Turn leftover bread into delicious homemade croutons in 15 minutes with our easy recipes for stovetop and oven-baked versions. Perfect for salads and soups, and much tastier than store-bought!
Place the torn or cubed bread into a medium sized bowl. Pour olive oil over the bread and add the salt and dried herbs. Mix well and taste one to see if it is seasoned to your liking, adjust salt and herbs as necessary.
Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat until hot and add the bread to the pan. Let the pieces of bread sit for a few minutes until they start to brown on one side. Stir occasionally and keep a close watch on them as they can quickly burn.
Once the pieces of bread are brown on all sides, transfer them to a paper towel lined plate to cool.
HOW TO MAKE CROUTONS IN THE OVEN
Place the bread in a medium sized bowl. Pour olive oil over the bread and add the salt and dried herbs. Mix well and taste one to see if it is seasoned to your liking, adjust salt and herbs as necessary.
Spread the croutons out on a small sheet pan. Bake in a 375° F (190° C) for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are golden brown.
Notes
Expert Tips
Consider this basic crouton recipe as a starting off point. You could keep the croutons super simple and just add olive oil and salt. You might also like to add any spices you may have on hand; dried basil, dried rosemary, garlic powder are great suggestions.
I've listed ingredient amounts in the recipe based on using 2 cups of cubed or torn bread, if you have more or less bread that you want to use, you can easily adjust the ingredient amounts in your own version. A general rule of thumb is to use 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil for every cup of torn bread.
As for the amount of herbs, that can be adjusted more or less to taste.