Who doesn’t love homemade croutons? They’re wonderfully golden and crisp, and infinitely superior to dry, store-bought croutons.
The best part about homemade croutons is that you can use your favorite bread, even if it’s gone stale, and your croutons are ready in under 15 minutes.
Most salads benefit from a crisp, crunchy element, which could be anything from toasted nuts, tortilla strips, ice water-soaked red onion, or of course, the classic crouton.
I’ve been perfecting my homemade Caesar salad recipe, so I thought we’d start with the croutons. Off we go!
The Best Bread for Croutons
Technically, you can use any loaf of bread to make croutons—whether it’s fresh or stale! Croutons are a great way to make use of stale bread, as is French toast.
You could even make croutons out of sandwich bread. Ideally, though, you’ll use bread that you can slice yourself into relatively thick slices (about 3/4-inch wide). That way, we can make even cubes.
For the best croutons, seek out a crusty loaf of bread with great flavor. I love to use my favorite whole grain sourdough from our local bakery. French bread works very well. You could even use a loaf of rye bread or homemade cornbread if its unique flavors will complement your meal.
Crouton Ingredients
Croutons are very easy to make with just two main ingredients and a few basic seasonings. You’ll need bread, of course, as well as olive oil (or melted butter), salt, pepper and garlic powder. The oil or butter helps the bread develop crisp, golden edges, and the seasonings bring out the croutons’ best.
A Few Crouton Tips
Making croutons is a straightforward process. Here are a few tips to make the best croutons:
Tear fresh bread or slice stale bread: Since fresh bread can be so delicate, I found that it’s easier to gently tear fresh bread by hand. Likewise, it’s easier to use a serrated knife to gently see-saw across stale bread.
Aim for 3/4-inch cubes of bread: This size is just right, yielding croutons that are perfectly bite-sized. They’re nicely crisp on the outside, yet still have a bit of chew on the inside. They’re crisp enough to stand up to dressing, but not so crisp that you’ll break a tooth on them! Don’t worry if you’re croutons aren’t perfect cubes. Irregular, craggy bits are welcome here.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit and toss every 5 minutes. This temperature is perfect for developing those golden edges without burning the bread. Croutons are ready in just 10 to 12 minutes at this temperature, so you’ll only have to toss once or twice.
Watch How to Make Homemade Croutons
Uses for Homemade Croutons
Croutons are fabulous on green salads, naturally. They’re also the perfect crunchy counterpoint to creamy soups. Lastly, croutons make a tasty little snack on their own (like bite-sized crostini, if you will).
Serve croutons on any of the following:
Salads
- Caesar Salad
- Chopped Greek Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Layered Panzanella
- Super Simple Arugula Salad
- Tahini Kale Caesar Salad (Love Real Food, page 72)
Creamy Soups
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Classic Tomato Soup (Lightened Up!)
- Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
- Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Please let me know how your croutons turn out in the comments. I love hearing from you.
Homemade Croutons
- Author:
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad topping
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Make your own croutons and take your salads to the next level! This crouton recipe is easy to make with bread, olive oil and basic seasonings. Recipe yields enough croutons for 4 to 6 side salads.
Ingredients
- 2 large slices of crusty bread, about ¾-inch thick (about 4 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up. Line a plate with a paper towel and set it aside (we’ll use it to absorb excess oil from the baked croutons later on).
- To prepare your bread, use a serrated knife to gently slice the bread into ¾-inch cubes (or if it’s easier, use your fingers to gently tear the bread into pieces about that size). For reference, you should end up with about 3 cups of cubed bread.
- Place the cubed bread on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, garlic powder, and several twists of black pepper. Gently toss the bread with your hands until it’s lightly coated in oil, then arrange the bread evenly across the baking sheet.
- Bake, tossing every 5 minutes, for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the croutons are turning golden brown but still offer a bit of chew in the center.
- Remove the croutons from the oven and transfer them to the lined plate to absorb excess oil. Once cool, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Croutons are best enjoyed within a few hours of baking, as they can become a bit tough over time, but will keep in a sealed bag for several days at room temperature.
Notes
To multiply this recipe: Don’t crowd the baking sheet, or your bread won’t crisp as nicely. Divide the ingredients across two pans on racks near the center of the oven, swapping their positions when you toss the croutons.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Catherine Lee
Also works great in the air fryer! I don’t have an oven in my RV so tried your recipe in my air fryer with some stale bread I didn’t want to waste, perfect! I used 380f, 3 min, shook it 3 more min, then perfectly done! Thank you!
★★★★★
JB
Thank you for the air fryer tip, 6 minutes was perfect.
★★★★★
TF
Made these to add to dinner tonight. Easy, quick and yummy. (I only needed to bake them for 8 minutes – otherwise followed recipe as is.)
★★★★★
Kate
Great, TF! Thank you for sharing.
Jenna Gibbs
I did this with old croissant bread that we had purchased from Hy-Vee and it tasted amazing. Thank you for this homemade recipe! It took our extremely healthy summer salads and made them a little bit more decadent :-)
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! Thank you for trying it and letting me know what you though, Jenna.
Mary
Great, easy recipe!
★★★★
Lynda Lee
These croutons are AMAZING and super easy! I added them to my regular veggie and green salad but today I added them to Cookie and Kate’s delicious vegetable soup. WOW I am making the caesar dressing later to have caesar salad with the baked ziti that I am going to try today. This is the best site I have found for delicious, wholesome vegetarian cooking. I am inspired to cook again. Thank you.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you so much, Lynda! I appreciate your kind words. :)
Kathy
Fantastic recipe! I cut up aging hoagie buns (lots of crust) which I finished drying in the oven before coating. I also added 1/8 tsp of onion powder and 1 tbl of dried crushed basil from my garden. I mixed the dry ingredients together and then tossed everything in a bowl to get better coating. The result? So good I had to hide them until dinner time. Thank you for the recipe. I know it will be a kitchen staple.
★★★★★
Grammar Police
Props on using the plural possessive apostrophe correctly. So many actual, professional journalists fail to do this. Kudos. It doesn’t go after a proper noun!
(By the way, parsnip soup with Stilton croutons. Yum!)
★★★★★
Julie Eldredge
I think is a great recipe. I used leftover sourdough bread. I generally try to cut back on fats when cooking (not baking), so I used half the olive oil in the recipe and it was plenty to coat the bread and still have enough flavor. Try it with less and then you can eat more without the guilt!
★★★★★
chris
Made C & K Caesar salad dressing and used this recipe for the croutons. Both were great! Used a 1/2 loaf of very light french bread for the croutons, Romaine, lots of fresh herbs, and an avocado in the salad. Yummy.
★★★★★
Kate
A great combination, Chris! Thank you for your review.
Rebecca
Made the croutons. Turned out perfect.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Rebecca!
David
Smashed bread tears of joy.
Nancy
These are delicious! I used two slices of leftover bread that I made earlier with my bread machine. It will be a letdown to use store bought croutons after having them made this way! Thank you so much for your recipe.
★★★★★
Chris
Delicious! Eye-balled all ingredient amounts and they turned out great. I ate several right out of the oven as a snack. Bread will never go to waste in my house again.
★★★★★
T Williams
Thanks so much for this croutons recipe! They were absolutely delicious! Went perfect on our ceaser salad. I also enjoyed your dressing as well!
Paula Ward
Hi! I had some stale brioche hot dog buns in the cupboard and made your fabulous croutons. They will go beautifully with the wedge salad we are having for dinner tonight. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Paula! I appreciate your review.
Margie H Rosewater
Tried these last night and they were perfect.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your review, Margie!