With only the two of us in our household, my husband and I have a tough time finishing a loaf of bread before it goes stale. One of my solutions to this problem in lieu of just throwing it away is to make homemade croutons.
They are insanely easy and great for throwing on salads or adding a little crunch to wraps like my favorite chicken Caesar wrap.
Here’s what you need.
Use whatever day old bread you happen to have on hand. Start by cubing the bread – I take the crust off but you can leave it on. Make the cubes whatever size you like they can be big and chunky or small and uniform. Lightly drizzle some olive oil onto the cubed bread and toss around.
Season the cubes with garlic powder, some Italian herb mix, salt, pepper, and some parmesan cheese (the grated stuff in the can works best in this case). You can really experiment and play with any seasoning and spices you happen to have in your pantry. You want to lightly season the bread, feel free to taste it at this point and adjust as needed (think of it like dipping bread into olive oil at a fancy Italian restaurant). The amount of the seasoning is going to depend on the amount of bread you have.
Arrange the seasoned cubed bread on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, stirring once.
The croutons are done when they turn nice and golden.
- Day old bread, cut into cubes
- Olive oil
- Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Parmesan cheese
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Toss the cubed bread lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese to taste.
- Spread onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden, stirring once.
- Store in a sealed container.
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