What's the Difference Between Regular & Panko Bread Crumbs

What are Panko Breadcrumbs? How are they different vs. regular bread crumbs? Find out why I have switched to using nothing but Japanese Panko breadcrumbs for breading chicken, fish, crab cakes, pork, etc for an unbelievable crispy texture!

📋 What's New In This Post (4/28/25) - Update of how the post is formatted to make it easier to read.

A box of Private selection Panko bread crumbs next to a canister of Kroger traditional read crumbs. Both are sitting on a white title countertop.

Thanks, Alton Brown!

Have you ever thought much about bread crumbs?

There are just crumbs of bread, right. Nothing more to think about.

For years I have been a bread crumb user. The first time was when my friend showed to me how to bread shrimp for deep frying. For years I just grabbed the plain bread crumbs off the shelf without a second thought for all my recipes like my Baked Crispy Pork Chops.

That was until I saw an episode of Alton Brown’s Good Eats. Alton uses Panko bread crumbs or also called Japanese bread crumbs. Life changing! Let's show you why.

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Jump to:

Thanks, Alton Brown!
🙋 What's the Difference?
❓ Why Use Panko?
♻️ Can I Substitute?
🛒 Where to Buy Panko
How to Pick Out the Best Panko
FAQ

On the left is a close up of traditional bread crumbs. They are small and round with white and brown crumbs. On the right is a close up of Panko breadcrumbs that are completely all white, the crumbs are not as uniform and are more jagged.

🙋 What's the Difference?

One look and you will see how these two types of bread crumbs differ. The crumbs on the left are regular breadcrumbs. The crumbs on the right are Panko breadcrumbs.

What do you notice about the regular ones? Look at the size and the shape of the crumbs. The crumbs are round and somewhat uniform.

How do the Panko crumbs compare? Notice the size, shape, and uniformity as compared to the regular ones. They are all different sizes - kind of like snowflakes - and more jagged in appearance. I have described them to people as looking like someone took some croutons and smashed them to bits.

❓ Why Use Panko?

My personal 2 biggest reasons to use Panko breadcrumbs is because the food I make with them comes out crispier and less oil is absorbed when I fry foods coated in Panko.

Panko is more coarse than traditional breadcrumbs. This allows them to provide a crispy coating that starts crispier and stays crispier longer. They are also made from crust less bread.

We have fallen in love with Panko in our house and they are now the only bread crumbs we will purchase. We use it mostly for coating chicken tenders but has also used it with a pork chops or a pork cutlet, cod, and shrimp.

The more airy, flakiness of the Panko bread crumb not only will make your fried foods crispier but less oil can be absorbed. When using Panko you are less likely to have soggy food and it should be your life's mission to avoid soggy foods!.

On the left is homemade fried shrimp that was breaded with traditional breadcrumbs and on the right is fried shrimp that is coated in Panko bread crumbs. The Panko coated shrimp appears more crispy with more visual crumbs than the traditional breadcrumbs. — On the left is fried shrimp coated with traditional breadcrumbs. On the right is fried shrimp coated with Panko breadcrumbs.

♻️ Can I Substitute?

Absolutely. I have used Panko in recipes for meatballs and meatloaf that calls for traditional breadcrumbs. You can also swap the other way and use traditional ones instead of Panko. I don't change the amount I use when I swap either way.

However, your never get quite the same crispy texture with regular bread crumbs. This is especially true if you are going to deep fry whatever food your covering in bread crumbs.

Learn about 10 Different Substitutions for Panko Breadcrumbs.

A yellow bag of Vigo Cilantro Lime Seasoned Panko breadcrumbs on the shelf at a grocery store.

🛒 Where to Buy Panko

Pretty much every grocery store carries them now. Whenever you find traditional bread crumbs in the store, you will find Panko.

I have seen an increase of Panko products on the market, including different flavored versions (although I would prefer to add my own herbs to the dish I am making instead of buying the herbed Panko).

How to Pick Out the Best Panko

A black bag of J-Basket Japanese Style Panko breadcrumbs sitting on black carpet. The bag has a "see through window" at the bottom corner so you can see what the Panko looks like.

I personally think the best Panko you are going to get is going to have some Asian writing on the bag. The brands you find where the Asian cuisine is sold in the grocery store or in an Asian grocery store are typically my favorite.

Store brands I don't think are quite as good. Kikkoman is fine but I prefer a brand like J-Basket.

An opened bag Pork Panko Fried Pork Rinds spilling out onto a white title countertop. — Pork Panko are fried pork rinds that has been broken into Panko sized pieces. Pork Panko can be used as a 1 for 1 swap with regular Panko or any breadcrumbs.

FAQ

Making standard bread crumbs at home. That is easy.

I would love to do homemade Panko. Is it possible? It's not easy to exactly replicate

You will want to use crustless white bread to make it. Remove the crust first.

What I heard people say you can do is to try and grate your bread. Doing that with a hand crating is challenge. It's best to try and use the grater disc that came with your food processor after you have dried out your bread as you would for making croutons

Most likely yes. I don't see any traditional Panko breadcrumbs that have any ingredients that wouldn't be vegan. I don't want to guarantee that for all products. I have seen Kikkoman brand Panko being sold on a vegan food website. The ingredients in that brand are : wheat, sugar, yeast, and salt. There isn't any animal fats.

If you are someone that is on a gluten free diet or you have a family or friend that is, I want to give you a couple options to avoid ones made with wheat flour.

Gluten Free Panko Bread Crumbs - they are several gluten free Panko options on the market, that use different types of starches, usually tapioca or potato.

Pork Panko - this is a really unique option. Pork Panko is pork rinds that have been ground into pieces that size of panko. You can use it just like you would the breadcrumbs.

Have you switched over to using Panko breadcrumbs instead of regular ones? Let me know why you prefer them by leaving a comment below. I would love to hear from you.