Just three ingredients are needed to make these homemade parmesan breadcrumbs – Delicious atop any number of casseroles!
The last few months of the year are a big time for food bloggers. As such, the fam has been humoring me with their willingness to taste test some new dishes.
There’s been sourdough pizza crusts, a ginger stir-fry, crustless pumpkin pie bars, and a fresh green bean casserole.
I didn’t grow up eating the latter, so I’ve just been tweaking the recipe to how I would like it. Soft green beans in a creamy veggie-based sauce, all topped with today’s delicious parmesan breadcrumbs!
I’ve actually tried these breadcrumbs on a couple of different casseroles, and they really bring the dish ‘home’, so to speak.
Without ever having tasted store-bought breadcrumbs, I’d still wager to say that these are better. Homemade is always better!
I like using a whole grain sprouted bread (typically, Ezekiel) to make these.
The additions of parmesan and olive oil make for a cheesy, crispy, luscious bite, that I find irresistible! Personally, I also like to add in a good amount of freshly ground black pepper, but I bet some Italian seasoning would also give them a good taste.
These are an incredible topping for casseroles, particularly vegetable-based ones.
Keep this recipe in mind when I post my clean green bean casserole in the near future! 🙂
Make your own breadcrumbs by combining whole grain toast with grated parmesan and olive oil for a scrumptious casserole topping!
- 2 slices whole grain bread
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- fresh black pepper if desired
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the slices of bread in the oven directly onto the rack.
Toast one side for 5-6 minutes.
Flip and toast the other side for another 5-6 minutes.
Let the toast cool enough to touch.
Break each piece into quarters and pulse it in a food processor until it resembles coarse sand.
Mix the bread with the parmesan and olive oil, adding in black pepper, if desired.
Sprinkle atop your casserole and bake as directed.
Nutrition facts are based on using Ezekiel bread and one ounce of parmesan. WW SmartPoints: 16
Notes:
Nutrition facts are for the entire recipe, assuming you use all of it for a casserole. It generously covers an 8 x 8 baking dish.
I bake my toast to get a more ‘even’ bake on the bread, but a toaster would probably work just fine too!
If you’re not going to use these right away, I would suggest storing the breadcrumbs in a baggie in the freezer and mixing in the parmesan and olive oil when ready to use.
Recipe Steps:
Pre-toasted bread (Ezekiel pictured)…
Post-toasted…
Break it up add it to a processor or blender (seen here in my Nutribullet)…
Crumbs should resemble coarse sand (they shouldn’t be too fine!)…
Mix with parmesan…
…and olive oil…
Jan says
Hi Lauren. Am definitely going to use this recipe a lot! But I was wondering, would there be a difference if you just toasted the bread in a toaster as opposed to toasting the slices in the oven?
Lauren says
Sorry for the delay Jan! I bake mine primarily because I find it gives the bread a more ‘even’ toast, but I think the toaster would work fine too! 🙂
Gail says
First experiment: steamed cauliflower, deli Swiss slices, and a thick blanket of crumbs
Lauren says
Yum! I may have to try that myself! 🙂