DIY crouton recipes

Sure, you can buy croutons, but why pay money for them when you can make them using ingredients you probably have on hand? All it takes is a bit of bread and an oven or toaster oven to make delicious DIY croutons.

Making your own DIY croutons couldn’t be easier, and is a great use for stale or day-old bread. Almost any kind of bread can be turned into croutons, so try out sandwich bread, baguette, ciabatta, focaccia, pita and even fun flavors like cinnamon-raisin and cranberry-pecan. Try turning soft pretzels into pretzel croutons — everyone in the family will go nuts over them! Once you have the basic crouton recipe down, you can customize them with herbs, spices and cheeses to make your ultimate crouton. Croutons add wonderful crunch and flavor to soups and salads.

Try making croutons with tofu instead of bread >>

Basic croutons

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cubed bread of your choice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Put the cubed bread in a bowl and toss with the olive oil.
3. Spread the bread on the baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for about eight minutes, shaking the pan halfway through.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
6. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Spiced croutons

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cubed bread of your choice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground spice of your choice (try paprika, cumin or zaatar)
• Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Put the cubed bread in a bowl and toss with the olive oil and spice.
3. Spread the bread on the baking sheet and season with salt.
4. Bake for about eight minutes, shaking the pan halfway through.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
6. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Check out these polenta croutons >>

Parmesan croutons

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cubed baguette or ciabatta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Put the cubed bread in a bowl and toss with the olive oil.
3. Spread the bread on the baking sheet and sprinkle the Parmesan over.
4. Bake for about eight minutes, shaking the pan halfway through.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
6. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to one week.

More DIY crouton recipes

Homemade croutons
Dill croutons
Salt and pepper croutons