Make Your Own Croutons, Trust Me

By Jessica

Have you ever made your own croutons? It seems like a relatively small portion of your salad to worry about but honestly, a homemade crouton is so easy and SO GOOD that it's worth it to take a few moments and throw some together. Plus you could also use them for a panzanella salad or to top soups.

Now, because I am extra fancy (ha!) I made mine from homemade bread but you can make them from whatever you have on hand. If your bread isn't stale, just set it out on the counter to dry out a bit before you get started. 

You'll need

• 3TB butter or 2TB of Earth Balance and 1TB of olive oil (for Vegan)
• 3 cloves of garlic grated
• Pinch of parsley
• Pinch of oregano
• Pinch of thyme
• Pinch of basil
• Cracked black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 4-6 slices of bread depending on thickness
• Couple of shakes of onion powder

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Cube your bread and set aside in a large mixing bowl.

In a medium saucepan melt your butter (or earth balance and oil) together with all of your herbs making sure everything is evenly combined.

Let cool slightly before mixing into the bread cubes. When pouring your butter mixture over the bread, I find it's best to do this in stages and stir it through, this helps the bread get evenly coated without anything getting overly soggy.

Once all the bread is coated, spread it out in a single layer on your parchment covered baking sheet and pop it into the oven for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes you want to give it a good stir and then pop it back in for another 15 minutes or until it comes out nicely browned and crispy

Notice in between the cubes there are little tiny crumb bits? These make for excellent herbed bread crumbs and bonus, they are already toasted! 

Comments

[HereWeGoAJen]

I made homemade croutons in cooking class when I was in the sixth grade and I still remember how good they were to this day. And yes, it's been a good twenty years. I probably ought to make some more, huh?

[Carrisa]

I just made them for the first time about a week ago. One batch with french bread, the next with sourdough. The french turned out better (not as hard). It was so delicous.