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Homemade garlic croutons are SUPER easy to make. Delicious, crunchy topping for a chopped salad or tomato soup.
Easy Garlic Croutons
PICTURE IT: a creamy caesar salad (or whatever, any salad!) topped with delicious HOMEMADE GARLIC CROUTONS.
Once I discovered how to make my own croutons, I haven't even looked at a store-bought crouton. Making croutons is ridiculously easy, and I love that you get to customize your own flavor to make your salad unique.
My favorite flavor is, hands down, garlic because...Garlic! It goes with basically any type of salad, and I can never have enough garlic in my life.
This recipe for homemade croutons takes about 20 minutes. You can prep your salad or warm up some soup while you're waiting for the little heavenly cubes to bake.
These homemade garlic croutons are:
- crunchy
- easy to make
- full of garlicky flavor
- vegan (most store-bought bread loaves are vegan!)
- a delicious topping on a salad or soup (my favorites: Vegan Split Pea Soup or Vegan Bean and Bacon Soup!)
- and a tasty snack on their own, according to my son
How to Make Homemade Croutons
First, you'll need to slice up some bread into cubes. A serrated bread knife is pretty crucial otherwise you'll have smushed bread pieces.
Throw your bread cubes into a bowl and toss with spices (garlic, parsley, and salt). Drizzle some oil into the bowl and toss until the bread is evenly coated in oil & spices. The bread cubes should feel slightly oily to the touch, but not super dry and not soggy.
If you do not want to use oil, you can substitute with aquafaba - see the notes in the recipe card below.
You'll then bake the bread in a 400-degree oven (Fahrenheit) for 14-18 minutes. I like to toss around the croutons 1-2 times to get an even crunch. Baking time will vary on the freshness of your bread. Stale bread will take less time since it's already dried out a bit, while fresh bread takes a little bit more time. Another factor that could vary the time is the type of bread you use. Just keep an eye on it so you don't end up with ugly burnt bread cubes. That would be a sad day!
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread - cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tsp oil - see notes
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Toss together the bread cubes and spices in a bowl.
- Toss in the oil until well distributed - make sure the bread is evenly moistened.
- Spread the bread cubes out evenly onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12-18 minutes, tossing a time or two. Time will vary based on freshness of bread and type of bread used.
Notes
Cris says
These are really easy and delicious. Made both, with oil and aquafaba. Both are winners!
Paula Heitman says
Thank you for including a no-oil option. Terrific
Karissa says
You're most welcome. I always try to when possible!
Juliette says
Simple and tasty 🙂 I'll try it with aquafaba next time!
Karen L. says
I chose to make this recipe because it was so simple, took no effort at all, but what a result! I looked at others where you had to crush the garlic, melt the butter, chop the parsley, infuse the oil. You get the drift. Easy peasy.
Darlene Peterson says
This is a great recipe. I followed it to the letter (almost). Lol. The amount of spice, for me, is perfect. I used seasoned salt rather than plain and added a few twists of lemon pepper as well. I baked them at 400°F in a convection oven. I had the rack at the third level down from the top so they brown up really fast. It took three minutes per side total, although I was turning them every minute or two. Have to stand there and watch because they will burn very quickly. I used some brioche hamburger buns that I had in the freezer and knew I would never eat because I can’t eat a lot of white bread at once. So I diced the buns into cubes about a quarter inch square, followed your instructions, and they are delicious. I wondered about the finished tops of the buns being a problem, but they absolutely were not. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Yolanda B says
These are so delicious... just the crunch I needed after coming off a green smoothie detox. I used a multi grain loaf from the bakery. Added a dash of nutritional yeast seasoning and used Avocado oil.
Judy says
First time making these!! They turned out awesome!! Super easy! I judyjuused bread that typically is used for making garlic bread or deli sandwiches. I did add a bit more garlic than listed for stronger taste. Will definitely make again!!
Mike says
I buy a bakery sourdough bread that goes stale before I can use it all. When it becomes too dry for sandwich’s I put it in the freezer. When I get a bunch I thaw it out cut off the crust and heels use them in this recipe for croutons and the rest gets used for panco crumbs. This is the best croutons you will ever have!!
Tessa says
Thank you so much for posting this.
I took them out at about 9 min cuz they were getting on the burned side. But they look awesome.
MARY SCHADLER says
burned after 4 minutes
Karissa says
That shouldn't have happened at 400 degrees. I'd recommend getting an oven thermometer and making sure your oven temperature is accurate.
Britney Rice says
If you make a bunch, can you store them in the freezer?
Karissa says
I think that should work, just make sure they don't have any moisture left in them. And then thaw at a lower temp in the oven.