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Learning how to make breadcrumbs is an essential baking skill and totally worth it. Make better food by learning cooking skills that can lift you up.
Thus far in our macaroni and cheese series, we have not used any breadcrumbs, but that is about to change. I intentionally left them out of recipes, thus far, as I do not think that breadcrumbs are an essential part of a traditional macaroni and cheese. My traditional macaroni and cheese recipe is heavy enough that it just does not need more. I do respect, however, that so many people do like breadcrumbs as a topping for a baked macaroni and cheese dish. So today, we are going to show you how to make breadcrumbs and I am going to use them in some upcoming recipes that I do think need it.
This recipe uses fresh bread, but a similar technique could be used if you have crusty, hard, and not yet moldy bread.
How to make breadcrumbs summary
The idea is that we are going to dry out the bread and make it nice and crispy. In our case, we are going to use fresh bread and make it crispy in the oven. Then, we are going to add the bread and some seasonings to a food processor and pulse. The result should be a nice and easy Italian style breadcrumb that should go great on macaroni and cheese.
How To Make Breadcrumbs – My Breadcrumb Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 25 Minutes
- Total Time: 45 Minutes
- Yield: 5 Servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
How to make breadcrumbs! This breadcrumb recipe is simple and easy, but very tasty and great for a macaroni and cheese dish.
Ingredients
- 4 oz bread
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Cut bread into 2 inch squares
- Lay squares on a cookie sheet
- Bake for 25 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes
- Add all ingredients to food processor and pulse until breadcrumb consistency
So simple yet so good. Why didn’t I ever think of this!
What a great idea to make your own breadcrumbs. Sometimes gluten free bread crumbs are hard to find. I love the idea of making my own.
This is great! Can I freeze the breadcrumbs so I could make a bunch in advance and use as-needed?
Honestly, I am not 100% sure. You can freeze bread, so I would imagine this is alright. My worry would be any moisture that would collect on the bread over time. So, I think my answer would be “give it a try, but don’t let it sit in the freezer for too long OR have it stored really well.”
This is wonderful and so simple! Thanks for sharing.
Yaaaaas! Love this recipe for homemade breadcrumbs – they’re so much better than the storebought ones!
to be fair… I do like cake better than breadcrumbs. Let’s eat cake.
This is awesome.. store bought breadcrumbs always have freaky ingredients. Home made are better!
I am going to get some these into my mason jars! You can get flip caps at masonjars.com and she is a friend of mine. Any idea how long the shelf life is?
ooo boy. I would advise proceeding with caution on storing and maybe test the grounds. They are eaten up in our house as we make em, but my guess is that they could last for a week or two. I mean, really, this is almost just an extension of my crouton recipe and they last for at least a week (also, never last that long in our house). Store bought crumbs last FOREVER, but I would imagine they are treated with stuff to make that happen.
I love homemade breadcrumbs! Even though it’s such a simple item, it tastes so much better homemade, doesn’t it? I can’t wait to try your recipe!!
I make my own, too – but usually leave off the seasoning so they don’t clash if I am going to use them in something with a clashing spice. It’s such an easy way to keep bread from going bad – and bread crumbs aren’t cheap.