Listen, if you start making your own croutons, you will be hard-pressed to buy store bought again. Why? Other than the obvious “they just taste so much better” reason, you will find that you can make these crunchy bites to fit your own perfection. I mean, you can control how buttery it is, how salty it is, how BIG they are, add garlic or no garlic, or anything else. You might just end up eating them on their own before they even touch a bowl of soup or salad. So proceed with caution, my friends. The recipe I’ve posted is just a basic recipe that will produce a buttery, slightly garlicy and perfectly salted (to me) croutons, but I encourage you to play with the components and make it just perfect for you.Â
You can use stale bread (which is most common) or fresh bread. If you use fresh bread, it will take a little longer to get them crunchy (see notes in the recipe below). I personally like using fresh bread, as this gives it a unique texture but you are the boss of your bites so use whatever you have on hand!
Ingredients
- 4-5 cups bread, cubed into your preferred size
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp parsley, finely minced
- 2-3 clove garlic, grated
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, or any cheese you prefer
How I Make It
- Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Cube some bread into bite-size pieces. I like mine about 1" x 1" chunks. Place them in a bowl (large enough for tossing).
- Whisk the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the bread cubes and toss until all the cubes are covered.
- Lay out the bread cubes on a baking tray in a single layer. Try not to over crowd them. Bake until they are golden brown and crunchy (see notes). Stay close by during this time and make sure they don't burn! Remember to give them a good toss throughout the time so that they are browned on all sides.
- Once they are browned to your liking, taste a couple of pieces and toss them with a little more salt if you want. Try not to eat the whole tray though 🙂 Let them cool before serving. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
- How long it takes to bake the bread to crunchiness will depend on a few factors: How big the bread cubes are, how fresh the bread is, and how hot your oven is (you'd be surprised to learn that many ovens are off by several degrees than what you've set!). So depending on these factors, this process can take anywhere between 10-35 minutes. Fresh bread will take longer than stale bread (because it has more moisture content), larger cubes will take longer, etc. You get the idea.
