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Stale sourdough bread occasionally occurs when even the best intensions do not prevent the bread from becoming dry or hard. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to use stale bread to repurpose it and avoid food waste. These sweet and savory options will have you rethinking how to use your bread!
While we try our best to keep our bread fresh for as long as possible – there are occasions it goes stale. Sometimes we leave it out on the counter a bit too long or slice it and do not put it into the freezer to preserve it fast enough.
Thankfully there are a plethora of uses for stale sourdough bread! Each recipe or use below utilizes stale bread and forms into something new. We are talking breadcrumbs, bruschetta, crostini, breakfast casserole and more.
All I have to say is – sourdough bread is so much better than when I ate gluten free bread for 14 years. You can not convince me gluten free bread does not taste like cardboard! I will take stale sourdough bread over gluten free bread any day.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Sourdough Breadcrumbs
Making homemade sourdough breadcrumbs has never been easier. You can either let your bread dry out on the counter or you can dry it out in the oven. Process the breadcrumbs and use to coat anything (may we recommend mozzarella cheese sticks, chicken nuggets, air fryer tuna balls, or sourdough Mac and cheese bites?). Or you can throw them in meatballs, meatloaf, or on top of casseroles.
If you have leftover sourdough jalapeño cheddar bread, process into breadcrumbs, add a little extra cheese and throw it on top of a casserole. You will thank me in advance!
2. Sourdough Grilled Cheese
I swear bread comes back to life when heated back up! If you have bread that is not too stale, consider making a grilled cheese sandwich. To ensure even more moisture – serve it alongside soup to dip it in!
3. Sourdough Apple Brown Betty
I had never heard of this until I was researching uses for leftover bread! A Brown Betty is a dessert topped with toasted bread or breadcrumbs which are mixed together with butter and sugar. This mixture is placed on top of an apple before it is baked in the oven. Once baked until golden brown – serve it with ice cream!
4. Sourdough Croutons
Cube your bread, coat it in olive oil, herbs and spices – bake it in the oven until dry. Save in a ziplock bag and use on salads. (Looking at you – Caesar Salad!)
5. Sourdough Panzanella
If you like sourdough croutons – use them to make a panzanella. The croutons soak up the juices of the tomato salad – made with tomato, cucumber, red onion, olive oil, balsamic, and fresh basil.
6. Sourdough Bruschetta
Cut your bread into slices, cover it in olive oil. Bake in oven until crispy. Top with chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and fresh basil. Top with balsamic vinegar or balsamic vinegar reduction.
7. Sourdough Fattoush
If you have leftover pitas – make them into this traditional Lebanese salad. It is a crunchy salad made with vegetables and is topped with pita croutons.
8. Crostini
Slice bread and top it with olive oil. Use these ‘crackers’ to dip in anything you like – spinach artichoke dip, soup, chili.
9. Bread soup
There are a lot of different recipes which use stale bread in them for flavor and as a thickener like Ajo Blanco.
10. Make a sauce
Leftover bread makes a great thickener. You can add it to sauce to become thick – like Romesco sauce (made with red wine and red peppers) or Muhummara (made with red pepper, walnuts and breadcrumbs).
11. Kvass
Kvass is a fermented drink made from rye bread – similar to kombucha or water kefir. If you have leftover sourdough rye bread, this recipe might be a fun one to try!
12. Pesto and Cheese
Cut your bread into slices, cover with pesto and top with cheese. Place into the oven and bake until golden and crispy.
13. Sourdough Bread Pudding
So many versions – chocolate, with raisins, caramel…the list goes on and on!
14. Sourdough Breakfast Casserole (AKA sourdough strata)
This is the savory version of french toast casserole (kind of like this savory sourdough dutch baby!). When making the casserole, add lunch meat (or breakfast sausage), milk, cheese, vegetables and spices.
15. Sourdough French Toast (IE Sourdough Pain Perdue)
Oh, the classic French toast. Bread is taken to the ‘next level’ when you dip it in a mixture of eggs, milk, cinnamon and a little vanilla extract. Bake it in a cast iron skillet and serve with butter, powdered sugar and maple syrup. We love to make this with a side of eggs for an easy Sabbath (Shabbat) breakfast.
16. Sourdough French Toast Sticks
These are a fun take on French toast as they have a crunch exterior and the bread is cut into strips. French toast sticks are often baked in the oven rather than on the stovetop. I think this would be a kid approved sourdough recipe!
17. Sourdough Stuffing (10 ways)
We have over 10+ ways to make sourdough stuffing. In theory, cube your bread, let it dry out completely. When ready to make stuffing, add herbs and chicken stock. Bake within your bird of choice or as a side dish.
18. Fondue
If you have stale bread- it is perfect for fondue! After all, fondue was created by combining old bread and scraps of cheese.
19. Sourdough French Toast Casserole (2 recipes)
It is no surprise breakfast food made it onto this list. We love French toast casserole so much we have a few different ‘go to’ recipes on the blog – chocolate chip French toast casserole and French toast casserole with cream cheese.
20. Sourdough Garlic Bread
Ok – hear me out. This is my family’s quick version of “garlic bread”. We take sliced bread, a pat of butter and garlic powder and place it onto a sheet pan. Bake it for 3-5 minutes and serve with soup. It is the perfect, toasted bread that just tastes better than bread thrown into a toaster.
Whether you like tomato soup, pickle soup or baked potato soup – bread always pairs well with it!
21. Feed it to the animals
If you have ducks at your neighborhood pond that love bread – you can always share it with wildlife. Or if you hang the loaf from a tree- the birds will love it too.
How do you use stale sourdough bread? Let us know in the comments below!
