How to Make Breadcrumbs Without a Food Processor

Breadcrumbs are an incredibly useful ingredient for a lot of different dishes and meals. You can use them to create a nice crispy texture on the exterior of food and you can also use them to help add some depth to your food without changing the flavor too much. So, do you need a food processor to make breadcrumbs? Thankfully not. This can all be done with simple appliances that every kitchen will have. This article will show you how to make breadcrumbs by hand and by using some other appliances too.

Table of Contents

• How to Make Breadcrumbs by Hand
• How to Make Breadcrumbs With blender
  • Can You Make Breadcrumbs with a Hand Blender?
• How to Make Breadcrumbs With Cheese Grater
• Do you Need a Food Processor To Make Breadcrumbs?
• FAQs on Making Breadcrumbs

How to Make Breadcrumbs by Hand

While it may be a daunting task to even attempt to make breadcrumbs without using anything automated, it is surprisingly easy. Breadcrumbs are not a difficult concept, they are just the crumbs off of bread. Now, if you do not have anything to help you turn your fresh bread into crumbs, you will have to do it by hand.

It is easy to get it started as you need to start tearing the bread into tiny pieces by pinching it with one hand and pulling with the other. The smaller the pieces are, the more likely they are to crumble. Make sure while you are doing this that you have a plate or a bowl under you so that any crumbs that fall off are still safely collected and can be used.

Owning a sieve will be useful as you can let the breadcrumbs fall through it (assuming the holes are large enough for breadcrumbs) and you can use it as a surface to grate your breadcrumbs on. If this is really difficult and you do not mind getting your hands dirty – you can roll the bread pieces around in your hands like you are trying to make a ball. As long as your hands are dry and you are not applying too much pressure, the crumbs should start to fall off. If you apply too much pressure, the bread will push together and make a dough ball, which is still tasty but not our goal.

How to Make Breadcrumbs With blender

While you may not have a food processor, you might have the next best thing. A standard blender used for making smoothies or puree can also be used to make breadcrumbs. The results will vary depending on the size of your blades and the blender itself, so if you want your crumbs to be extra fine – repeat the process a lot.

Essentially, all you need to do is to tear your bread up into nice manageable chunks and throw them in the blender. Turn it on at the highest setting possible and let it go. As long as everything is dry, the crumbs will start to form. Once more crumbs have formed, and there is a nice amount of them and barely any bread left, you can insert more bread.

If the only type of blender you have is a coffee grinder, you will be delighted to know that you can also use that. Any herb or coffee grinder will work the same for breadcrumbs, although the capacity will be significantly less than that of a normal blender.

To use a coffee grinder, you will want to wash it out first. This can be done by filling it with a tablespoon of salt and grinding that for a moment or two. The salt will help clean it and will also sharpen the blades for you.

Can You Make Breadcrumbs with a Hand Blender?

A hand blender can also be used to make breadcrumbs in the same way that a standard blender can be used. The only difference is that you will have to place the bread in a bowl or something similar so that you can blend it. As there is no guard or cover with the hand blender, you might accidentally make quite a mess while making your breadcrumbs. There are some ways around this but for the most part, it is good to use a deep bowl with high sides, yet you should always expect to make a mess.

How to Make Breadcrumbs With Cheese Grater

While it may seem unorthodox, using a cheese grater to make breadcrumbs is incredibly efficient and easy. Whether you have a box grater, or a cheese grater lid that attaches to a tub, you can still do this. However, I must say that if possible it is best to use the finer side so that you get small consistent breadcrumbs.

Doing this with fresh bread is likely to create a mess as you have to push the bread into the grater, causing it to fold in on itself and ball up in one big pile. To counter this, lightly toast your bread before trying to grate it. This way, the structural integrity of the bread can withstand the pressure you need to apply in order for it to grate properly. After toasting it, simply grate it as you would some cheese and watch breadcrumbs fall out the other side.

If any pieces left in the breadcrumbs are too large or inconsistent, you can grate them again until they are to your liking.

Do you Need a Food Processor To Make Breadcrumbs?

As you can see from all of these methods, a food processor is not a necessity in order to make breadcrumbs. While it seems longwinded and tiresome to make the breadcrumbs by hand, you do not need to invest in an expensive food processor when you can simply use any other kitchen appliances you are likely to have.

FAQs on Making Breadcrumbs