Why You Should Substitute Breadcrumbs With Instant Mashed Potatoes

Breadcrumbs can make all the difference in countless dishes, and Bigger Bolder Baking explains making them is a simple matter of cutting old bread into small pieces and drying the crumbs out in the oven. However, while this cooking staple can be used to whip up sugary treats like Irish plum pudding (via The Oregonian), most people turn to breadcrumbs to add crunch to savory meals like this coated calamari with lemon and olives or eggplant parmesan. Breadcrumbs often provide the crisp texture that makes fried dinner-time eats worth biting into — but what if there was another way to make your breaded dishes irresistibly flaky?

We promise we're not committing cooking heresy by suggesting you should forego tradition and look for a new way to make seriously crispy fried pork chops. In fact, many chefs suggest using ingredients like nuts, coconut, and even cooked quinoa in place of breadcrumbs to give new life to classic recipes. This is how trading out breadcrumbs for instant mashed potatoes will take your breaded favorites to new crispy heights.

According to Food & Wine, uncooked instant mashed potatoes are actually just the dehydrated flakes of previously baked whole potatoes that produce a killer crust. And they're not alone in their mission to spread the word about this cooking trick. Kitchn also vouches for this breadcrumbs substitute, particularly as a gluten-free alternative. As the site describes, if you use instant mashed potatoes as your coating, the exterior will turn out delightfully crispy, and its interior will stay delectably moist.

So if you're ready to make your fried chicken extra crunchy, Allrecipes suggests you: beat the egg and milk in one bowl, mix the potato flakes (they use a garlic-flavored variety), salt, and pepper in another, and go about dredging as normal. Once you've done that, fry them to a beautiful golden brown and dig in!