Bread Upma/Poha is a delicious vegan Indian snack/breakfast recipe made with bread. It's usually made using leftover bread, spices and veggies. Make it in just 20 minutes!
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India's favorite breakfast - Upma
This Indian breakfast - Upma is always a hit in our house! Upma is a savory porridge-like meal that's made with roasted semolina/rava, veggies, and spices. Over time, there have been many variations of Rava Upma and I have even made some of them, like Instant Pot Oats Upma or Quinoa Upma. Another popular variation is Bread Upma or Bread Poha. Here, the bread is seasoned with spices and veggies. It's a great way of finishing up leftover bread.
Ways To Use Bread In Recipes
My South Indian mom adapted to the Western Bombay culture very easily. She learned a lot of cultural things specific to this city as well as new recipes that were not South Indian from the women around her. That is how she picked up this bread upma recipe from our neighbor. It then became one of her favorite go-to breakfast/snack recipes made with bread when we would go to her cranky and hungry.
Everyone has a packet of bread in their pantry as it is one of the easiest ingredients to make a meal with. No wonder we have many Indian recipes with bread! Be it burgers, sandwiches, toasts, or something like this Upma. It is popular across all age groups because of its taste and its versatility.
Also, here are some of my favorite Indian recipes made with bread - Baked Cheese-Stuffed Bread Rings, Yogurt Veggie Sandwich, and Veg Masala Toast Sandwich. If you want to use leftover bread then make Breadcrumbs Pasta or Tomato Bruschetta! Both taste so good.
Why make this
- 100% customizable. feel free to add or skip any veggies
- Is naturally vegan
- A quick and easy snack made in 20 minutes
- Needs basic pantry staples
- One-pot meal
- Extremely flavorful to taste
- A great alternate way to use leftover bread
- The recipe is easily scalable
Ingredients needed 🧾
The main ingredient here is bread slices. Use white bread if possible because it's softer and tastes much better in this recipe. If you have any leftover bread or if it's about to go stale, use that bread to make this delicious veg breakfast/snack recipe. Any variety of bread will also work here.
Veggies - This recipe is very customizable. Add whatever veggies you have at hand. I have added onions, tomato, bell pepper, and carrots.
Spices, lentils, and herbs - Cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder, urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves, and green chillies are what you will need.
Lemon juice and cilantro are used for garnish.
How to make it 🔪
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- Prep the bread using any of these methods - Tear bread slices randomly with your hands, cut them evenly into 1-inch squares, or pulse them in the grinder to resemble crumbs.
- In a pan, heat oil. Temper mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add urad dal, chana dal, asafoetida, turmeric powder, and curry leaves.
- Add chopped onions and minced green chillies. Saute till they turn translucent.
- Then add chopped carrots. Continue to saute for 4-5 minutes or till they are cooked.
- Next, add chopped tomatoes along with salt. Cook till they turn soft.
- Add bell peppers and continue to saute for another 2 minutes.
- Then add the bread pieces and salt. Mix it with the spices and cook for 2-3 minutes till the bread turns slightly crisp.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and lime juice. Take it off the flame and serve warm.
Serving Suggestions 🍽
Garnish with chopped cilantro and lime juice. Take it off the flame and serve warm. We also like to garnish it with some sev on top. It tastes amazing. This breakfast with bread can be served with Filter Coffee, Vegan Dalgona Coffee or Indian Chai and some green chutney on the side. But you can also enjoy it as is with some sev on top.
This Indian recipe with bread can be made for breakfast or an evening snack. You can also pack them in lunchboxes but do so once it's cooled down, otherwise, they will turn soggy.
Top recipe tips 💭
Some like to toast the bread a little before cutting them. You can do that as well, especially if not using white bread. Add peanuts and cashews along with lentils to give this snack a nice crunch. You can also add the curry leaves you have. Cook it in ghee, (regular or dairy-free) or butter for an aromatic flavor, or simply use regular vegetable oil.
Feel free to add more veggies like green peas, sweet corn, green beans, or bell pepper to make this vegan bread recipe more wholesome. For a different flavor, add 1-2 tablespoons of Sambhar Powder, tomato ketchup, or Pav Bhaji Masala along with turmeric when making bread Poha.
Recipe FAQs 📖
You can use whatever kind of bread (white, sourdough, whole wheat, multigrain, diner rolls, pav, etc) you have for this recipe. Leftover or stale bread works best.
If for any recipe you have cut out the edges of the bread, you can use those edges in this recipe. To make it healthier, use whole wheat bread.
Use gluten-free bread and asafoetida that's gluten-free. You can also skip adding asafoetida.
You can make this bread Poha ahead of time. It stays well in the fridge for 1-2 days. Reheat and serve. I have not tried freezing it.
More veg breakfast recipes
Recipe 📖
Bread Upma Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 20 slices bread
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- 1 tsp chana dal
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
- 4-5 pieces curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 green chillies minced
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot chopped or grated
- 1 tomatoes chopped
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- Salt
- 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Prep the bread using any of these methods - Tear bread slices randomly with your hands, Cut them evenly in 1-inch squares or Pulse them in the grinder to resemble crumbs
- In a pan, heat oil. Temper mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add urad dal, chana dal, asafoetida, turmeric powder and curry leaves.
- Add chopped onions and minced green chillies. Saute till they turn translucent.
- Then add chopped carrots. Continue to saute for 4-5 minutes or till they are cooked.
- Next, add chopped tomatoes along with salt. Cook till they turn soft.
- Add bell peppers and continue to saute for another 2 minutes.
- Then add the bread pieces and salt. Mix it together with the spices and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and lime juice. Take it off the flame and serve warm.
Video
Notes
Feel free to add more veggies like green peas, sweet corn, green beans, or bell pepper to make this vegan bread recipe more wholesome. For a different flavor, add 1-2 tablespoons of Sambhar Powder, tomato ketchup, or Pav Bhaji Masala along with turmeric when making bread Poha.
Nart at Cooking with Nart says
This is such a delicious breakfast! Noe my leftover bread won't be leftover anymore!
Priya says
Thank you
veenaazmanov says
Love the idea of using some leftover bread. This recipe is so perfect and best for a quick and healthy and comforting meal. Simple yet delicious.
Priya says
Thank you Veena.
Vicky says
Yummy comfort food! Thanks for the great recipe!
Priya says
Thank you
Julia says
I love trying new recipes, so this breakfast bread is calling my name! Can't wait to taste it!
Priya says
Hope you like it. Thank you
Jamie says
I love trying new recipes so I was really excited to try this one. It was so delicious and flavorful! Thank you so much!
Priya says
Thank you so much. 🙂
Shashi says
Wow - what a colorful breakfast! I'm loving the flavors and textures in this one!
Priya says
Glad you like it. Thank you
Chris Collins says
I've never tried Bread Upma but after reading through this I'll definitely be giving it a go! Can't wait to try the recipe 🙂
Priya says
Yes, do give it a try if you like a savory breakfast!
Emmeline says
This is my kind of breakfast!! Looking forward to trying it out this weekend!
Priya says
Yay! Thank you
Abi Saldaña says
Looks so yummy! I will try this but I don't have some of the ingredients like the asafoetida. I hope it still turns out as great.
Priya says
You can totally skip that! Do give it a try. Thank you.
Janelle says
YUM! I love all the fresh ingredients and spices in this meal and the fact that bread doesn't go to waste.
Priya says
Thank you so much
Deepika Palam says
Hi,
Your photos show, onions and tomatoes but the recipe does not mention anything about it.. should it be included?
Priya says
Hi, thanks for pointing out..I updated the recipe now. Please check.