How to Make Homemade Bread Crumbs
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Learn how easy it is to make homemade bread crumbs using leftover bread that can be used immediately in your next recipe. You will not believe just how simple these are to make.
Bread crumbs are fantastic at elevating food and providing flavor and texture. My favorite ways to use them are in my Chicken Parmigiana or Breaded Pork Chops.
Bread Crumbs
Bread crumbs are dried plain or flavored finely processed crumbs from drying or baking fresh bread. They are known as dry crumbs in the culinary world, different from fresh ones. There are many uses for breadcrumbs when it comes to cooking to enhance the flavors of your dish.
The best part about bread crumbs is that they can be made entirely from leftover bread you have at home. It does not matter if you have leftover sourdough, brioche, or even plain slices of white bread. They can be used to make bread crumbs. What I’m trying to say is, stop throwing away unused bread.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Bread – Any unused fresh bread will work
How to Make Homemade Bread Crumbs
There are a few ways you can do this. The first one starts by adding unused fresh bread to a turned-off oven and letting it dry until it becomes dry and flaky. This is what my family usually does.
The second procedure would be to add slices or cubes of any leftover fresh bread, spread it out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, and bake at 300° for about 35 to 40 minutes or until it becomes dried out and very lightly browned.
Let the bread cool to room temperature if you did the second method.
Whether you dry them out over a few days or bake them until dry, add them in batches to a food processor and process them on high speed until the bread is very finely chopped and each grain is about the size of sand or slightly larger.
Use right away or store in an air-tight container.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this up to several weeks before using.
How to Store: Cover with an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place for up to 3 months. These will freeze well for up to 1 year.
Chef Notes + Tips
- Any bread can be used to make bread crumbs.
Recipes to Use Them In
How to Make Homemade Bread Crumbs
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of fresh bread, cut or sliced up.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°.
- There are a few ways you can do this. The first one starts by adding unused fresh bread to a turned-off oven and letting it dry out until it becomes dry and flaky. This is what my family usually does.
- The second procedure would be to add slices or cubes of any leftover fresh bread and spread it out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, and bake at 300° for about 35 to 40 minutes or until it becomes dried out and very lightly browned.
- If you did the second method, let the bread cool to room temperature.
- Whether you dried them out over a few days or baked them until dry, add them in batches to a food processor and process them on high speed until the bread is very finely chopped and each grain is about the size of sand or slightly larger.
- Use right away or store in an air-tight container.
I may have commented on this before, but YES! Stop throwing away leftover bread and stop buying bread crumbs!! I keep a cookie sheet in my oven. Whenever I have bread ends or stale bread, I just put it in the cold oven on the tray. It’s soon dry enough for me to grate using my Kitchenaid grating attachment. I fill up a glass gallon jar that I keep in my garage fridge. (Doesn’t everyone have a garage fridge?) By the time the jar is empty, I have another tray of dried bread ready to grate. Many times I’ve had too much. That’s when I mix in my meatball herbs, spices and cheese and either freeze it or give it away to grateful friends and family. Just add ground meat and eggs for the best meatballs ever!
That’s awesome! Thanks for checking out the recipe!
Chef Billy – could you also use this same method to make croutons? Just chop the bread, mix with the spice blend, and bake for the same amount of time? It’s getting to be that time of the year again!
https://www.billyparisi.com/the-best-homemade-croutons-recipe/