Sourdough Breadcrumbs

Making your own homemade sourdough breadcrumbs is so easy! With only one ingredient, you’ll never go back to store-bought breadcrumbs again.

This recipe includes sourdough breadcrumb variations, including Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, gluten-free breadcrumbs, and more.

Plus, my detailed guide walks through how to store the breadcrumbs so you can use them for months in your favorite dinners.

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⭐️ Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• Easy and simple recipe using only one ingredient- leftover sourdough bread.
• You can use stale or fresh bread- the recipe shows how to make with both.
• Endless variations to make flavored and seasoned breadcrumbs.
• Can make with artisan sourdough bread, enriched breads like Sourdough Sandwich Bread, or gluten-free bread.
• Sourdough breadcrumbs are a wonderful topping for salads, Sourdough Mac and Cheese, gratins, breaded chicken, as a binder for meatballs, or in crumble toppings for desserts.
• The sourdough breadcrumbs can be stored at room temperature, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer for long-term storage.

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🔍 Tips for Making Sourdough Breadcrumbs

• You don’t want moisture in your breadcrumbs
  • If you’re using stale bread, there will be less moisture, making processing the breadcrumbs easier.
  • For fresh bread, you’ll need to bake and dry the moisture out of the bread.
• Store in the freezer for long-term storage
  • While sourdough breadcrumbs can last for week at room temperature or in the refrigerator, breadcrumbs can develop mold or go stale eventually.
  • Store breadcrumbs in a freezer-safe bag or container for long-term storage for months. No need to thaw before!
• Bake at a low temperature to prevent burning
  • Similar to Sourdough Discard Granola, just lightly dry out bake the breadcrumbs instead of toasting them.
• Cut even cubes of bread, spread them evenly, and toss every 5 minutes
  • This ensures that the bread dries out evenly at the same rate and prevents burning.
• Don’t salt the breadcrumbs
  • For the most versatile breadcrumbs, I don’t salt them. That way, you can use them in many applications before baking or cooking from sweet to savory.

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🛠 Tools Needed

You only need a couple basic tools to make sourdough breadcrumbs.

• Sheet Pan, for baking
• Food Processor, with the blade attachment for processing the bread into crumbs
  • If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender or put the crumbs in a bag and crush with a rolling pin.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for my ingredient recommendations and possible substitutions.

• Sourdough Bread
  • Preferably stale, the only ingredient you need to make sourdough breadcrumbs is sourdough bread!
  • I use My Everyday Sourdough Bread Recipe for standard breadcrumbs, but you can use most other types of bread, like Sourdough Baguettes, Sourdough Bagels, whole wheat, Sourdough Focaccia, or enriched doughs.
  • I make large batches of breadcrumbs using a whole loaf, but you can use as much or as little bread as you want to make breadcrumbs.
  • A standard loaf of bread will make 4-6 cups of breadcrumbs, depending on the size of the bread and how fine your breadcrumbs are processed.

Breadcrumb Variations

• Gluten-Free Sourdough Breadcrumbs: Use gluten-free sourdough bread.
• Italian Seasoned Sourdough Breadcrumbs: Add dried herbs like parsley, basil, and oregano and dried spices like garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, or optional parmesan cheese.
• Lemon & Garlic: Add garlic powder and lemon zest.
• Spicy Sourdough Breadcrumbs: Include dried cayenne pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes, or Aleppo pepper.
• Sourdough Graham Cracker Breadcrumbs: For crumble toppings or desserts, use my Sourdough Graham Crackers and process into breadcrumbs.

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👨‍🍳 How to Make Sourdough Breadcrumbs

Follow this visual and detailed recipe guide as you make the easiest sourdough breadcrumbs in just a couple of steps!

1. Bake the Bread

For fresh or lightly stale bread, preheat the oven to 300ºF (149ºC).

Slice and cube the bread into uniform 1″ bread cubes and spread them on a large baking sheet. Use another baking sheet to avoid overcrowding if needed.

Bake, tossing every 5 minutes, for 15-20 minutes depending on the moisture in the bread.

The bread should be dry to the touch and slightly hard, but not toasted or browned.

Remove from the oven to cool completely before processing.

2. Process into Breadcrumbs

Add the cooled breadcrumbs (or very stale bread sliced into cubes) to a food processor with the blade attachment.

Process for 30 seconds for coarse breadcrumbs and a minute or more for finer breadcrumbs.

If there’s any sticking or the bread isn’t breaking apart, that means there’s still too much moisture and you may need to bake and dry out the bread a bit longer.

That’s it! Now you can enjoy your homemade sourdough breadcrumbs or store them.

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How to Store Sourdough Breadcrumbs

Sourdough breadcrumbs are easy to store with a few options, depending on how quickly you’ll use them.

If you’re planning to cook or bake with the breadcrumbs in a few days, you can store the breadcrumbs in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for a week.

In the refrigerator, breadcrumbs will keep longer for a few weeks to a month.

And for the longest storage, keep the breadcrumbs in a freezer-safe bag in the freezer for several months.

If you see mold, the crumbs taste very stale, or there is clumping or sour, musty smell, then throw away as those are signs of spoilage.

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❓ FAQs