Breadcrumbs Substitute From The Pantry?

[pblge]

Hello! I am cooking dinner tonight for two gluten free friends, my picky vegan husband, and my naseous first trimester self with a lot of food aversions. The menu took some serious thought. I finally figured out that Open Original Shared Link along with garden veggies could be a good choice, but I need a substitute for the quarter cup of breadcrumbs. I would prefer not to go buy a whole package of gluten free bread crumbs, or a similar packaged gluten free product, for that tiny amount. I have a very well stocked pantry and a good food grinder, however, so is there some combination of nuts (we have hazlenutes, almonds, cashews, peanuts, walnuts), ground quinoa (or chia, hemp, sesame, flax, etc) or similar that might work? I also have corn meal and gluten free all-purpose flour.

 

Any tips appreciated. Thanks!!

[SMRI]

What about getting a loaf of gluten-free bread, toasting it so it's very crisp and making bread crumbs from that (a few slices).  If you get Udi's or whatever, it stores in the freezer and you could have it on hand.  Nuts will change the flavor of the food but that only matters if you care .

[BridgetteIMcleod]

What a great recipe!. I think any of the nuts will work. Try a mixture of nuts and the seeds would be great. Just make sure you add the gluten free all-purpose flour, that will help hold it together.  Also just try the gluten-free all purpose flour for the gravy the nuts might not work in the gravy. I would grind the nuts but not the seeds, it might give that added crunch to the breading. 

Almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts toast really nicely. The chia, sesame, and flax seeds for the crunch. And maybe a tablespoon  of gluten-free flour. The nuts will give you added flavor and extra protein.

 

Good Luck

[oneonone72]

For any one who is interested in a bread crumb substitute, the following is what I have used. For breaded chicken, I use Glutino garlic/cheese bagel chips. I place a few chips at a time in a plastic sandwich bag and crush them with a hammer or the bottom of a glass. I do this until they are finely crushed. Continue putting more chips in baggie until you have the desired amount you need. I also like to crush bar-b-que gluten-free potato chips and mix that in with the bagel chips to give it more flavor.

 

I have also used Glutino table crackers for breading veal cutlets. Use the same method as above to crush them.

 

If you can't find gluten free pie crusts, I have crushed Glutino cinnamon bagel chips or any kind of gluten-free cookies.

 

I have also crushed gluten free bar-b-que potato chips to coat onion rings.

 

I always find that putting any thing that I bread in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes. It helps the crumbs adhere to the food better so the coating doesn't fall off so much in frying or baking.

 

Hope you find this helpful.

[pblge]

Thank you to everyone for the replies. Since I am not gluten-free, I was really looking for a recipe that did not require a specialized purchase, as I said in the original post. I did not want to buy gluten-free crackers, bread, or any such product--our freezer is already packed, so nothing gluten-free was going in there. I ended up following Bridgette's advice and mixed crushed almonds with whole sesame seeds, a bit of cornmeal, and a little bit of the gluten-free flour I had on hand. It worked out, but didn't stick to the tofu well, so the proportions probably needed to be tweaked.

 

Thanks again!

[jglisson73]

  On 10/23/2014 at 2:36 AM, pblge said:

Thank you to everyone for the replies. Since I am not gluten-free, I was really looking for a recipe that did not require a specialized purchase, as I said in the original post. I did not want to buy gluten-free crackers, bread, or any such product--our freezer is already packed, so nothing gluten-free was going in there. I ended up following Bridgette's advice and mixed crushed almonds with whole sesame seeds, a bit of cornmeal, and a little bit of the gluten-free flour I had on hand. It worked out, but didn't stick to the tofu well, so the proportions probably needed to be tweaked.

 

Thanks again!

 

Great...how did it taste?!