Leftover bread gone stale? Then you need to make this 5 minute Pangrattato recipe. Also known as poor man's parmesan, bread crumbs are panfried in oil and garlic until crispy, then tossed in herbs and spices.
They're perfect for elevating all sorts of meals like pasta, salads, soups, roasted vegetables, and soft cheeses.
The Italian word Pangrattato literally means breadcrumbs. It may sound plain (as store-bought ones are), but these crisp breadcrumbs make great additions similar to traditional croutons with any Italian cuisine.
It's a very cheap and easy accompaniment made with stale bread, garlic, oil, and whatever herbs, spices. It offers a delicious flavour and crunchy texture to so many pasta recipes, homemade soups and salads.
And the best thing? This flavoursome topping is ready in 5 minutes, and keeps for months so you can regularly add a crunchy sprinkle to your everyday family recipes.
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✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Here are just a few of the reasons why we think you'll always want these Italian bread crumb recipe at hand:
- Uses simple ingredients
- Easy recipe with no skills needed
- Great for reducing food waste
- Can be served with so many dishes
- Makes an affordable Christmas gift in a jar
- Takes minutes to make your own breadcrumbs
- Much quicker than baking in a preheated oven
- You can flavour with any herbs, spices, and nut
- Can be healthy with wholemeal bread and more
- It's a great way to add extra flavour to any simple pasta dish
🛒 Ingredient Notes
Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.
Olive oil - for frying with health benefits or you can make crispy breadcrumbs with salted butter instead
Garlic cloves - for a more complex flavour, or simply use 1 clove of garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder if preferred
Stale bread - this is 2-3 slices of bread of your choice, then grate or process into bread crumbs. I used sourdough white bread, but you could use any white or brown bread, etc
Fresh rosemary leaves - these are leaves from a fresh sprig finely chopped
Seasoning - this is salt and ground black pepper
Chilli flakes - or red pepper flakes for extra heat
Lemon zest - adds a delicious citrus tang. You can also add lemon juice, but I save it for squeezing it into my meals instead
Parmesan cheese - I use Napolina grated hard cheese that doesn't need refrigerating to extend its shelf life. Or you can use fresh parmesan, Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano
Fresh parsley - as a garnish
📋 Instructions
You can follow my detailed instructions on how to make breadcrumb topping for pasta below. Or watch my video in the recipe card at the bottom for a helping hand while you make this delicious recipe.
1. Add pieces of bread to a food processor and blend until you have coarse or fine crumbs.
Or you can hand grate if preferred.
2. Add the oil to a large frying pan and add the minced garlic.
Then saute for 1 minute over medium-high heat or until it starts to bubble.
3. Lower to medium-low heat.
Add the breadcrumbs and stir continuously while frying over for 5 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in chilli flakes, lemon zest, salt, black pepper, parmesan, and rosemary.
Now sprinkle over drained pasta, or cool and place your breadcrumbs in an airtight container.
Tip: Feel free to cut the bread crusts off your stale sourdough bread as these will be much darker than the rest
👩🍳 Substitutions
Depending on your dietary needs, here are a few simple swaps you can make to this Italian breadcrumb topping for pasta:
- Bread - You can swap for any Italian bread such as ciabatta or any crusty bread. Swap for gluten-free bread if preferred, or a keto option such as chopped nuts to toast, like a walnut pangrattato
- Parmesan - swap for Grana Padano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pecorino romano or make it vegan by using nutritional yeast instead
- Olive oil - fried breadcrumbs can also be swapped for butter. Or if more accessible, vegetable oil or rapeseed oil. You can also add extra virgin olive oil, but I recommend letting them cool for for 1-2 minutes
- Rosemary - swap for different herbs such as basil for a pesto pangrattato taste
⚖️ Variations
Here are some different ways you can make your own flavoured breadcrumbs for next time:
- Anchovy pangrattato - finely chop and fry 2 anchovies with the garlic for a fishy taste, then continue with the recipe excluding the salt
- Kid friendly - omit the chili flakes and only add a little garlic if you fear 2 cloves will be too strong
- Sweet pangrattato - Instead of salt and sugar, add a tablespoon or 2 or soft light brown sugar, allspice, etc., making it the perfect addition for ice creams
- Nutty or seedy - add chopped nuts, pinenuts or pumpkin seeds, etc to toast for extra crispy breadcrumbs for pasta
🔪 Equipment
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Mini food processor - to blend into fine crumbs. Or you can use a box grater for coarse crumbs, although this isn't very easy with stale sourdough bread
Large frying pan - or if preferred, you can bake them in a high-walled oven-safe dish. Then mix with herbs and spices in a large mixing bowl before serving
Lemon zester - I use a fine grater to skim the zest off the lemon, avoiding the bitter rind
Garlic press - to mince the garlic, or you can grate, or add salt and grind it into a paste carefully with the flat edge of a knife
❄️ Storage
Storing - after first serving it on our cooked pasta, we prefer storing the remaining Italian breadcrumbs in a recycled sterilized jar once cooled or an airtight container left in a dry storage area for up to 3 months.
Freeze - you can also freeze your garlic breadcrumbs in a food bag or a freezer safe container for up to 6 months.
💡Pro Tips
- For best results, use day-old stale bread as it is drier, or you can dry out fresh bread by baking it in a low oven for 5 minutes
- If you don't have a food processor, try grating it, but it will take much longer
- Avoid frying your pangritata on too high a temperature as the crumbs can burn
- Stir your pangrattato constantly while frying to prevent burning
- Let the breadcrumb mixture cool to room temperature before storing it so that it stays crispy
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
If you're looking for a fabulous way to eat this garlic crumb recipe, then take your pick:
Pasta: One of the best ways to enjoy it as a crunchy topping on simple pasta dishes such as spaghetti carbonara, macaroni and cheese, lasagna al forno, Melanzane Parmigiana etc.
Soups: Another one of my favourite ways is to eat them as mini croutons on all of my homemade thick creamy soups for crunch and flavour.
Salads: similar to soups, adding a bit of crunch really does enhance a Caesar salad recipe, or this pasta fredda cold pasta salad along with fried crispy onions, bacon bits, etc
Roasted vegetables: Pangrattato is perfect for topping roasted Mediterranean vegetables like sliced aubergine, courgettes, green beans, asparagus and more
Soft cheese - roll soft cheese such as blue cheese, goat cheese, etc in nuts and breadcrumbs
Meatballs - mix into beef mince for these luxurious Lihapullat Finnish meatballs
❓ FAQ
Pangrattato are flavoured Italian crispy breadcrumbs that are used as a topping for texture and flavor to many different meals. It is made with stale bread turned into crumbs, olive oil, garlic, and flavoured with whatever herbs and spices you wish.
You can use any stale bread you wish for pangrattato. But for best results, it's important to us stale bread with no moisture for a crispy texture.
The choice is yours as to what you want to add to your pangrattato. Feel free to use any dried or fresh herbs like parsley, oregano, sage, thyme, basil, etc. You can also add spices like onion powder, smoked paprika, etc
🍽️Pairing
Here are some of our favourite authentic Italian recipes we love eating with these lemon and garlic breadcrumbs:
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📖 Recipe
Pangrattato {Pangritata} Crispy Italian Breadcrumbs Recipe}
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil or salted butter
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 275 g Stale bread 3 slices
- 1 sprig Rosemary leaves only (or 1 tbsp) finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Chilli flakes
- 1 Lemon zest only
- 2 tablespoon Parmesan grated (13g)
Instructions
- Add pieces of bread to a food processor and blend until you have coarse or fine crumbs. Or you can hand grate if preferred.
- Add the oil to a large frying pan and add the minced garlic. Then saute for 1 minute over medium-high heat or until it starts to bubble.
- Lower to medium-low heat. Add the breadcrumbs and stir continuously while frying over for 5 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.
- Turn off the heat and stir in chilli flakes, lemon zest, salt, black pepper, parmesan, and rosemary.
- Now sprinkle over drained pasta, or cool and place your breadcrumbs in an airtight container.
Disclaimer
*This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World. Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/. Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.
Video
Notes
-
- For best results, use day-old stale bread as it is drier, or you can dry out fresh bread by baking it in a low oven for 5 minutes
- If you don't have a food processor, try grating it, but it will take much longer
- Avoid frying your pangritata on too high a temperature as the crumbs can burn
- Stir your pangrattato constantly while frying to prevent burning
- Let the breadcrumb mixture cool completely before storing it so that it stays crispy
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