Homemade Croutons

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Makes: 4 cups

I love croutons. They’re crunchy. They’re salty. They’re herby and flavorful. Honestly, it’s hard not to just stand at the counter and eat half of them right off the tray, warm from the oven.

If I know I’m going to be making a delicious, heart-warming soup, I’ll buy a loaf or baguette a day or so ahead of time to make croutons. Or if bakery bread on sale catches my eye, it’s a good reason to grab a loaf or two (to share, right?). True, this is not low carb, but the rosemary and basil are aromatic and delicious. If you’re allowed some carbs on a low-carb diet, these would be worth it… but forewarning, it might be hard to just have a few.

Choose breads that are somewhat hardy like sourdough and dense French loaves. I would avoid soft breads because they are very difficult to cut into cubes. They pretty much collapse under the knife. Then you’d have some very oddly shaped croutons with not much bulk.

You can certainly vary the herbs and spices here. I wouldn’t go with anything sweet, but a premade Herbs de Provence would be yummy here, too. I would choose an HdeP without lavender, but if you think you’d like the floral taste, go for it!

If you have fresh herbs you want to use up before they turn, you certainly can use them for croutons. They just have to be added AFTER baking. You would go ahead and toss your cubed bread with the other dry seasonings and oil, bake, then toss with the finely chopped herbs.

Taste for salt before baking, just to make sure you’re happy with the saltiness. Some people crave salty foods and might like an additional pinch. (Honestly, that’s totally me!)

Cheese, or no cheese. That is the question. Works great either way. Finely grated Parmesan (NOT from the green canister, please) can be tossed with the dry seasonings then baked as directed.

It’s handy to have an oil pourer that can drizzle the oil. It’s not necessary, but helpful. It keeps some bread cubes from being soaked and others barely coated. That’s also why I suggest you pour the oil in small increments at a time.

Dried bread browns faster, so keep an eye on it; don’t set your timers too far apart. I wouldn’t let your smoke alarm (or sense of smell) be your timer. Especially if you know your oven tends to be on the hotter side, after the first 10 minutes, check, set your timer for a few minutes at a time. You don’t want to have to toss out what you’ve spent money and time on.

Want some additional ideas to use your amazing homemade croutons? I love these in soups and salads. They’d be great in a Thanksgiving stuffing instead of store brought bags of croutons.