What to do with stale bread? Make breadcrumbs! Alex and I make lots of homemade bread around here. Often we’re left with little petrified ends of the loaf that we didn’t get around to eating. It’s perfect for making breadcrumbs! What if all you have is fresh bread and need crumbs for a recipe? You can use that too! We’ve got you covered in both cases. Here’s how to make breadcrumbs: it’s simple and a fun project!
How to make breadcrumbs: using stale bread
If you’ve ever made homemade bread, it’s likely you’re left with some pieces that go stale before you get to eating them. That’s why breadcrumbs were invented! Before storebought bread was injected with preservatives to make it last unnaturally long on the shelf, there were lots of recipes invented to answer the question: what to do with rock hard bread? Here’s the modern way to make breadcrumbs. It requires a food processor, but if you don’t have one: scroll down!
Food process stale bread into crumbs. Chop it down as much as you can into pieces. Throw those in the food processor and whiz them up! You’ll have to start and stop a few times to stir and get it all processed. Bake about 5 minutes. Then, you’ll pop it in a 300-degree oven to get the crumbs light brown and toasty. This makes sure any remaining moisture is baked out.
How to make breadcrumbs: using fresh bread
If all you have is fresh bread and you need breadcrumbs: you can do that too! Alex and I have been in the middle of a recipe before and then realized we didn’t have breadcrumbs. Don’t worry: make them out of bread! It’s basically the reverse of making them with stale bread:
Tear the bread into pieces and bake for 15 minutes. Throw it in a 300 degree oven and bake until the bread is toasty. Food process the bread into crumbs. The whiz up that toasty bread into crumbs! If there’s still some moisture left, pop it back in the oven for a few minutes until all the moisture is removed.
Add herbs to spice them up!
What’s better than breadcrumbs? Italian breadcrumbs? That’s the name for breadcrumbs sold with Italian herbs. The store bought version usually have salt in them, but we’ll leave it up to you depending on the use for your bread crumbs. If you want to add herbs, here are the one’s we’d suggest for Italian style crumbs:
Dried basil Dried oregano Dried thyme Garlic powder
Can you make breadcrumbs without a food processor?
You can! Don’t try a blender, though. Use the method for fresh bread, then when the toasted bread chunks are cool, pop them in a plastic bag. Roll over them with a rolling pin until they are crushed into crumbs.
A note on the size of the crumbs
You can make any size of breadcrumbs using this method. Here are a few notes on the texture of the crumbs:
Coarse crumbs: The photographs show coarse crumbs, which are good for toppings like on mac and cheese or grain. Fine crumbs: If you’re breading chicken or fish, you’ll want to have finer crumbs that have a sand-like texture. Just let the food processor run for longer to get finer crumbs! The crumbs you’ll find in the store are usually this very fine texture.
Storing homemade breadcrumbs
How to store homemade bread crumbs? Place them in a container and you can store them at room temperature for about 1 month. Try to minimize the amount of air in the container. Or, you can freeze them! They stay good for about 3 months.
Ways to use breadcrumbs
There are so many ways to use bread crumbs: they add a delightful crunchy topping or breading to many dishes! They’re also helpful in holding things together, like veggie burgers and meatballs. Here are our top ways to use them:
On mac and cheese or pasta. Try our Gouda Mac and Cheese. Crispy cauliflower. Sub them for panko in our Crispy Breaded Cauliflower. Add to side dish veggies. They’d be fantastic on Simple Sauteed Broccoli or Lemon Herb Steamed Cauliflower. On a gratin. Top your favorite veggie gratin recipe. On a casserole. Use them to top Wild Rice Casserole or Cauliflower Casserole with Gnocchi. In meatballs or crab cakes. Use them to shape patties like Crab Cakes, Salmon Cakes, Tuna Cakes, or Vegan Crab Cakes. Top a salad. Coarse breadcrumbs would be perfect on this Tuscan kale salad.
This breadcrumbs recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.
Other ways to use stale bread
A few more ways to use up stale bread, if you have it!
Panzanella An Italian bread salad, invented to use up stale bread! It features ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, and basil in a tangy vinaigrette. Ribollita (Tuscan Vegetable Stew) A delicious Tuscan vegetable stew, loaded with veggies and thickened with bread. Homemade Croutons Another great way to use up bread: as croutons!
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