Kitchen Basics: Easy Homemade Croutons

You’ll want to keep these easy homemade croutons on hand once you’ve made them for the first time. Any time you have bread that’s a little bit old, you can cut it up and make croutons. Once cooled, they keep nearly forever in an airtight container or ziplock bag. We always have some on hand for soup and salad toppers.

You can use any kind of bread to make croutons. I’ve used wheat bread, sourdough bread and baguettes or French bread. You can cut the cubes to any size you want. I make mine around 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches square and about 1/2 inch deep.

My recipe calls for two cups of cubed bread. You can halve this, double it, triple it, or whatever. The seasonings are pretty much added “to taste.” My measurements are provided as a starting point, to give you an idea of what you need on hand.

For crouton seasonings, the sky is the limit. You can use herbs like oregano, basil, thyme (especially for croutons used in soups), and garlic powder or garlic salt, onion powder or onion salt. For mine, I use Italian seasoning (which is an herb blend) and garlic powder, plus table salt. Black pepper would work, too. Experiment and create your own blend!

I always use olive oil when making croutons, because it has great flavor.

When baking, be sure to oil your baking pan or line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Keep an eye on the croutons as they are under the broiler – things could get out of hand fast! You don’t want croutons with burnt edges. Once you see the croutons starting to brown on the first side, pull them out and toss them around with a spatula or tongs. Some croutons might need to be turned over by hand. The important thing is for them to brown as evenly as possible (for the crunch!). Watch them carefully during the second broil and remove the pan as soon as you think the croutons are done.

These are great served with Baby Leaf Summer Salad or Cucumber Asparagus Salad. Or have a look at my other salads to see what suits your fancy!

If you plan to use your croutons with soup, they would be great as a topper on Roasted Asparagus Soup, Wild Rice Mushroom Soup, or Fresh Summer Garden Tomato Soup. You can find more soup recipes here.

Print Recipe

Kitchen Basics: Easy Homemade Croutons

These homemade croutons are great to keep on hand for salad and soup toppers. Use your own choice of seasonings!

Course

Bread, Salad, Soup

Cuisine

American

Keyword

bread, garlic powder, italian seasoning, olive oil

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

2 minutes

Servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried bread cut into cubes
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning or dried herbs of your choice
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder or onion powder, garlic salt, or onion salt
• sprinkling of salt omit if using garlic salt or onion salt in place of garlic powder

Course Bread, Salad, Soup Cuisine American Keyword bread, garlic powder, italian seasoning, olive oil Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 2 minutes Servings Ingredients 2 cups dried bread cut into cubes drizzle of olive oil 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning or dried herbs of your choice 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder or onion powder, garlic salt, or onion salt sprinkling of salt omit if using garlic salt or onion salt in place of garlic powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to broil. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
2. Cut the bread into cubes. Place the bread cubes into a large mixing bowl.
3. Drizzle the bread cubes with olive oil, tossing to evenly coat.
4. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning, or dried herbs of your choice, onto the bread cubes and toss to distribute onto all of the bread cubes.
5. Sprinkle the bread cubes with salt. (If you are using garlic salt or onion salt in place of the garlic powder, omit this salt.)
6. Spread the bread cubes on the baking sheet evenly. Place in the oven on a center or top shelf for about one minute, watching the bread cubes to make sure they don't brown too much.
7. Remove the pan from the oven, toss, and rearrange the bread crumbs on the pan. Turn over by hand any bread cubes that you miss while tossing.
8. Put the baking sheet back into the oven for one more minute of broiling. Keep an eye on the croutons to make sure they brown too much or burn.
9. Remove the baking sheet of croutons from the oven and place the entire sheet onto a cooling rack. Let the croutons cool completely.
10. Once the croutons have cooled completely (you don't want any moisture in your airtight container), place them into a jar or other airtight container. Store in your cupboard or pantry.

    

Recipe Notes

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