Old Fashioned Italian Style Bread Crumbs

Don't throw out that leftover stale bread, keep saving it till you have enough to make these delicious Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs. I can remember as a kid, I would open the bread box and a ton of old bread would fall out. Couldn't figure out back then why she saved it all. Then as I got older, I was the one who had to grate it with that old fashioned cheese grater! Took forever....thanks to modern technology we can use the food processor to do this job in no time flat, and make the tastiest bread crumbs for any coated dish..of course you can add more or less to taste. But this is our basic recipe for most any Italian recipe on my site. Enjoy!~


The food processor takes no time at all, finely grind the crumbs or if you like chunkier don]t process as long, and its time to add all the spices.

If you keep saving the ends, you will eventually have enough stale bread to make your own. We just keep putting on a cookie sheet leave out for at least a week, it will be very hard. Mom only had a hand grater and still made her own.

Old Fashioned Italian Style Bread Crumbs

Hard Stale leftover bread 1 full loaf of saved Italian bread
cooking spray oil
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder (optional)
2 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
1/4 cup grating cheese (optional)

Directions Fast version if you need them quick:
Cut bread into slices or cubes, place on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking oil,put oven on low over 175 degrees until the bread is dry and hard slightly browned.

You can also leave this out for days until the bread is rock hard and stale uncovered or it will get moldy. Keep in a dry place.
Place the hard bread into a food processor and finely grind the bread.
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, tossing to blend thoroughly.
Store in an airtight container, I use glass mason jars and you can use in any recipe calling for Italian breadcrumbs.
Depending on what you are cooking you can additional spices, rosemary, thyme, sage.