How to Make Homemade Croutons - The Carefree Kitchen (2024)

Learn how to make Homemade Croutons from scratch with this quick and easy recipe. They’re buttery, garlicky, and super simple to make with sourdough, French, Italian, brioche, or just about any other type of bread.

It's easy to make your own croutons for soup and salads, taking a basic lunch or dinner and giving it a little additional crunchy garlic flavor. You can store croutons in the fridge or freezer for quite a while, so don't hesitate to make a lot.

How to Make Croutons From Scratch

One of my favorite garnishes to have on hand is Homemade Croutons. Making croutons is a super simple way to elevate any of your favorite soups and salads, and a great way to use up leftover bread. I love using a crusty loaf of bread like French bread to make croutons, but you can truly use any kind.

Once you have cut your bread into cubes and tossed with the melted butter seasoning mixture, just bake for about 15 minutes. Make sure to stir a few times so that they can toast on each side - easy peasy! Need bread crumbs? Just toss your croutons into a food processor, pulse gently, and ta-da.

Tis Homemade Crouton recipe would taste great with any number of soups and salads including this Roasted Acorn Squash Soup, Creamy Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup, Caeser Salad, or this Grilled Chicken BLT Salad.

Homemade Crouton Recipe Ingredients

• Bread - while you can technically use any type of bread to make croutons, I like to use a crusty loaf like French bread or sourdough for croutons. It’s actually helpful if the crouton bread is slightly stale, but fresh bread will work just fine. You’ll want to cut into ¾” - 1” pieces.
• Butter - melted butter adds flavor to the croutons, but you could skip and use all olive oil if you wanted to make these vegan.
• Olive Oil - olive oil helps the croutons crisp up in the oven.
• Garlic Powder and Onion Powder - these will add a more mild garlic and onion flavor as well as no little chunks that can burn in the oven.
• Salt - sea salt works great.
• Parsley - you can use fresh or dried parsley for a little extra flavor. Italian seasoning would also taste great.

How to Make Homemade Croutons

1. Combine the butter and oil mixture. In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and parsley. Whisk until combined.
2. Mix with the cubed bread. Cut the French bread into pieces that are 1" or smaller and place in a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil mixture over the bread cubes and stir until all the cubes are lightly coated. Spread the bread cubes onto a large baking sheet in a single even layer.
3. Bake. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes, or until the cubes are golden brown on all sides.
4. Cool and store. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the croutons to cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. (Note: If the croutons become a little chewy or moist, just bake them again for a few minutes to crisp them up). Add to salads or soups. Enjoy!

Recipe Variations for this Crouton Recipe

If you want to add a little flavor to your croutons, here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Rosemary Olive Oil Croutons: Combine cubed bread with olive oil, fresh rosemary, and a pinch of salt.
• Honey Mustard Croutons: Toss cubed bread with a mixture of honey, Dijon mustard, and olive oil.
• Everything Bagel Croutons: Coat cubed bread with a mixture of melted butter and "everything bagel" seasoning (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, and salt).
• Lemon Herb Croutons: Combine cubed bread with olive oil, lemon zest, chopped fresh parsley, and a sprinkle of black pepper.
• Maple Cinnamon Sugar Croutons: For a sweet crouton, toss cubed bread with melted butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and a pinch of sugar.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Store Homemade Croutons

• Room Temperature: store cooled croutons in an airtight container or freezer bags at room temperature for up to 1 week.
• Freezer: store in freezer bags for up to 1 month in the freezer.
• To refresh: if your croutons begin to get a little soft, just bake again for a few minutes and cool completely.

More Soup and Salad Recipes

• BBQ Chicken Salad
• Caesar Salad
• Grilled Chicken BLT Salad
• Creamy Curry Squash Soup
• Cauliflower Soup
• Creamy Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Southwest Black Bean Soup
• Homemade Tomato Soup
• Tuscan Soup
• Broccoli Cheese Soup
• More Soup Recipes
• More Salad Recipes

These quick and easy Homemade Croutons taste great with all sorts of salads and creamy soups. They're covered in garlic butter and toasted to perfection.

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