How Jacques Pépin Transforms Leftover Bread Into Cheap Savory Pancakes

Finding new recipes to make and enjoy can oftentimes be quite difficult, but the best ones come from simple, common ingredients. Take, for example, leftover bread that's too stale to find much use for. Jacques Pépin has a method for turning this bread into a delicious dish with the help of just a few other simple ingredients to make delicious, savory pancakes that are sure to become new favorites once you give them a try.

"[If] I have some leftover bread, which often I have," Pépin began in a 2023 interview with Tasting Table. "I cut it into little pieces and soak it with a bit of milk to soften it and add an egg to it and some herb and some onion, maybe garlic. You can do a beautiful pancake with that in a skillet." Pépin demonstrated this recipe in a video posted to his Instagram account, revealing that the flapjacks garner a crispy, golden exterior when they are complete. He added in the interview, "It's cheap. It's delicious. You can serve that by itself or with a bit of sour cream or whatever. It's important to use leftovers."

While many will say using stale sourdough for French toast is the best use of leftover bread, the thing that's so enticing about these bread pancakes is that it creates an incredibly unique dish that isn't confined to an identity as a breakfast food. Plus, similar to okonomiyaki (a savory pancake native to Osaka, the "Kitchen of Japan") you can customize the simple recipe to better suit your tastes. Jacques Pépin suggests adding sour cream to the top of his savory pancakes once they're done, but that's far from the only feasible add-on. 

You can lean on savory breakfast items like bacon or sausage if you're using the bread pancakes as a direct substitute for standard pancakes. In the same vein, you can add some shredded cheddar cheese or ham to better accentuate the ingredients this recipe shares with omelets. Alternatively, you can find ingredients that are popular either on or in other savory pancake recipes, like kimchi, a Korean ingredient that's also incredible on top of steak.

Beyond add-ons, you can tailor the bread you're using to better suit the recipe. While any type of bread will work, high-quality breads or ones with special flavors can be true game changers for Pépin's signature flapjacks. Using breads like fresh jalapeno cheddar or Italian herb is especially smart, as they will do a great job of amplifying the recipe's savory quality.

Static Media owns and operates both The Takeout and Tasting Table.