Tuesday, February 16, 2016

How To Soften Stale Bread And 7 Ways To Use Up Stale Bread

In order to save money on food, I try to make my groceries last and here is how to soften stale bread. In the picture below I was trying to soften a stale baguette. We had it for a few days and I needed to use it.

stale bread

How To Soften Stale Bread

Step 1. Take your loaf of sourdough or French bread or a long baguette and wrap it completely in a       slightly damp paper towel. Not soaking but the paper towel should mostly be evenly damp.

Step 2. Place in the microwave for about 20 seconds depending on the strength of your microwave. You may have to increase the time to 30 seconds for crusty breads. Less for softer breads. You can also soften bread in the oven by doing step one and placing on a cookie sheet and popping in the oven at 250 degrees for about ten minutes.

Ways To Use Up Stale Bread

Soften and use as normal.

Make homemade breadcrumbs.

Make French toast.

Make bread pudding.

Make bread pizza.

Make bruschetta.

Make a breakfast casserole.


  1. Great tip on softening the french bread - I'll have to remember that one.

    We always grind up our stale bread into breadcrumbs. I also smear it with butter and seasonings and pop it into a low oven and make croutons.

  2. You have such great tips. You ought to do a newsletter to get subscribers and add a tip or two each week as a freebie.

  3. It's very rare at our house that we have stale bread which is indicative of the fact that we eat too much of it. I've tried your trick before though and it works. Someday I'm going to make my own croutons.

    Love Brenda's idea, by the way. :)

  4. I have made croutons with stale bread.

    We don't eat much bread and with just the two of us, bread goes bad quickly. So, we cut a loaf in half as soon as we bring it home and freeze the other half.

  5. Like your idea.
    We usually don't have any leftover bread as it is quickly converted to bread upma.

  6. We usually either freeze crusts to run through the food processor for bread crumbs, or cut leftover bread up, toss it with olive oil, garlic, and herbs and bake to make croutons.

  7. I do this too and it really does help salvage those hard rolls and loaves of bread. Have a great weekend!

  8. These are great practical tips! Thank you for joining the Art of Home-Making Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth! :)