Have you ever thought about making your own bread crumbs? I have to admit, I probably wouldn’t have until food allergies became an issue in my family. My son has a severe sesame seed allergy (along with all tree nuts and peanuts). Suddenly I became an avid label reader. How long it takes: 30 minutes Equipment you’ll need: food processor, baking pan, oven Servings: makes 2 ½ cups Here’s the shocker: Many commercially produced bread crumbs have sesame seeds! Who would have thought? Actually, the list of ingredients is rather shocking and after reading through it, I am convinced that I’d rather make my own. There are more than 40 (!) ingredients listed, including high fructose corn syrup and sugar, plus preservatives and a whole bunch of other nasty sounding stuff. Granted, unless you bake your own bread or buy really high quality bakery bread, you still have to read labels. I know which breads are safe for my family and that’s the kind of bread I use to make bread crumbs. It’s perfect for those of you who don’t eat gluten because you can use gluten-free bread. And do you know? Great bread makes great bread crumbs! It’s as simple as that. I’ll show you how to make coarse bread crumbs (like panko), fine bread crumbs, or Italian seasoned bread crumbs.
About This Recipe
There’s another advantage to homemade bread crumbs. You can use up leftover stale bread. If you have day old bread that’s just a bit dry, it’s perfect for making bread crumbs. Mind you, we’re not talking about moldy bread, just dry bread. Save up your crusts or stale bread. Just put it in the freezer until you’re ready to turn it into useful bread crumbs. I love dry bread! I consider it a treasure in my kitchen. It’s perfect for making French toast, homemade croutons which are a thousand times better than packaged, or the best panzanella salads. We love it for bread pudding, too. And now, bread crumbs! Dry bread crumbs can be used for breading, to add as a binder in meatballs and meatloaf, or as a delicious topping for pasta (mixed with butter, garlic, and a bit of Parm). They are great on casseroles, too. Bread crumbs keep really well. You can easily freeze them for longer storage. They won’t stick together and you can just take out what you need.
What you’ll need
Bread: Pretty much any kind of yeast bread can be turned into bread crumbs, from whole wheat to gluten-free. Keep in mind that your bread crumbs will taste like the bread you use. Day-old or dry bread is best but don’t worry if you have fresh, soft bread. I’ll show you how to dry it quickly. Food Processor: Using a food processor with the S-blade is the quickest way to pulverize the bread, i.e., turn it into crumbs. Rimmed Baking Pan (Sheet Pan): Look for a shallow pan with a rim so your crumbs don’t end up all over your oven.
How to make This Recipe
This bread crumb recipe is more of a “how to” than a recipe. There are just a few steps to making your own ready-to-use bread crumbs. Begin by preheating your oven to 300ºF and getting out a large rimmed baking pan. First, you need to dry the bread, especially if you’re using fresh bread. If your bread is already a bit dry, you can omit this step. Why does the bread need to be dry? The reason is simple. If you put really soft, fresh bread into the food processor, you’ll get moist clumps of bread instead of crumbs. The bread has to be fairly dry to process. So, tear the bread slices into cubes. Use your fingers to tear the bread into rough chunks. There’s no need to get fancy or try to get square pieces. Arrange the bread on the baking pan and dry it in a slow oven for about 5 minutes. The bread shouldn’t be browned, just dry. Remove the pan from the oven and let the bread cool down. Turn the oven down to 275ºF. When the bread has cooled off, put it into your food processor, with the S-blade. Pulse several times, until the bread has the consistency of coarse crumbs. It should look somewhat like panko bread crumbs. Back onto the sheet pan it goes. Bake the crumbs until they are very dry, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Stir them every five minutes so they dry evenly. Take them out of the oven and cool completely. Once they are cooled, you can either process them again for very fine crumbs or store them just as they are (more like panko). You can also add seasoning to the crumbs to make Italian seasoned bread crumbs. Be sure the crumbs are completely cool before storing them to avoid condensation in the storage container.
How to Make Italian Bread Crumbs
Turning these bread crumbs into Italian style bread crumbs is super easy with the addition of a few herbs and spices. To each cup of bread crumbs, add:
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (store bought or homemade Italian seasoning) ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
From there, if you’d like them more flavorful, add more! These instructions are also found on the printable recipe card below.
Make It Your Own
Use whatever kind of bread you like, from whole wheat to gluten-free. Just remember that your crumbs will taste like the bread you use.
Make-Ahead Ideas
Homemade bread crumbs are best made ahead so they are ready when you need them. Make a big batch and store them in the freezer. Some cooks like to save leftover dry bread in the freezer until they have enough to make a batch of bread crumbs. That’s a good money-saving habit!
Storage Tips
It’s important to cool the bread crumbs completely before storing them. Store bread crumbs in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months. Frozen bread crumbs will not clump together so you’ll be able to remove as many as you like at a time without thawing them first.
