Shakin & Bakin Foodie Blog

Every 6 months or so my mother and I get together and spend 2-3 days making our own homemade seasoned dry bread crumbs. We then pack them into glass mason jars or into plastic storage containers to use throughout the next several months.

When we make these, we have no specific recipe on it but today, I thought I would explain the process and how we do it.

You will need to a food dehydrator with several drying trays to make your own dried bread crumbs via this method, as well as a good blender or food processor. You can use any type of bread or rolls that you would like. We keep big freezer bags in our freezer and save/freeze all leftover breads, hamburger rolls, hot dog rolls, potato rolls, bread crusts, etc. They an be frozen for a few months. When you are ready to make your bread crumbs, thaw them out at room temperature the night before.
Plug your food dehydrator in and set it at the lowest heat seating. Split all of your rolls in half and if you want, cut your slices of bread in half too. This will speed up the drying time. Lay all of your breads and rolls onto the drying trays and place them onto the food dehydrator along with the lid. I like to rotate my trays every 2-3 hours throughout the drying process which takes about 1 1/2 to 2 days if that.

Your breads are done when they are completely dry, hard and crunchy. Break them into smaller pieces and put them in your blender or food processor. Use the PULSE setting to chop them up into find bread crumbs. While they are in there...you will want to drop in your favorite spices & seasonings.

We typically add the following:

1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Use the PULSE function to blend the seasonings into your bread crumb mixture. You are done! Pour the seasoned bread crumbs into glass mason jars or plastic storage containers. One type of container we like to use is those empty plastic peanut butter pretzel nugget containers. We wash them out, dry them and they hold quite a bit of homemade seasoned dried bread crumbs! Make sure you label your containers with the contents and date made. Enjoy!