Homemade Breadcrumbs Recipe From Stale Bread (2024)

Don’t throw that stale bread away! In this breadcrumbs recipe I’ll show you how to make breadcrumbs from stale bread.

One of the simple and easy ways to improve a simple recipe is to add breadcrumbs.

By simply adding a few cups of breadcrumbs to your recipe, it can make the meat more easily bonded to your meatloaf or just help create a crispier set of chicken wings, fish sticks, and pork chops.

It also helps you reduce food waste at home, as you can use day-old bread as your own breadcrumbs alternative.

Bread crumbs can be made at home, and they’re easy to make! The best part is that it doesn’t even cost you a dime!

So if you want an easy way to step up your cooking game, try a few breadcrumb recipes. Here is the list to get started.

Check out my homemade loaf bread recipe or my sourdough starter recipe and make your own bread at home!

Types of Breadcrumbs

There are different types of breadcrumbs, including regular breadcrumbs, fresh bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, plain bread crumbs, and Italian bread crumbs.

All these kinds of bread crumbs are great in their own ways, and all add up to make the best results! It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with which type of breadcrumbs gives what kind of result.

For a good crunchy topping, fresh breadcrumbs when toasted are a great alternative.

Panko breadcrumbs, when added to chicken, give a very good coating and crunch, the same as plain breadcrumbs, which tastes like stale bread.

Most people find Italian breadcrumbs less appealing because of their Italian seasonings, artificial or bad oregano flavor.

However, Italian breadcrumbs are still used for some of the favorite dishes we have. Let’s see how you can make homemade breadcrumbs with the following simple recipes.

Simple Homemade Breadcrumbs Recipe

To make your own homemade bread crumbs, you don’t really have to go to the grocery store for your ingredients.

With just a few slices of bread, from leftover bread, you can already start making your own breadcrumb recipe at home!

First of all, it is always best to dry your leftover bread before using it.

When it comes to fresh bread, it’s best to let the bread pieces dry first and harden at room temperature. This makes it easier to break down in a bowl of food processor.

If you are using fresh pieces of bread, you can place them in the toaster or a 300F oven.

Another concern you might have is about which type of bread to use—the answer is any kind of bread will do.

You can use whole wheat bread, whole grain, sourdough starter, or even hotdog buns and gluten-free bread.

Just make sure to slice them up into small pieces.

Now, there are five easy steps to making your own breadcrumbs at home.

1. Slice bread into smaller pieces to get fine crumbs.
2. Spread them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Stir and bake until the pieces are golden brown.
4. Allow to cool on the used cookie sheet.
5. When using larger slices of bread, you can cut them into 2 inch pieces before placing them in a food processor bowl or other box grater to be crushed faster. If you are dealing with coarse crumbs, you can place them in a resealable plastic bag and use a rolling pin to easily crush them into smaller pieces.

The best part about making your own breadcrumbs is that you can make a great recipe from what already seems unusable in the kitchen.

The shelf life of breadcrumbs can be up to 1 month in the refrigerator and 4 months in the freezer. Of course, always keep them in an airtight container.

Unlike other crowd favorite recipes, this recipe calls for creativity and fun. To take this recipe to the next level, we can always add other ingredients to improve it.

Here’s an example for Italian breadcrumbs:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley flakes
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon of dried basil
• 2 cups of breadcrumbs

Using a knife, cut the crusts from a loaf of wheat or white bread. Using a food processor, crumble into coarse breadcrumbs. You can also use a spice grinder to make soft breadcrumbs.

Herb Seasoned Sourdough Breadcrumbs

This is a great way to give old bread a fresh flavor!

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of sourdough bread
• ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsbp of herbs—thyme, rosemary, or sage
• 2 tsp garlic powder (add more to taste)
• 1.5 tsp kosher salt (add a pinch of salt to taste)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F, and line with parchment paper or foil.
2. Toss the breadcrumbs in the bowl of the food processor until coarse or fine, no matter what you are trying to achieve.
3. Combine olive oil, spices, garlic powder, lemon zest (optional) and kosher salt in a large bowl. Add the bread and stir to evenly cover the crumbs.
4. Divide them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.
5. Bake over medium heat for 15 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until crumbs are completely dry and desired color.
6. Let the crumbs cool completely. Use immediately or store in a sealed container.

Optional ingredients for this recipe include lemon zest, Parmesan, and black pepper. They do a good job of boosting the flavor and just adding that nice crunch.

Homemade breadcrumbs, also known as homemade croutons, are so easy to make and have a long shelf life. You could even spend your free time making these treats.

Now that you have these recipes, you can now make your own breadcrumbs at home!

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• Stale bread
• Salt to taste
• Optional seasonings

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Dump your stale bread into a food processor and pulse until the desired consistency.
3. Spread breadcrumbs onto a baking sheet and bake for about 5 min or until lightly browned.
4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet before storing in an air-tight jar.