Store-bought breadcrumbs may be cheap, but they’re often lackluster, only come in certain sizes, and definitely aren’t ‘fresh’ (not to mention that most contain gluten and/or dairy). In comparison, when making homemade breadcrumbs, it’s easy to use the bread of your choice (i.e., gluten-free if needed, whole wheat bread, etc.) and process them to the size of your choice. The result is flavorful homemade breadcrumbs whenever needed. I’ll often buy a fresh loaf from my supermarket or local bakery – unfortunately, as there’s just one of me in the house that’s a lot of bread, so after I’ve used some for Creamy Mushroom Toast and mopped up dips like this Herby Labneh Dip with Roasted Tomatoes or Creamy Homemade Hummus – I always have leftovers. Not only is this learning how to make homemade bread crumbs great for reducing wasting stale bread, but there’s no need to wait until it’s stale. In fact, you can easily use the methods listed below for homemade fresh breadcrumbs and dried breadcrumbs. If you use dried breadcrumbs often for several dishes, you can even pre-season them. For example, within this post, I’ll take you through how to make plain breadcrumbs as well as how to season breadcrumbs including making Italian breadcrumbs. Once ready, you can use your homemade bread crumbs in meatballs, sprinkled over oven bakes, within stews, and more!
What is the best bread for breadcrumbs?
The truth is that most bread that comes as a loaf/baguette will work (i.e., not flatbread, I wouldn’t think). I’ve used sourdough, whole wheat bread, white, cob, even burger buns/buns. You can easily use gluten-free loaves too. As expected, softer enriched doughs like buns and white bread tend to yield softer, less dense crumbs. Likewise, there is also the issue with using fresh vs. stale bread. I find it easiest to use stale bread that’s already dried/hardened. That way, it’s easy to chuck in the food processor and process into crumbs immediately. However, If you’re using fresh bread, it’ll likely be more flavorful. What you use should really depend on the flavor, texture, and nutrition you’re looking for.
How to make homemade breadcrumbs
With Fresh Bread (for fresh breadcrumbs or dried breadcrumbs)
First, finely cube the bread and add to a food processor into breadcrumbs. This can take between 30 seconds to 2 minutes (or longer if you have a weak machine). If you want fresh breadcrumbs, then this is all that’s needed – use immediately or store for later. For dried breadcrumbs: once processed, spread the breadcrumbs out over a large oven sheet in a thin layer (use two if necessary). Bake in a preheated oven at 300ºF/150ºC for 10-15 minutes, stirring the crumbs halfway. The crumbs are ready when they’re lightly browned and feel dry. Allow the crumbs to cool (where they will dry further) before using immediately or transferring to an airtight jar. With this process, you can alternatively dry out the bread in the oven first before processing it into crumbs. However, this takes longer as the larger pieces of bread will take longer to dry, though, and you may need to dry the bread further once it’s processed if it isn’t fully dry.
With Stale Bread
The bread I used was very hard and dried, so you can break it into pieces and then add it to a food processor to process into the preferred consistency. If the bread isn’t really stale/fully dry, it might not process as fine as you’d like. You can dry the crumbs out in the oven (method above), allow them to cool, and then re-process them into a finer crumb.
For Italian Breadcrumbs
For each cup of homemade breadcrumbs using either of the methods above, add 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning, 1/8th tsp garlic powder and onion powder, and 1/4-1/2tsp salt. Feel free to adjust those amounts to your liking. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you could add some or all of the individual dried herbs (equal to 1tsp total).
How to store homemade breadcrumbs
Fresh breadcrumbs (using fresh bread that isn’t dried out in the oven) will store for a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator or up to a month in the freezer.
How to use
There are several ways to use your homemade breadcrumbs, including:
Sprinkle over pasta dishes – like this Creamy Vegan Mac and Cheese, Baked Feta and Cherry Tomato Pasta, and Easy Vegan Bolognese. To top baked dishes like casseroles and gratins – or this Vegetarian One-Pot Pasta bake. Mixed into meatballs, burgers, and meatloaf. Sprinkle over salads for texture – like this Massaged Kale Salad with Lemon. Use as a coating for fried proteins and veggies – like breaded tofu, Buffalo cauliflower wings, baked coconut shrimp, or baked eggplant fries. For stuffing – it’s perfect for this homemade stuffing recipe.
Recipe notes
If you want homemade breadcrumbs with a uniform color, you can remove the crusts first and blend the bread’s crusts and interior separately. You can use the crumbs from the crusts and heel of the load within casseroles and meatballs, while the lighter crumbs work well for breading and sprinkling over dishes. It’s important to make sure the breadcrumbs are completely dry if you plan to store them at room temperature; otherwise, the freezer is the best option. You can experiment with other seasonings too. For example, combining the breadcrumbs with everything bagel seasoning, cayenne pepper, etc. If you don’t often have stale bread, you can keep a ‘scrap bag’ in the freezer (like I do with veggie scraps when making stock) with the bits of bread you want to save for breadcrumbs until you have enough to go ahead with the process. If you have a dehydrator, you can use it instead of an oven to ensure the bread is fully dry (important for storing at room temp).
Other bread recipes & DIYs
How to Make Croutons (Garlic Vegan Croutons) Simple Homemade Italian Seasoning Easy Cheese Flatbread (Cheese Manakish) Middle-Eastern Zaatar Bread (Manakish Za’atar) 2-Ingredient Sweet Potato Flatbread (Gluten-free) Sourdough Cheesy Pull-Apart Bread (‘Crack’ Bread) Homemade Garlic Naan Bread (Indian Flatbread) Easy No-Knead Turkish Bread (Ramadan Pide Bread) The Best Authentic Homemade Pita Bread
If you try this homemade breadcrumbs method, then let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments. I’d also really appreciate a recipe card rating (below) and would love to see your recreations – just tag @AlphaFoodie.
