10 Ways to Use a Stale Baguette

Did that baguette get a little too crusty? That happens. Luckily, baguettes are almost as useful stale as they are fresh.

Ever noticed that baguettes go from crisp and chewy to rock-hard in a matter of hours? Of course you have. You probably enjoyed half a baguette with dinner last night, only to find it as hard as a baseball bat on the countertop this morning.

But if you think there's no hope for that baguette, you're wrong. There's plenty you can do with the remains:

Make a killer panzanella

This Italian bread salad is popular for good reason—the tomato juices and vinaigrette soak into the stale, toasted bread, infusing it with some serious flavor.

DIY those breadcrumbs

Homemade breadcrumbs are a good cook's secret weapon. They're infinitely better than the store-bought stuff and can be stored in the freezer, untoasted, to be ready at a moments noticed. Use them untoasted to bread cutlets and fish, or toast them to sprinkle over pasta and roasted vegetables.

Make some meatballs

Stale bread is essential in any solid meatball recipe. Tear up the baguette, soak it in milk to soften it, and add it to the ground meat and seasonings.

Croutons!

Cut off the crust, slice the bread into bite-size pieces, toast, and toss them into any and every salad and soup.

Add eggs and vegetables, bake, and call it strata

This is basically an excuse to invite friends over, pour mimosas, and eat brunch.

Or Go Sweet and Bake a bread pudding

Swap out the vegetables for cinnamon and sugar and you've got dessert.

Slice it into crostini

How to make the ultimate cocktail snack: Slice a stale baguette into thin rounds, toast, and pile with your topping of choice.

Use it to Thicken soup

Take a hint from traditional Italian soups like ribollita and tomato-heavy pappa al pomodoro, which use torn, toasted bread as a thickening agent.

Let it soak up all the juices from a roast chicken

Nestle cubes of the stale baguette around your chicken as it roasts. The bread with soak up all the delicious pan drippings, creating a hacked stuffing of sorts.

Or soak up the broth of french onion soup

Stale slices were pretty much born for this—when placed on top of the soup, piled high with cheese, and broiled, you'll completely forget that the baguette wasn't at its best.