6 Ways to Refresh Stale or Wilted Ingredients So You Can Use Them

When it comes to culinary ingredients, it's safe to say that fresher is usually better. But that doesn't mean you should throw out your leafy greens, herbs, or fruit the minute they start to wilt. Refreshing stale ingredients not only gives you more opportunities to use them, it also reduces food waste and helps cut down on your grocery bill. In order to figure out the best ways to revitalize ingredients that are past their prime, we spoke to a chef with experience reusing and revitalizing ingredients. Find out her favorite ways to reuse, refresh, and re-crisp stale ingredients.

Revive Wilted Herbs and Greens With Ice Water

Have you ever noticed that fresh produce starts to look less vibrant as soon as you bring it home from the grocery store? Simply putting a bunch of basil or kale in the refrigerator will lead to it softening or getting limp, says Rachel Haggstrom, Executive Chef of Michelin-starred The Restaurant at JUSTIN in Paso Robles. This is because the refrigerator is dry, causing the moisture in the vegetable to evaporate, she explains. The best way to prevent wilting? Haggstrom recommends storing tender greens in reusable, resealable bags and wrapping them in a damp paper towel. That way, the greens retain a bit of moisture from the damp towel and are able to stay fresher longer. 

If your greens have already wilted and you want to salvage what you can, Haggstrom recommends:

1. Submerge the greens or herbs in ice water.
2. Gently remove them and let them air dry on paper towels or a clean dish towel.

The cold shock helps rehydrate the limp herbs and greens and bring back some structure to their wilted leaves. This method can also be used to revive limp green beans, carrots, or radishes. 

Refresh Stale Bread by Steaming

There's nothing worse than letting a once crispy and tender loaf of bread go stale, but the good news is that you can bring it back to life with a few simple steps.

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wet your hands and gently sprinkle water all over the exterior of the loaf.
3. Place the bread in the oven until the crust is crackling crisp again, about 5 minutes (depending on the type of bread and the size of the loaf or part of a loaf).

The small sprinkle of moisture on the outside helps create a steamy environment in the oven that helps rehydrate the bread throughout, says Haggstrom. Other techniques include wetting the bread more thoroughly (good for baguettes) or wrapping the dampened bread in foil and heating it for longer at a lower temperature, 300 to 325 degrees.

If you can't revive the entire loaf, different types of bread products can be reused in a variety of different ways. For example, stale loaves can be cut into cubes and turned into croutons or sliced into rounds and reinvented as crostini. "I find that croissants and viennoiserie are easiest to refresh and are great for bread pudding or to be used in a stuffing recipe,” says Haggstrom. Finding a way to give stale bread a second life is a great way to extend its shelf life and reduce grocery waste. 

Make Chips Crispy Again in the Air Fryer 

When it comes to refreshing stale snacks, achieving a crispy crust can often be done using a popular small kitchen appliance: your air fryer.

To revitalize soggy potato chips or tortilla chips, place them in a single layer in the air fryer and reheat for about two to four minutes or until golden and crisp.

Freshen Stale Crackers in the Oven

Nobody wants a soggy cracker that feels like biting into cardboard. The solution? Place them in a single layer on a sheet tray and heat them in a low oven (around 160 degrees Fahrenheit) to warm them up—about four to five minutes. Use immediately.

Revive Brown Sugar in the Microwave

When you're about to bake your favorite chocolate chip cookies and find the essential brown sugar is as hard as a rock, there's no need to sub all white sugar (you'll lose the caramel flavor and soft texture) or head to the store for a new bag. Though the brown sugar, whether light brown or dark, might seem like it's beyond use, it isn't.

If you need the sugar immediately, use the microwave: Transfer the sugar to a microwave-safe bowl and cover it with a cloth. Microwave in 20-second intervals until it is soft again.

Soften Brown Sugar Using Martha's Apple Method

If you don't need the brown sugar immediately, Martha has a slower-acting but equally effective method for reviving brown sugar: she suggests putting half an apple into the container of brown sugar to soften it, which takes about a day.