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Learn how to make homemade croutons from scratch with this simple, customizable croutons recipe.
Have leftover bread?
Make croutons! ♡
Homemade croutons are just about the easiest thing ever to make, and a million times better than anything you can buy at the store. They’re also easy to customize with whatever seasonings you might be craving, they can be made with any kind of bread that you have on hand (including gluten-free), and they’re easy to make as large or small, soft or crispy, plain or seasoned as you might prefer. Plus, if you’re trying to eat more greens in your life, I’m convinced that having a fresh batch of croutons around is one of the best motivators to toss together a quick salad. Or they’re also delicious for topping a fresh bowl of tomato soup or gazpacho (<– new recipe coming tomorrow, stay tuned!) this time of year.
So grab that leftover bread, and let’s bake up a quick batch!
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CROUTONS | 1-MINUTE VIDEO
Homemade Croutons Ingredients:
To make homemade croutons, you just need three main ingredients:
Bread: Ideally at least a day or two old, any variety will do.
Olive oil: Or melted butter, if you prefer.
Seasonings: Totally up to you! I always, always add garlic powder to my croutons. Plus salt and black pepper. But any other seasonings are up to you! I often turn to Italian seasoning or blackening seasoning, and will occasionally sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese too.
How To Make Croutons:
Simply:
Dice your bread: Choose whatever size of cubes you prefer, either cut with a knife or torn into small chunks by hand. It’s just important that the croutons be uniformly sized so that they cook evenly.
Toss with oil and seasonings: In a large bowl, drizzle the bread evenly with the oil and seasonings. Then toss until evenly combined.
Spread out on a baking sheet: Turn the croutons out onto a parchment-covered baking sheet, and spread out in a single layer.
Bake until crispy: Flipping the croutons once halfway through baking. Then baking until they croutons reach your desired level of crispiness. (If they start to get too brown, lower the heat and let them bake lower and slower.)
Serve or store: Then serve immediately. Or let the croutons cool until they reach room temperature, then store in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.
Ways To Use Homemade Croutons:
Some of my favorite ways to use homemade croutons include:
Salads: Especially any kind of Caesar salad, or my favorite Everyday Salad.
Soups: Especially hot tomato soup, or authentic Spanish gazpacho (recipe coming soon!)
Stuffings/Casseroles: Especially around the holidays
And of course, anytime you need breadcrumbs, just use a rolling pin or food processor to break those croutons up into your preferred size of breadcrumbs.
Learn how to make homemade croutons from scratch with this simple, customizable croutons recipe.
Ingredients
Scale
1 loaf of bread (about 12 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, homemade or store-bought
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
In a large bowl, evenly drizzle the olive oil over the bread chunks. Then evenly sprinkle the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper over the bread. Toss gently until well-combined.
Spread the bread cubes out in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Bake until golden, turning once halfway through cooking in order to brown all sides of the croutons. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the cubes, so watch to be sure that they do not burn. (Mine generally take between 15-20 minutes.)
Remove from oven, and let cool completely. Use immediately, or store in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
I ate at least 1/4 of the pan BEFORE it went to the oven. This turned out great. 15 minutes and followed the measurements. Great way to never waste bread and probably way healthier. I used two pans to get a single layer. So delicious!!
My wife made some great bread. I used some to make these croutons. What a great taste and goes great not just in salads but in gazpacho. We both enjoyed the recipe and I’ve just made a second batch.
I’ve made this recipe many times now and it’s been a hit. I use Italian season and garlic powder. We use it in salads as well as Gazpacho. Easy and economical.
My wife had bought bread from an Italian bakery and in a few days it had turned hard. I found this recipe and have not been disappointed. I have adjust the cooking time because I make mine into small cubes. My wife says she likes them better than anything you get at the store.
If you have a lot of croutons, how would you go about freezing them if you can’t use them all right away?
Trevor Powell —
I save all my various bread crusts, buns, etc. in the freezer and make a large batch of croutons when I have enough bread. I put my croutons in a jar with a lid until I need them for a salad. I had no issue with them going bad in the jar.
Oh my gosh, these are so good and incredibly easy!
We had friends over and made a salad bar, I forgot crouton at the store and didnt have time to leave again before people came, I had no idea how fast, easy and delicious homemade croutons were. I’m never going back to store bought!
Thank you for this recipe. I made it using Scharr’s Gluten Free bread and the croutons are delicious. My Celiac hubby is very happy to have croutons again with Caesar Salad.
I made these tonight when I realized I had forgotten to buy some at the store. I remembered that I had some homemade bread in the freezer, so I thawed that and followed the rest of the recipe as is and they came out delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious! So worth it to make your own. I use 2 day old Italian bread, cut into extra large cubes, toss into a gallon ziploc bag, or just put directly onto cookie sheet, where I’ll toss oil and spices, and then bake. When cooled, I put into another gallon freezer bag, and just pull out what I need.
I made these croutons at home but instead of using Italian herbs I crushed up some garlic in a mortar and pestle and then added some salt and olive oil to the garlic and mixed in the garlic mix and extra oil. Mine only took ten mins but it was SO YUM! Thanks so much for the recipe, but I won’t need to be storing these any time soon, they were gone in seconds!
It’s actually a question… Is there an alternative way to still make croutons if you don’t have an oven?
By the way your recipe and procedure is rly helpful and easy to understand.
I’ve always liked croutons but findingd s really yummy variety is hard to do. Until now. I followed the recipe decreasing the salt to 1/2 a teaspoon and omitting the pepper. Delicious!! Definitely a keeper ! Can’t wait for caesar salad! Thankyou.
This is my first time making this and it was AMAZING! I totally recommend this recipe to anyone who loves croutons . I made Cesar salad and I forgot to buy croutons and thank you internet for helping me find the perfect recipe.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It was the best! I will never buy store bought again! I used 4 slices of whole wheat bread and cut down on the seasoning a little bit since I made less. I baked them for 7.5 minutes on convection bake. They were done. Didn’t need to flip them. They were perfect. Tender and crispy. We ate a lot of them before putting them on Caesar salad lol. It made the best salad! Yum!!! Next time I am making full batch!
I made some croutons today with this recipe and some of my homemade baguettes. I had wanted to try making croutons for some time, so this recipe really helped. I did what one of the other people did and used half butter and half olive oil instead of straight olive oil. They came out great! I tried one or two to make sure they were crunchy and to check the taste. They will go into a Caesar Salad tonight along with a great homemade Caesar Salad dressing that I found on another cooking website. This is going to be fun!
I really enjoyed the seasoning for this recipe, and it wasn’t overpowering and the ingredients were just right. The type of bread that we used seemed a little burnt, but I was wondering if you could leave recommended breads to use!
Wonderful even when you purchase bread just for this as they are so much better than store bought. Especially great as I have a lot of visitors at once and burgers and brats are a big part of that. I ultimately buy too many buns but they are my favorite for this recipe as the bun tops cook up crispy and great.
I made these tonight and they were amazing!! I did add a half teaspoon of onion powder as well. My husband has a partial from an injury he sustained in a MVA and he was so happy that he was able to bite down into them? I did use some sausage/hoagie rolls for my bread that we had left over and it made for the perfect croutons.
great recipe , I omitted out garlic powder as I cannot have them at all and used Thyme and oregano as my herb to go on the croutons with Salt and pepper and light Olive . It turned out great even my daughter loves it. great for quick snacks too and great for using up your homemade loaves..
I ate at least 1/4 of the pan BEFORE it went to the oven. This turned out great. 15 minutes and followed the measurements. Great way to never waste bread and probably way healthier. I used two pans to get a single layer. So delicious!!
So easy to make in no time. Made a batch before heading to work in the morning. Had croutons with my lunch salad. Great taste.
My wife made some great bread. I used some to make these croutons. What a great taste and goes great not just in salads but in gazpacho. We both enjoyed the recipe and I’ve just made a second batch.
So easy and perfect! I’ve made them many times the croutons are delicious!
I’ve made this recipe many times now and it’s been a hit. I use Italian season and garlic powder. We use it in salads as well as Gazpacho. Easy and economical.
Love this easy recipe & LOVE homemade croutons! What a difference!!!!
I cut up miscellaneous bread and used 1 packet of ranch dip mix and cilantro infused olive oil. Best croutons ever!
So good!! I dont have italian seasoning just added thyme and it still turned out so tasty.
My wife had bought bread from an Italian bakery and in a few days it had turned hard. I found this recipe and have not been disappointed. I have adjust the cooking time because I make mine into small cubes. My wife says she likes them better than anything you get at the store.
Great recipe, thank you!
If you have a lot of croutons, how would you go about freezing them if you can’t use them all right away?
I save all my various bread crusts, buns, etc. in the freezer and make a large batch of croutons when I have enough bread. I put my croutons in a jar with a lid until I need them for a salad. I had no issue with them going bad in the jar.
Made this today and it was delicious with some homemade croutons ?
Oh my gosh, these are so good and incredibly easy!
We had friends over and made a salad bar, I forgot crouton at the store and didnt have time to leave again before people came, I had no idea how fast, easy and delicious homemade croutons were. I’m never going back to store bought!
Yesss absolutely easy and delicious only thing I used day old garlic yeast rolls ?? some I slices hor perfect croutons the other sliced as a baguette
Never going back to store bought!
Awesome just simply awesome!
Crouton recipe is wonderful
Thank you for this recipe. I made it using Scharr’s Gluten Free bread and the croutons are delicious. My Celiac hubby is very happy to have croutons again with Caesar Salad.
I made these tonight when I realized I had forgotten to buy some at the store. I remembered that I had some homemade bread in the freezer, so I thawed that and followed the rest of the recipe as is and they came out delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
These are the best!!!
Delicious!
Delicious… we accidentally burnt them but they where still amazing. I would like To make them again but try not to burn them.
My bake time was much shorter….10 minutes and they were perfect.
I tried this recipe with my homemade bread. It turned out great!! Great with homemade soups! ❤️❤️
So good! I’ll lever buy croutons again.
Delicious! So worth it to make your own. I use 2 day old Italian bread, cut into extra large cubes, toss into a gallon ziploc bag, or just put directly onto cookie sheet, where I’ll toss oil and spices, and then bake. When cooled, I put into another gallon freezer bag, and just pull out what I need.
So Good…!!
I made these croutons at home but instead of using Italian herbs I crushed up some garlic in a mortar and pestle and then added some salt and olive oil to the garlic and mixed in the garlic mix and extra oil. Mine only took ten mins but it was SO YUM! Thanks so much for the recipe, but I won’t need to be storing these any time soon, they were gone in seconds!
It’s actually a question… Is there an alternative way to still make croutons if you don’t have an oven?
By the way your recipe and procedure is rly helpful and easy to understand.
My family loves these croutons. I used salt, pepper, home made garlic powder, grated Parmesan cheese and butter. Yum! Thank you for these easy steps!
I’ve always liked croutons but findingd s really yummy variety is hard to do. Until now. I followed the recipe decreasing the salt to 1/2 a teaspoon and omitting the pepper. Delicious!! Definitely a keeper ! Can’t wait for caesar salad! Thankyou.
Had some sandwich bread a week old from my bread machine. Turned out absolutely delicious. Will never buy croutons again.
Great recipe
Love!!!
This is my first time making this and it was AMAZING! I totally recommend this recipe to anyone who loves croutons . I made Cesar salad and I forgot to buy croutons and thank you internet for helping me find the perfect recipe.
So good and easy to make. I will no longer be purchasing croutons. Thank you for sharing
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It was the best! I will never buy store bought again! I used 4 slices of whole wheat bread and cut down on the seasoning a little bit since I made less. I baked them for 7.5 minutes on convection bake. They were done. Didn’t need to flip them. They were perfect. Tender and crispy. We ate a lot of them before putting them on Caesar salad lol. It made the best salad! Yum!!! Next time I am making full batch!
Outstanding! Added 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes for a little kick. A great snack if there isn’t salad. Thank you!
I made some croutons today with this recipe and some of my homemade baguettes. I had wanted to try making croutons for some time, so this recipe really helped. I did what one of the other people did and used half butter and half olive oil instead of straight olive oil. They came out great! I tried one or two to make sure they were crunchy and to check the taste. They will go into a Caesar Salad tonight along with a great homemade Caesar Salad dressing that I found on another cooking website. This is going to be fun!
I really enjoyed the seasoning for this recipe, and it wasn’t overpowering and the ingredients were just right. The type of bread that we used seemed a little burnt, but I was wondering if you could leave recommended breads to use!
Wonderful even when you purchase bread just for this as they are so much better than store bought. Especially great as I have a lot of visitors at once and burgers and brats are a big part of that. I ultimately buy too many buns but they are my favorite for this recipe as the bun tops cook up crispy and great.
I made these tonight and they were amazing!! I did add a half teaspoon of onion powder as well. My husband has a partial from an injury he sustained in a MVA and he was so happy that he was able to bite down into them? I did use some sausage/hoagie rolls for my bread that we had left over and it made for the perfect croutons.
Definitely going to make these! Do you think you could freeze ’em?
How do you make the bread that makes the croutons though?
THAT’S what I’m looking for!!!
Just use any homemade bread recipe. I make delicious homemade bread and will be trying this recipe today.
Hope this helps!
They are absolutely amazing
Sounds fantastic. Cant wait to make the croutons!
great recipe , I omitted out garlic powder as I cannot have them at all and used Thyme and oregano as my herb to go on the croutons with Salt and pepper and light Olive . It turned out great even my daughter loves it. great for quick snacks too and great for using up your homemade loaves..
Followed the recipe as written and it came out perfectly!
Worked perfectly for GF bread – I adjusted the measurements based off of weight (I only had 4 slices of bread but it weighed about 6 oz).
These croutons were amazing! My whole family enjoyed them. Found the boys just standing around the pan snacking on them! haha! Thanks!
Perfection! I used gqrlic powder and nutritional yeast. Delicious.
Super easy and delicious!