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Gluten free bread is expensive, and so are gluten free breadcrumbs! When your bread gets old, save money by making it into gluten free breadcrumbs instead of tossing it. It freezes so well, and a little goes a long way.

I'm not too proud to admit it. In testing bread recipes, sometimes things don't exactly turn out as planned. Okay, they often don't turn out as planned. But it's rarely so bad that I have to just toss the whole thing in the trash (although that does happen).

Usually, when I make bread that's just okay, I make bread crumbs. It's like the lemons and lemonade thing, but with bread.

Glass jar of gluten free bread crumbs on white surface
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How to make gluten free bread crumbs

To make your own breadcrumbs at home, all you do is tear up the bread, place it in the food processor and pulse until you have the size crumb you like. Then, add some salt and dried seasonings if you like, and toast it in the oven.

Stir the crumbs around the baking sheet, then toast again until very lightly golden brown. That's it!

Overhead view of gluten free bread crumbs on metal tin lined with white parchment paper

How to store homemade breadcrumbs

Store the bread crumbs in a freezer-safe container in the refrigerator or the freezer, and you'll never ever be tempted to spend nearly $6.00 for 12 measly ounces of prepared gluten free bread crumbs. How do they get away with that?

If you plan to store them at room temperature, be sure to place them in a glass jar. That's how they'll keep their toasted texture.

The recipe is obviously quite loose, as it's more a concept than a true formula. I'm just here to speak for the old, forgotten gluten free bread in the bottom of your freezer.

Close up of toasted gluten free bread crumbs on metal tin lined with white paper

How to use gluten free bread crumbs

I prefer to make the larger, Panko-style crumbs, and I don't like to add any spices to them. That way, they are neutral in flavor, and I can flavor them any way I like. If I need a finer crumb, which I rarely do, I can always pulse them briefly in a food processor, too.

I use these breadcrumbs every week in my cooking. Here are the recipes I use gluten free bread crumbs in most:

I use the coarse kind of breadcrumbs liberally in Gluten Free Small Bites for everything from spinach balls to coconut shrimp. The gluten free coconut shrimp in the photo below are on page 42, and the spinach balls on page 76 of the cookbook.

Gluten free coconut shrimp and spinach balls—made with homemade gluten free bread crumbs. From Gluten Free Small Bites, the cookbook!

FAQs

Are bread crumbs gluten free?

No! Bread crumbs are made from toasted bread ground into crumbs. Unless it's specifically gluten free bread, it's made with wheat flour, so the resulting bread crumbs contain wheat.

Why do my bread crumbs taste stale?
What's a good gluten free substitute for bread crumbs?
Can I buy gluten free breadcrumbs?
Are Progresso brand bread crumbs gluten free?
Are 4C brand bread crumbs gluten free?
Why did my bread end up in clumps in my food processor?
Can I use fresh gluten free bread to make breadcrumbs?

Gluten Free Breadcrumbs Recipe

5 from 16 votes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Resting time: 10 minutes
Yield: cups
Make your own gluten free bread crumbs with the odds and ends of bread you have left over, and never buy them at the store again!

Equipment

  • food processor
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Ingredients 

  • 4 to 5 slices gluten free bread, any kind
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
  • Dried seasonings, such as oregano and parsley, to taste (optional)
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Instructions 

  • Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set it aside.
  • Break up the slices of bread into chunks and place in the bowl of a standard 7-cup food processor fitted with the steel blade.
  • Cover the food processor and pulse until coarse crumbs form.
  • Open the lid and add the optional salt and seasonings.
  • Close the lid and pulse again until combined, or until the crumbs reach the desired consistency (I prefer coarser Panko-style crumbs, but you may like to grind them fine).
  • Transfer the bread crumbs to the prepared baking sheet and place in the center of the preheated oven.
  • Bake for about 8 minutes.
  • Remove the baking sheet from the oven and stir the crumbs to redistribute them.
  • Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake until lightly golden brown all over, about another 7 minutes.
  • Remove the baking sheet from the oven again allow to cool completely on the baking sheet (about 10 minutes).
  • Once cool, transfer the breadcrumbs to a glass jar for storing at room temperature, or a freezer-safe container for longer storage.
  • Crumbs can be used directly from the refrigerator or freezer, without defrosting, and will stay fresh for months in the freezer.

Video

Notes

Originally published on the blog in 2013. In 2016, photos, video and text new; recipe unchanged.

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!
Jar of bread crumbs and tin of bread crumbs on white surface

About Nicole Hunn

Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough!

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17 Comments

  1. youngbaker2002 says:

    Oh no, I love the how-to videos you’ve been doing!

  2. Baxterwagner says:

    Perfect for those end pieces, thank you!

  3. Moon9 says:

    On Feb 9, 2013

    Hanna this sounds good but I haven’t been able to make anything yet.
    I hope that you and the family are doing well.

    Your Friend,
    Michelle

  4. GClark says:

    Perfect timing! I made a loaf this week that I didn’t care so much for the taste. However, the crunchy salted crumbs are yummy! I keep taking tastes while they are cooling!

  5. Jennifer Tilton says:

    How timely!! I thought I had conjured a good, sourdough loaf last night at the request of my teenager.  The reviews are in….ewww, Mom, that was gross.  I believe it was the amaranth flour that did it.  That stuff is nasty!  So, my bread will go to bread crumb heaven…or toast ’cause sometimes toasting can fix nasty.

    1. Tiltoncrew says:

      Well, toasting bread made with amaranth flour doesn’t cure the nasty, musty taste. The rest of the loaf was discarded instead of made into crumbs. Now I have most of a bag of amaranth flour that I don’t what to do with.

  6. Blissing says:

    If you’re not using the Cuisinart’s chute, you can wrap a piece of plastic over the top of the bowl before locking the lid on. At least it’s one less piece to wash. I’ve also used this trick when trying to grind things that are powdery, like flours or sugars that create their own clouds in the kitchen otherwise.

  7. RebeccaLB says:

    And those cupcakes we don’t get eaten in time…. freeze those, then crumb them in the food processor too. Than you have sweet crumbs to top pudding and ice cream! This often requested at my house.

    1. gfshoestring says:

      Oh, Rebecca, you’re a total genius! I never ever think to do that, and I do end up with past-their-prime cupcakes in the freezer from time to time (lots of volume in this house!). Love it!! That would make great cake pops, too, if you’re into that sort of thing. Love it!
      xoxo Nicole

    2. emalkire says:

      Could use in place of cookie crumbs to make a no bake pie crust as well.

  8. Dana Schwartz says:

    Love this post, for several reasons not the least of which is that I also despise dealing with a dirty cuisinart. It takes up so much room in the dish washer, which sounds so petty as I type but yet feels very legitimate in the moment.

    I am a total offender of buying overpriced gf bread crumbs, but now I have no excuse. I actually didn’t realize I’d need to toast the crumbs :) good thing I waited for a recipe!
    -Dana

    1. gfshoestring says:

      I totally daydream about a better solution than my food processor for these sort of tasks, and I haven’t come up with one. I always wash it by hand because I am totally miserly with the dishwasher and never run it when it isn’t filled to the brim and what if I suddenly need the food processor?! The horror.
      xoxo Nicole

  9. Suzanne says:

    Love! Love! Love! your blog an your books – thank you so very much!  My down and dirty solution – toast the ends that the picky kids won’t eat, set them on the counter for part of the day and whirl them in the blender.  Carole’s suggestion about the oven is great too :)

  10. Carole says:

    I always toast mine first by throwing the old or frozen heels onto a cookie sheet and put them in the oven after I finish baking something and have turned the oven off, waste not want not. Close the oven door and just forget about them and later pull them out and make into crumbs.That’s how my great grandmother did it.
    How was Jonny’s Birthday Party???

    1. gfshoestring says:

      Jonny’s birthday was great. Thanks, Carole! You’re so sweet. I prefer to process, then toast the crumbs, because then the whole crumb gets toasted – and you can control the outcome a bit better. But for your crumbs, I wouldn’t dream of messing with the way of your great g-mom!
      xoxo Nicole