All you need to know about How To Make Homemade Breadcrumbs – they are easy to make and can last for months. Tips on what bread to use and how to store your homemade breadcrumbs.
Today, instead of posting another recipe, I am going to show you how to make homemade breadcrumbs. I use breadcrumbs quite a lot in my cooking, mainly for crisping things up and as a thickening or binding ingredient. I can’t imagine not having a batch of breadcrumbs in my kitchen ready to use any time I want. To me it’s almost as essential as salt and pepper.
Why making your own breadcrumbs is a good idea
First of all, it reduces waste. We are all bound to have leftover stale bread that no one will eat at some time or other, so instead of throwing it out we can turn it into breadcrumbs.
You can control the texture of your breadcrumbs. Whether you are using a food processor or an ordinary grater you can produce fine or coarser breadcrumbs.
There are no additives, flavouring, stabilizers etc (other than what’s been used in the bread) in homemade breadcrumbs. You can combine them with spices or herbs but you don’t have to.
How to make homemade breadcrumbs
What do you need to make breadcrumbs? Apart from the bread, you will also need a grater (or food processor), a large bowl and a paper bag to store the breadcrumbs in. I recommend using good quality bread that usually comes in a brown paper bag. Good quality bread will produce good quality breadcrumbs:) The bread should ideally be left (in the bag) in a dry place for a couple of weeks to make sure it’s completely dry. If you are in any doubt as to whether the bread is sufficiently dry just leave it for a few more days.
Alternatively, pop your bread into a warm oven (gas mark 3) for 20 minutes. This should remove any excess moisture.
Don’t keep your bread in plastic as it will eventually get mouldy, rather than dry.
I use an ordinary grater because I actually rather enjoy grating the bread by hand! You can probably save time if you use a food processor that’s suitable for making breadcrumbs.
I don’t recommend using flavoured bread, such as cheese, onion, walnut or bread with olives as the non bread ingredients are likely to cause the breadcrumbs to become mouldy. Plain crusty bread is best. It can be either white or brown, though I must confess I tend to use white bread as white breadcrumbs are suitable for any recipe.
How to store your homemade breadcrumbs
Once you’ve grated your breadcrumbs (or used a kitchen appliance to do it for you) tip the mixture into a paper bag and keep in a cool dry place (such as a cupboard), away from sources of heat or water. Alternatively keep your breadcrumbs in a glass container or plastic bag (once all the moisture is gone it’s ok to keep them in plastic).
If you follow these simple steps your breadcrumbs will stay fresh for months.
I hope you find this post useful:)
*Note: if you are making breadcrumbs to use immediately you can just use stale bread. It doesn’t have to be completely dry.
Take a look at some of the recipes where I’ve used homemade breadcrumbs:
Pin How to Make Homemade Breadcrumbs
MORE RECIPES USING BREADCRUMBS
Check out ALL my recipes where I’ve used my homemade breadcrumbs!
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RECIPE LINK PARTIES
I am sharing How to Make Homemade Breadcrumbs with Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Mollie @ The Frugal Hausfrau and Mila @ Milkandbun.
I love basic recipes like this – so many people didn’t grow up learning how to cook these days and homemade is always so much better! Beautiful pics, btw!!
Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday!
Mollie
Thanks Mollie, completely agree with you about so many people not knowing how to cook. They are really missing out.
This is such an amazing idea, Monika! I should try making my own breadcrumbs, too. Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday party! x
Thanks Jhuls! Homemade breadcrumbs are so much better than store bought ones!
If I have an old bread I always make breadcrumbs with some herbs, homemade is always better and no any nasties.
Couldn’t agree with you more!
I think it’s a great idea to always have homemade fresh breadcrumbs in the house. I’m afraid I’m rarely that organised and tend to make them at the last minute by drying the bread in the oven then blitzing it in the food processor! I’ll have to try and try and do this in future though.
I am not all that organised either but once you make a big batch of breadcrumbs it will last for months, so it doesn’t require too much effort. That’s why I do it.
While I’m here in Rijeka, I buy my breadcrumbs from my local baker – they’re so cheap, it makes sense to get them from there, rather than spend time making them myself. However, once I get back to Slovenia next week, I’ll be making my own again. I use a food processor though – I hate grating things by hand… I usually end up grating my fingernails or knuckles! Ha ha ha!
By the way, could I join your Frugal Foodie board, please? My Pinterest ID is: https://www.pinterest.com/yums0me/
Thanks, Monika! x
Thanks for stopping by! I am so backward when it comes to using kitchen appliances I end up doing so much by hand that I am actually quite good at avoiding injuries:) I hope your move to Slovenia is smooth, can’t imagine moving anywhere just before Christmas. I’ll add you to my board in the next minute! Thanks:)
Got the invite, thank you so much!
You’d think that after 40+ years of cooking, I’d have learned to not be clumsy in the kitchen, wouldn’t you? Ha ha!
The move to Slovenia will be easy thanks; we have one suitcase, one large rucksack, two backpacks (for our tech gear), and one camera bag. All we need to do is pack, hire a car, and drive for a couple of hours, and then we’re back home in our apartment for six months. I’m looking forward to getting back to a fully-equipped kitchen!
No idea where we’ll be between June and December 2017 but we generally move countries three times a year!
Wow, moving 3 times a year sounds daunting but also exciting (mainly daunting though). I don’t think I’d cope well with the logistics. It must be great though to be able to see so many different places, and not just as a tourist!
I’ve joined your pinterest group too, thanks!
I’m used to travelling! And we travel light, so it’s not as though we have to pack up a house or apartment each time – just a few clothes etc. 🙂