over medium heat until golden brown and serve with mushroom gravy, cranberry sauce, and rosemary.

There's absolutely no reason to get down in the dumps because your bread has gone stale. Turn that frown upside down, transform a negative into a positive, and try these 3 amazing recipes for old bread! 

Get the recipe for the Toast Cinnamon Rolls featured in the bonus video.