Pangrattato (10-Minute Crispy Italian Breadcrumbs)
on Mar 10, 2025
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Pangrattato, or crispy seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, is your new favorite pasta topping! Sometimes described as ‘poor man’s parmesan’, this 10-minute budget-friendly condiment adds a delicious burst of flavor and crunch. Move over parmesan!
We love ‘peasant cooking’ here on Scrummy Lane. In other words, recipes that use simple, inexpensive ingredients or what you already have in the pantry. Great examples include Spain’s tortilla de patatas, Greece’s ‘horiatiki’ or village salad, or this super tasty penne puttanesca.
Italy’s Pangrattato (meaning ‘grated bread) is a perfect example of this too! It’s very common at the dinner table in central or southern areas of Italy such as Tuscany and Sicily. It’s a really great budget alternative to parmesan cheese.
Why you’ll love it
- 10-minute recipe. Make it while your pasta is cooking!
- Just a few cheap (virtually free) ingredients. All you’ll need is some stale bread, olive oil, and simple seasonings (if you like).
- Not just for pasta night. Pangrattato is perfect sprinkled generously over pasta. However, you can also scatter it over everything from vegetables and soups to salads, casseroles and more.
- Keeps well for 2 weeks. keep the seasoned breadcrumbs in a jar for a couple of weeks
- Make it your own. There are various ways to make your own version of these amazing crispy breadcrumbs. Stir in some parmesan or lemon zest, switch up the herbs, add a pinch of spice, or whatever you like!
Fun Fact
Pangrattato is sometimes called ‘poor man’s parmesan’. In poorer rural areas, it was once used as a more budget-friendly substitute for cheese since it imitates the strong savory flavor and texture of freshly grated parmesan.
About the ingredients
You’ll find a full list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. But here’s a summary of what you need to know.
Leftover bread: You can literally use any leftover bread to make the breadcrumbs for pangrattato. Of course, Italian style breads such as ciabatta or focaccia are great, as is sourdough bread. It’s a great way to use up every bit of that loaf that you paid more than you really wanted to for!
It’s best if the bread is slightly old or stale, say one-day-old bread. This will crumble into breadcrumbs more easily in your food processor.
Fresh rosemary: You can actually add any herbs you like into your tasty seasoned breadcrumbs. However, my favorite is fresh rosemary. I like to pulse it in the food processor along with the bread. This way, the rosemary leaves get chopped and ‘massaged’ into the bread, releasing so much flavor.
Olive oil: I suggest using extra virgin olive oil. The bread will soak it all up, making it crisp and flavorful without it tasting greasy.
Garlic: You’ll need two big cloves of garlic to squash with the back of a knife. Sauté them in the olive oil as you warm it in the pan. Then add the breadcrumbs into the delicious garlic-infused oil.
Dried herbs and salt: I think that a good amount of salt is essential since you’re going to be using the crispy breadcrumbs almost as a seasoning on top of a dish – just like salty parmesan. Dried herbs are optional, but I add them (usually mixed Italian herbs) since I always have some in my pantry.
How to make pangrattato
You’ll need just 10 minutes to make pangrattato. Use it immediately or pop it into a jar to save for later!
The first thing to do is to make the breadcrumbs. I usually use a small food processor for this. Mine came together with a stick blender, but any food processor will do the job.
So tear the bread into chunks. Pile it into the food processor together with about a tablespoon of fresh rosemary leaves, if you have them.
Then pulse until you have breadcrumbs! I like to pulse until there are rustic style breadcrumbs with some finer ones and some chunkier ones. The rosemary will get chopped and blended into the breadcrumbs, too.
Now heat up the olive oil and the two squashed garlic cloves on a low to medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon for a few minutes to let the garlic flavor infuse into the oil.
When the oil is starting to sizzle lightly, you can add the breadcrumbs and rosemary mixture. You can also sprinkle in the salt and dried herbs.
Stir the breadcrumbs and oil constantly for a few minutes, or until they are a crispy deep golden brown.
They’re ready to sprinkle over your pasta! Alternatively, let the toasted breadcrumbs cool down completely. Then pour them into a clean jar with a lid to keep for later.
Helen’s Top Tips
- Stale or day-old bread works best! Any time you have leftovers from a nice loaf, why not tear them into chunks and pop them into the freezer in a freezer bag ready for the next time you want to make pangrattato?
- Remember to pan-fry the breadcrumbs on a low to medium heat. Stir constantly and keep a close eye on them so that they brown but don’t burn. The crumbs can go from browned to burnt in an instant.
- Variations: You can easily make the recipe your own by adding different herbs and flavors. How about a little lemon zest, finely grated parmesan cheese, or a pinch of chili flakes? Just before serving, you could stir in some fresh chopped herbs such as basil.
- Storage: If you want to save some of the pangrattato for another time, don’t add fresh ingredients such as fresh parsley, lemon zest or cheese until you’re about to use it. You can keep it in a clean sealed jar for up to 2 weeks to use on pasta, soups, casseroles, salads, veggie and more!
Serving ideas
In the past, I’ve sprinkled crispy fried breadcrumbs similar to this pangrattato recipe on Italian style pasta dishes.
But there are so many ways to use it! Here a some ideas. I’m sure you can think of more!
- Pasta: I never serve this incredibly tasty and hearty fennel and sausage pasta without it, for instance! It also takes simple pantry pasta dinners such as puttanesca penne, pasta alla norma or pasta with marinara sauce from very good to incredible!
- Vegetables: Pangrattato adds delicious extra seasoning and crunch on top of simple veggie dishes such as Mediterranean vegetables and sauteed green beans.
- Salads: You can use the Italian style breadcrumbs instead of croutons to add crunch to a fresh salad. Try them on top of this quinoa salad with feta, fennel and blueberries, or just over a plain green salad.
- Soups: Try them on top of a classic tomato soup, a lentil soup, or any soup instead of croutons.
- Miscellaneous: I also also think the toasted breadcrumbs would be great scattered over this Greek baked eggplant (a personal favorite!), creamy broccoli gnocchi, or baked chicken with feta and lemon.
What other dishes do you think pangrattato would be delicious on?
Recipe FAQs
Yes. I do think that chunkier, rustic style breadcrumbs made out of leftover slightly stale bread are best, as they soak up the oil and flavors beautifully. But in a pinch, panko breadcrumbs work as well. Just keep an even closer eye on them as they will probably brown faster in the pan.
You can dry it out a bit by putting the slices of bread into the oven on a baking sheet at a low temperature (about 300°F/150°C) until dry (about 300°F/150°C for 10 to 15 minutes). Then continue with the recipe as written.
Yes, you can. Try grating it. This will only work if the bread is dry enough, however. If it isn’t, follow the method above to dry it out a bit more first.
More ways to elevate dinner!
Pangrattato (10-Minute Crispy Italian Breadcrumbs)
Ingredients
- 2½ ounces bread, (Around 2 slices) Slightly stale or 1-day-old is best. There should be roughly 1 cup of breadcrumbs.
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and kept whole, but crushed with the flat part of a knife
- ½ teaspoon mixed dried herbs
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Start by making the breadcrumbs. Tear the stale bread into chunks in a food processor (I use a small one), then add the rosemary. Pulse them until you have coarse breadcrumbs and chopped rosemary.
- Heat up the olive oil and garlic cloves in a large wide frying pan or other pan on a low to medium heat. Stir the garlic continuously to infuse the flavor into the oil. Once a breadcrumb added to the pan sizzles a little, remove the garlic. Then stir in the breadcrumb mixture until they are well mixed with the oil.
- Sprinkle over the dried herbs and salt. Then cook and stir continuously, or until the breadcrumbs are golden but of course not burnt. Keep a close eye on them towards the end of cooking.
- Take off the heat. To serve, sprinkle over your pasta, vegetables, soup, or other dish and eat immediately while still very crisp. Let any leftovers cool completely then store in a clean dry jar with a lid for up to 2 weeks.
