So there you are—Friday night, back from work, and the last thing you want to do is spend the next half hour making dinner. Well, with a few slices of bread and some odds and ends from the pantry, you can have dinner ready in the time it takes you to say TGIF.
In this article, we’re revealing some of our favorite bread recipes for snacks. Bread is often overlooked as the lowliest of sides, but with a little care and a lot of creativity, it can be the foundation of countless snacks.
There’s no food that spells comfort quite like a perfectly grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of creamy tomato soup. Well, you can get all the same flavors (and the comfort to boot) by combining the ingredients cleverly in a casserole.
Make your grilled cheese sandwiches as you normally would and arrange them in a casserole dish without overlapping. Then, use your favorite tomato soup recipe and fill your casserole with the soup until it’s level with the sandwiches. Bake it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, take them out of the oven, and top generously with shredded Mozzarella. Broil for another five minutes and serve—yum!
Pakoras are extremely popular street food in India, and they’re easy to make at home. Bread is the main ingredient, but this requires a few ingredients you may not have on hand, and it’s one of the most healthy bread snacks.
You’re basically going to make sandwiches and then fry them. For the sandwich filling, boiled potatoes and peas will form your base, and then you can go wild with the spices. Chili powder, turmeric, cumin, and many others are common in pakoras, so feel free to experiment.
Smash the potatoes and peas and season them. Then, spread on slices of bread and press them together to make firm sandwiches. Make a simple batter with flour and water, and spices to taste. Cut the sandwiches into slices and soak in the batter before frying until golden brown.
A bit of work, to be fair, but totally worth it.
Do you have some leftover bread, milk, butter, eggs, and sugar? If so, you’ve got everything it takes to make one of our top bread snacks recipes.
In the time it takes your oven to preheat, you’ll have everything ready to bake. In a mixing bowl, combine two eggs, two cups of milk, sugar to taste, and two tablespoons of unsalted butter. Heat the mixture until the butter melts and pour it over a loaf of bread that you previously tore apart and arranged in a pie dish. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 and enjoy!
If you’re feeling extra classy, spruce up your bread pudding with a little vanilla extract.
This one is more of a clever presentation rather than a full-blown bread recipe. If you or your kids are bored with the same old pasta, you’ll be surprised at how much of a difference a few slices of bread can make.
You’ll need a springform pan for this recipe since the bread isn’t sturdy enough to survive a demolding otherwise.
In your springform pan, arrange slices of bread along the bottom, cutting them to form a circular shape. Then, line the sides of the pan with more bread slices. Make your favorite pasta bolognese and let it cool a bit before adding a couple of eggs. Pour it into the bread mold and bake at 400℉ for 25–30 minutes. When you demold it, the pasta should be firm enough to keep its shape.
The bread pudding recipe above is great for when you want to satisfy your sweet tooth. But it’s not so great if you need a quick entree. If that’s the case, you can modify it slightly to make a savory bread pudding that’s sure to be a hit with the whole family.
The best bread for this savory bread pudding is rye if you’ve got it. Otherwise, any bread will do, but sandwich slices will make a rather drab pudding. First, cube your bread into about ¼ inch cubes. Use the same recipe from the previous bread pudding but don’t add sugar. Instead, add a cup of shredded Swiss or cheddar cheese and two cups of finely minced corned beef. Pout the mixture over your bread cubes and bake for about 35 minutes or until the bread starts to form dark brown tips.
This is one of those recipes that you can bring to a gathering if you want to really impress your friends with easy snacks with bread. It looks as good as it tastes, and it’s a cinch to make.
First, you’re going to make French toast using your favorite recipe. Try to keep it as simple as possible because you’ll be adding a lot of flavors later. Use your French toast to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with your choice of jam or jelly and creamy or crunchy peanut butter. Adding some fresh fruit works great too, and when they’re done, cut them into small triangles pierce them with wooden skewers.
When it’s time to serve, arrange them on a serving tray and drizzle maple syrup on top. You’ll have a fantastic dessert, and nobody has to get their hands sticky while eating it.
Another sweet delight, this one takes it up a notch with raising bread and maple syrup. It’s super simple to make, so it’s a great way to impress unexpected guests and family alike.
Slice a loaf of raisin bread into ½-inch slices and arrange them in a casserole dish, so they overlap slightly.
Beat six large eggs and a cup of milk together and sweeten the mixture with maple syrup. Pour it evenly over the raising bread and sprinkle blueberries or more raisins on it before drizzling generously with maple syrup. Bake it for about 30 minutes until the mixture is firm and the tips of the raising bread are a deep golden brown.
Strata is a type of layered casserole popular in Italian cuisine. For this one, you’re going to make a mixture of finely diced mushrooms, sausage, and diced bacon. Sautee the ingredients until the mushrooms are soft and tender. Then, arrange a layer of cubed bread in a casserole dish. Cover the layer with a third of the mushroom mix and shredded cheese of your choice. Repeat two more times, and then cover the strata with a mixture of six eggs and a cup each of milk and half and half.
Bake for about 20 minutes, then cover with more cheese and broil for another five minutes.
Those are some of the greatest recipes we know that showcase the versatility of bread. The typically neutral flavor and dense consistency make it perfect for a wide variety of dishes.
But you don’t have to spend your Friday figuring out clever ways to use up your leftover bread. Make a reservation at Stubborn Seed right now and stop wondering about dinner.
