Leftover Bread Recipes – Savoury Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner!
We’ve all been there, you get a lovely loaf of bread (hopefully an artisan, organic bread from Carraig Rua that you pre-ordered online!). You’ve enjoyed it fresh, toasted, for sandwiches or as part of a spread, but there’s some left over. Of course, you can freeze it, but there’s so much more you can do with the leftovers the next day! There are the usual breadcrumbs, French Toast, croutons, but we want to share with you some exciting meals that bring your stale bread back to life! With so many leftover bread recipes to choose from, we’ve gone for one each for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Make sure your bread is dried out for these recipes. You can bake it at a low temperature for a few minutes, or just cut it into inch cubes and leave it out on the counter for a day. For all three recipes, roughly 1 – 1 ½ inch cubes are perfect.
Breakfast: Strata
A fluffy, versatile breakfast bake you can prep the night before!
This is a delicious savoury breakfast, especially for feeding guests or a big family gathering. The best part is, you can make this the night before, leave it in the fridge overnight and the next day just pop it in the oven!
Your basic must-have ingredients are leftover dried bread, milk, eggs and salt & pepper. After that, this is where you can get creative. Definitely add cheese (cheddar or mozzarella are great), then raid the fridge – you can add meats (ham, chorizo, or even sausage meat), and veggies (peppers, asparagus, mushrooms and spinach all work well). Top it off with seasoning or herbs you like!
Recipe (this serves 8 but can be easily scaled up or down!)
- 250g stale bread, dried and cubed
- 8 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups of milk
- 2 handfuls of each: grated or cubed cheese, diced meat, veggies
- Seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, mustard powder, basil, mixed herbs all work!)
Pick up organic ingredients on our online shop here
Method:
- Mix together the eggs, milk, and seasonings.
- Then stir in your cheese, meats, and veggies.
- Put your dried bread cubes in a baking dish.
- Pour the eggy-milky-cheesy-meaty-veggie mix over the bread. Use a spatula to gently fold the mix, so the mixture has the best chance to soak into the bread.
- More cheese on top (always!)
- Refrigerate for at least one hour but ideally overnight – the mix needs to really soak into the bread.
- Bake, uncovered, for 40 – 50 minutes, until the top is golden-brown, and the centre is puffy. Insert a sharp knife into the centre to check that the eggs are set. If not, bake another 5-10 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve warm!
Lunch: Ribollita
A hearty Tuscan soup with cavolo nero and white beans, thickened with bread
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 rosemary sprig
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 500ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
- 400g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 parmesan rind (optional)
- 250g cavolo nero or kale, chopped
- 150g stale crusty bread torn into chunks (see tip below)
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- a few leaves of basil (optional) and grated parmesan or vegan alternative, to serve
Pick up organic ingredients on our online shop here
Method:
- Make a Mirepoix base (that’s gently cook the carrot, celery and onion in olive oil to me and you!). Cook for 15 mins, then add garlic, chilli flakes and salt.
- Add tomatoes, beans, stock and rosemary. If you have a parmesan rind, this adds great flavour too!
- Add cavolo nero and cook for 10 mins, covered.
- Stir in the bread and cook for a few more minutes, until the bread has nicely thickened the soup.
- The soup is now ready to serve – although this soup is even better reheated – make a big batch to have enough for the next day!
- Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, some basil and parmesan
Dinner: Panzanella
An Italian bread salad, a perfect summery dinner
Ingredients
- 200 g stale bread (ciabatta or sourdough are great – the Carraig Rua Sundried Tomato or Olive Ciabattas would be perfect!)
- 600 g ripe mixed tomatoes, roughly chopped – you can use them fresh or gently roasted
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small red onion, peeled and very finely sliced
- 250g red peppers, roughly chopped
- Handful olives, chopped
- red wine vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- a bunch of fresh basil
Pick up organic ingredients on our online shop here
Method
- Place the tomatoes in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add to the bowl your onion, peppers, and bread. Toss the mixture together with your hands, then stir in 2 tablespoons of vinegar and about 3 times as much extra virgin olive oil. Taste and add a little more salt, pepper, vinegar or oil, if needed. You can add anchovies and / or capers too!
- Tear in the basil leaves, stir together and serve. Delicious with barbecued meats or roast chicken.
We hope you enjoy these leftover bread recipes! Let us know – we would love to see photos of your creations!
