Sides

Homemade Croutons

derek

Croutons are a great way to add crunch and flavor to a salad, but store-bought croutons can go stale fast and become hard as a rock. If you want perfectly crunchy, melt in your mouth croutons made at home – you’ve come to the right place. Making homemade croutons is easy and requires little more than some bread and an oven.

What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Croutons

Croutons don’t require much. You’ll want some bread, some oil, and a baking sheet. Everything else is optional.

The Bread

If you have some bread which is soon to go stale – that is a great candidate for croutons. Not that you need the bread to be old, but this is a great way to use something that you were going to have to throw away.

I prefer to use French bread because it tends to go stale faster than other breads that I keep on hand. I’ve also made some great croutons using ciabatta.

For two to four servings, use about 4oz of bread which should be about 300 calories total. This is about the size of a large grapefruit.

The Oil

The best oil for this recipe is olive oil in a spray can. You can find this online or at most supermarkets. Second best is olive oil. And if you absolutely must, other food oils may suffice.

The Baking Sheet

I like to use this simple aluminum baking sheet from Nordic Ware.

Optional

To make cleanup easier, I like to use silicone coated parchment paper. Get it unbleached and look out for chemicals. This brand by Baker’s Signature is my favorite because the box doesn’t fall apart like the If You Care brand does.

Salt and pepper are key spices to add to homemade croutons, and they tend to go well with any salad you are making.

If you want to go more exotic with your flavors, experiment with additional spices like garlic powder, basil, parsley, thyme, or oregano. You may also want to try cheese for added flavor.

Instructions

Tear bread into large marble size pieces. Try not to crush the bread as you do. I like to shape three fingers and a thumb into a diamond shape and pluck at the bread as shown below.

Place parchment paper on baking sheet and spread out bread pieces. These pieces won’t shrink much if at all during cooking, so feel free to further divide any large pieces until they are all the right size for you.

bread pieces on a baking sheet as a step to making homemade croutons

Spray with olive oil spray or toss with olive oil in a bowl.

bread spritzed with olive oil as a step to making homemade croutons

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add any additional spices at this stage.

bread sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper on a baking sheet as a step to making homemade croutons

Bake @ 350 until pieces start to brown at the edges. Ovens may vary. Mine took 20 minutes.

Allow to cool for just a minute and then enjoy! Croutons are always best when eaten fresh, but these will stay good for many days to come if kept in the refrigerator.

Homemade Croutons

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Author: derek

Print Recipe

Description

Easily make croutons at home! Here’s how to make tender, melt in your mouth crunchy homemade croutons that go perfect on a salad.

Ingredients

Units Scale

4 oz French Bread

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Tear bread into crouton-sized pieces. Try not to compress the bread too much.

Place bread pieces on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Lightly spray with olive oil.

Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.

Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes or until edges start to brown.

Notes

Parchment paper is optional, but it will save cleanup time.

If you don’t have olive oil spray, you can combine ingredients in a large bowl instead.

Baking at 350 for 20 minutes may or may not be the appropriate time because ovens differ. Make sure you keep an eye on your croutons and experiment to get the perfect time.

Consider adding additional ingredients for a more flavorful crouton. This can include butter, garlic, basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, or cheese. Some prefer to simmer their spices in the olive oil before combining with the bread.

Butter and other types of oil may work as a substitute if you don’t have olive oil. Feel free to experiment!