How to make easy, seasoned homemade croutons!
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Have you ever been to a restaurant where they served salads with those fresh, warm croutons made in-house? Those are always my favorite kind of croutons! They add a nice flavorful crunch to the crisp veggies and they always taste so much better than the premade ones or the kind you can buy from the store.
The store-bought croutons are usually as hard as a rock and ready to break your teeth, plus when you try to read over the ingredients over half of them are unrecognizable and unpronounceable. In my opinion, there’s just no way that they can compare to freshly made croutons.
So I decided to start making my very own seasoned Homemade Croutons! Now I love making these tasty croutons for several reasons. Not only do I love having fresh, homemade croutons for salad night at my house, but it’s also the prime opportunity to take advantage of stale bread recipes!
You know how the story goes. You buy a whole loaf of bread thinking surely it will be eaten within days…but then it doesn’t. So the bread starts going stale but you really don’t want it to go to waste. This is the perfect solution! It’s one of my top favorite stale bread recipes by far, along with my Homemade Bread Crumbs and Simple Bread Pudding!
Whether it’s soup or salad night, or you just need to use up some stale bread, you definitely won’t be disappointed in these tasty toppings! Here’s how I make scrumptiously seasoned Homemade Croutons.
To make easy homemade croutons, all you need is: bread (can be stale), olive oil, Italian seasoning, a baking sheet, parchment paper, a cutting board and some measuring utensils. First preheat the oven to 375°F. Then, cut the bread slices into 1-inch strips. Cut across the strips to make 1-inch cubes. Spread the bread pieces over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then drizzle the bread with olive oil, sprinkle with seasonings, and toss to mix them. Bake for 10 minutes, occasionally flipping the croutons.
Baking Equipment
First, let me go over the tools and materials that I use to make these easy, crispy snacks. I don’t need much, just a few common kitchen utensils and I’m good to go. Here’s what I use to make homemade croutons:
- Measuring Cup
- Measuring spoons
- Cutting Board
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Parchment paper sheet
- Disposable Vinyl Gloves
Crouton Ingredients
Now let’s talk about some simply good ingredients. I only need 3 of them to make these scrumptious seasoned croutons. I like to use Italian seasoning in this recipe but really you can use whatever seasonings you want to match up with the flavors of a particular dish. Get creative with it! Here are my favorite homemade crouton ingredients:
- 4 cups white bread (stale bread can be used)
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning or seasoning of your choice
How to Make Homemade Croutons
Now let me break down this easy process into bite-size pieces, like these croutons. My recipe is super simple to follow along with and can be finished within minutes so you can be on your way to crispy, crunchy snacking! Here’s how to make homemade seasoned croutons:
- First, gather and measure out the ingredients with the measuring cup and spoons. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Next, prepare a cutting board and the bread slices.
- Then, cut each bread slice into several 1-inch strips. After that, cut across each of the strips to make several 1-inch bread cubes.
- Repeat this process until you have 4 cups of bread cubes.
- Next, line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Then, spread the bread chunks over the lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle the bread pieces with olive oil.
- Then, sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the bread, put disposable gloves on, and mix everything until coated evenly.
- Bake the homemade croutons for 10 minutes, flipping occasionally.
- Finally, remove the croutons from the oven, serve, and enjoy!
Storing Homemade Croutons
To store homemade croutons: transfer them to an airtight container or a ziploc bag and store them for up to 2 weeks at room temperature, or freeze them in a ziploc bag for up to 2 months. Always label the date on the outside of the container. To use after freezing: bake the frozen croutons on a baking sheet at 300°F until thawed out and crispy.
More Stale Bread Recipes
Easy, Fresh Bread Recipes
These crisp and crunchy croutons are not only a fantastic way to take advantage of stale bread, but they always turn out to be a perfect addition every time I make them for a meal! Here are a few ways to serve these crunchy toppings along with some of my other homemade bread recipes.
Use these scrumptious homemade croutons for:
- A crunchy snack
- Soups
- Try with one of my homemade soups like Tomato Soup, French Onion Soup, Split Pea Soup and Chicken Noodle Soup!
- Salads
- Stuffing turkey or chicken
- Stuffed tomatoes
- Chili
Check out more of my easy homemade bread recipes:
- Homemade Bread Crumbs
- Giant Brioche Buns
- Pizza Dough
- French Toast
- Easy Dinner Rolls
- Skillet Flatbread
- Simple Bread Pudding
- How to Test Yeast
Homemade Croutons
Ingredients
- 4 cups white bread
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- First, gather and measure out the ingredients with the measuring cup and spoons. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Next, prepare a cutting board and the bread slices.
- Then, cut each bread slice into several 1-inch strips. After that, cut across each of the strips to make several 1-inch bread cubes.
- Repeat this process until you have 4 cups of bread cubes.
- Next, line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Then, spread the bread chunks over the lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle the bread pieces with olive oil.
- Then, sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the bread, put disposable gloves on, and mix everything until coated evenly.
- Bake the homemade croutons for 10 minutes, flipping occasionally.
- Finally, remove the croutons from the oven, serve, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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