We successfully synthesized the nitrogen-doped porous carbon particles (N-PCPs) by using a combined "black bread reaction" with thermal annealing in the presence of NH3 atmosphere. The method is very simple and practical for mass production, which will speed up as metal-free electrocatalyst commercialization. The resulting N-PCPs-800 shows decent catalytic activity, longer durability and better tolerance to methanol in alkaline and acidic media due to the high proportion of pyridinic nitrogen atoms and large BET surface area (up to 657.8 m(2) g(-1)). This study can provide facile but efficient and versatile approaches to cost-effective and large-scale production of N-PCPs as metal-free oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts for fuel cells (FCs). (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.