Homemade Croutons from Leftover Bread
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Take that leftover bread, that day old bread, and make your own croutons to use on salads and soups.
I make homemade croutons quite often. It’s really simple, so why would you toss that left over bread when you can re-purpose it into something useful?
For some reason though, I have never really blogged about them though, with the exception of my Homemade Rye Bread Croutons I made to put in my Cream of Reuben Soup.
A couple of weeks ago for Sunday family dinner I bought two different kinds of bread because I went the the store hungry (don’t you hate when you do that?) and I couldn’t make up my mind. I was making soup and salad and wanted to make sure there was plenty of crusty bread to dunk in.
Some Sundays I buy bread and they ask if there is anymore and I have to tell them no. Other Sundays, like this particular one, they didn’t eat near as much. So, some of it got sent home with them, and the rest got put in a bread bag on my counter. I looked at it for 3 days.
Before it started growing fuzz, I decided I would show you all how I make my leftover bread into croutons, so you could try it, too!
What do I need to make Homemade Croutons:
- Leftover/Day Old Bread
- Butter
- Garlic
- Italian Seasoning (or other)
- Cheese (optional)
Cut your bread into cubes. Melt your butter with your garlic and seasonings.
Drizzle with butter over the crumbs, and bake, turning the bread cubes every 15 minutes until they are toasted to your liking. Sometimes I add Parmesan cheese
I toasted these a little longer than normal. I typically take them out a little earlier, because I love when they are still somewhat soft in the middle.
You can change up the spices/seasoning to your liking. I used an Italian blend here, along with the garlic. Switch it up to go with your favorite soups or salads. One of my other favorites? Rosemary. Yummy. Any bread works, and will totally change with taste of your crouton. Or try mixing two together like say a Pumpernickel and a Sourdough. Gives a nice color dimension, too.
Other Ideas for Leftover or Stale Bread:
- Panzanella Salad – this hearty salad is made with bread, tomatoes and herbs with a tangy vinaigrette.
- Bread Pudding – take that stale bread and turn it into dessert!
- French Bread Pizza – leftover french baguette? Make pizza!
- Bread Crumbs – turn stale bread into Panko bread crumbs!
- French Toast – Once the bread gets soaked for French toast, it doesn’t matter if it’s a bit stale.
- Stuffing – My favorite part about any holiday meal? The stuffing. Don’t buy the bread crumbs, make re-purpose your day old bread!
Are you ready to make your own croutons? Please come back and share your creation with me, or tag me on social media so I can see what you made!
Until Next Time,
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How To Make Homemade Croutons from Leftover Bread
Ingredients
- 8 cups cubes leftover bread crusts on
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning Blend
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- Butter for pan prep
- Sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spritz a cookie sheet with spray butter, or rub with a stick of butter to coat.
- Cut slices of bread into the size of croutons you desire. I left the crusts on.
- Lay bread on prepared cookie sheet in a single layer.
- Melt butter and whisk in Italian seasoning and garlic. Drizzle over the top of the bread.
- Bake for 5 minutes, turn bread over. Continue this method every 5 minutes until bread is toasted to your desired crispness. I like mine golden brown on the outside and still soft in the middle. Mine took just under 20 minutes. Watch them closely.
- Sprinkle with sea salt If desired) when you remove them from the oven. Let cool. Store in an air tight container. Use within one week.
Nutrition
I lOVE homemade croutons and those rye ones look amazing!!
Oh my gosh, I love homemade croutons. It seems like every day I have the ends of loaves of bread left that my kids don’t like. Oy! Well, this is a good reminder for me to start saving all of them! 🙂
We always do this with leftover bread – I hate wasting food.
Homemade croutons are way better than store-bought ones. Easy to make and perfect to serve with salads or soups or just to snack on. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
i hate going to the store hungry. I always end up with too much stuff. this is a great way to use leftover bread. It’s just me and my boyfriend, and we can never finish a loaf of bread and we end up freezing it. This is a great alternative!
Looks so enticing, Michaela! I love the Italian seasoning you added!
I totally need to do this with my leftover sourdough bread! I have several loaves from my early attempts in the freezer that I know we’ll never eat since I am getting much closer to perfecting the recipe … Thanks for the inspiration. <3
Homemade croutons are 10 times better than store bought. Thanks for posting.
Garlic, Butter, Bread? This sounds like heaven to me haha! Thanks for the idea, I cant wait to try it!
This is such a good way to use up leftovers and avoid waste! Plus they look amazing!
I absolutely love homemade croutons-they do put any store-bought version to shame! But it’s way too long since I made them, and I have NEVER tried it with rye bread! Sounds extra delicious to be sure!
My salad is screaming for these croutons!
Pretty good. I used the air fryer at 350 preheated for 5 mins, the bottom rack was finished first and didn’t need flipped. On the top rack I turned croutons over and then moved onto the lower rack for an additional 3 mins.
Thank you for sharing your air fryer tips!