Nothing beats homemade and croutons are no exception! And when they’re this easy, you’ll never want to buy them again. These Crunchy Homemade Croutons require just four ingredients and bring so much texture and flavor to your dish.
Plus, this simple recipe will teach you how to breathe new life into your stale bread, and how to get the perfect crunch and seasoning on your croutons.
I usually make a big batch of these whenever I have stale bread and keep them throughout the week to add to my Tuna Caesar Salads and more!
And as a time-strapped mom who enjoys gourmet cuisine and doesn’t like waste, this recipe comes in handy to help easily elevate my salads, soups, and wraps while resourcefully saving my old bread.
Homemade Croutons Ingredient Highlights
This recipe is best with day-old or even stale bread; preferably sourdough, Italian, or white bread, but truly any bread works!
If you don’t have garlic salt, just add both garlic powder and salt to this recipe!
4-Ingredient Croutons Tips and Tricks
How to Make Your Own Croutons at Home
Slice your bread into small, bite-sized cubes, about 1 inch in size. I recommend using a serrated knife. You can stack your bread and slice several pieces as once.
It’s much easier to slice into bread that’s a little staler, so if you are using fresh bread you may need to slice one at a time.
Add the cubed bread to a large bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning and toss. Try your best to distribute the oil and seasoning as evenly as possible.
Ideally, we want both sides of each piece of bread to have oil on it so every crouton is nice and toasty and golden brown. Similarly, the garlic salt needs to be distributed throughout so you don’t have some bland croutons and some overly salty ones.
Spread the bread cubes out on a large baking sheet in a single layer. Toast it on the top rack of the oven until crunchy and golden brown.
I do recommend setting a timer and checking them after 10 minutes. Usually, mine are perfect after 15 minutes, but they do go from golden brown to burnt rather quickly, so it’s better to stay on top of it!
How I Store Leftover Crunchy Croutons
Homemade croutons last about 2 weeks if stored properly. Just make sure they are completely cooled before adding them to an airtight container and keep them at room temperature.
If they lose their crunch, simply re-toast them in the oven at 400°F for 3-5 minutes until they no longer taste stale.
Crispy 4-Ingredient Homemade Croutons
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION PIN PRINT RATEEquipment
Ingredients
- 8 slices stale bread (preferably sourdough, Italian, or white bread)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon garlic salt*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Slice your stale bread into roughly equal sized cubes, each about 1-cubic inch in size.8 slices stale bread
- Add the cubed bread to a large bowl with the olive oil, Italian seasoning, and garlic salt. Toss to coat and distribute the oil and seasonings as evenly as possible. You can also do this directly on the baking sheet — whatever works best for you!3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, ¼ teaspoon garlic salt*
- Spread the cubes out in an even layer. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown and crunchy.
Pro Tips
- If you don’t have garlic salt you can use ¼ teaspoon garlic powder and a pinch of salt instead.
- Try these in my Tuna Caesar Wrap!
Video
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