Learn how to make homemade croutons from scratch with this simple, customizable croutons recipe.
Have leftover bread?
Make croutons! ♡
Homemade croutons are just about the easiest thing ever to make, and a million times better than anything you can buy at the store. They’re also easy to customize with whatever seasonings you might be craving, they can be made with any kind of bread that you have on hand (including gluten-free), and they’re easy to make as large or small, soft or crispy, plain or seasoned as you might prefer. Plus, if you’re trying to eat more greens in your life, I’m convinced that having a fresh batch of croutons around is one of the best motivators to toss together a quick salad. Or they’re also delicious for topping a fresh bowl of tomato soup or gazpacho (<– new recipe coming tomorrow, stay tuned!) this time of year.
So grab that leftover bread, and let’s bake up a quick batch!
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CROUTONS | 1-MINUTE VIDEO
Homemade Croutons Ingredients:
To make homemade croutons, you just need three main ingredients:
- Bread: Ideally at least a day or two old, any variety will do.
- Olive oil: Or melted butter, if you prefer.
- Seasonings: Totally up to you! I always, always add garlic powder to my croutons. Plus salt and black pepper. But any other seasonings are up to you! I often turn to Italian seasoning or blackening seasoning, and will occasionally sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese too.
How To Make Croutons:
Simply:
- Dice your bread: Choose whatever size of cubes you prefer, either cut with a knife or torn into small chunks by hand. It’s just important that the croutons be uniformly sized so that they cook evenly.
- Toss with oil and seasonings: In a large bowl, drizzle the bread evenly with the oil and seasonings. Then toss until evenly combined.
- Spread out on a baking sheet: Turn the croutons out onto a parchment-covered baking sheet, and spread out in a single layer.
- Bake until crispy: Flipping the croutons once halfway through baking. Then baking until they croutons reach your desired level of crispiness. (If they start to get too brown, lower the heat and let them bake lower and slower.)
- Serve or store: Then serve immediately. Or let the croutons cool until they reach room temperature, then store in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.
Ways To Use Homemade Croutons:
Some of my favorite ways to use homemade croutons include:
- Salads: Especially any kind of Caesar salad, or my favorite Everyday Salad.
- Soups: Especially hot tomato soup, or authentic Spanish gazpacho (recipe coming soon!)
- Stuffings/Casseroles: Especially around the holidays
And of course, anytime you need breadcrumbs, just use a rolling pin or food processor to break those croutons up into your preferred size of breadcrumbs.
Enjoy, everyone!
How To Make Homemade Croutons
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of bread (about 12 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, homemade or store-bought
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, evenly drizzle the olive oil over the bread chunks. Then evenly sprinkle the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper over the bread. Toss gently until well-combined.
- Spread the bread cubes out in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Bake until golden, turning once halfway through cooking in order to brown all sides of the croutons. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the cubes, so watch to be sure that they do not burn. (Mine generally take between 15-20 minutes.)
- Remove from oven, and let cool completely. Use immediately, or store in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I made these tonight and they were amazing!! I did add a half teaspoon of onion powder as well. My husband has a partial from an injury he sustained in a MVA and he was so happy that he was able to bite down into them? I did use some sausage/hoagie rolls for my bread that we had left over and it made for the perfect croutons.
Wonderful even when you purchase bread just for this as they are so much better than store bought. Especially great as I have a lot of visitors at once and burgers and brats are a big part of that. I ultimately buy too many buns but they are my favorite for this recipe as the bun tops cook up crispy and great.
I really enjoyed the seasoning for this recipe, and it wasn’t overpowering and the ingredients were just right. The type of bread that we used seemed a little burnt, but I was wondering if you could leave recommended breads to use!
I made some croutons today with this recipe and some of my homemade baguettes. I had wanted to try making croutons for some time, so this recipe really helped. I did what one of the other people did and used half butter and half olive oil instead of straight olive oil. They came out great! I tried one or two to make sure they were crunchy and to check the taste. They will go into a Caesar Salad tonight along with a great homemade Caesar Salad dressing that I found on another cooking website. This is going to be fun!
Outstanding! Added 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes for a little kick. A great snack if there isn’t salad. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It was the best! I will never buy store bought again! I used 4 slices of whole wheat bread and cut down on the seasoning a little bit since I made less. I baked them for 7.5 minutes on convection bake. They were done. Didn’t need to flip them. They were perfect. Tender and crispy. We ate a lot of them before putting them on Caesar salad lol. It made the best salad! Yum!!! Next time I am making full batch!
So good and easy to make. I will no longer be purchasing croutons. Thank you for sharing
This is my first time making this and it was AMAZING! I totally recommend this recipe to anyone who loves croutons . I made Cesar salad and I forgot to buy croutons and thank you internet for helping me find the perfect recipe.
Love!!!
Great recipe