Homemade Croutons – 4 ingredients! {baked} – VIDEO

Homemade croutons are so easy to make – these baked, whole grain, 4 ingredient croutons will transform your soups and salads into something completely irresistible.

Once you go to a homemade crouton, there’s no going back. They are a major game-changer and your salads, soups and stews will never be the same. In a very, very good way.

As with all most of my recipes, I focus on trying to make things a little healthier, a little better for you, and a little easier. It doesn’t get much easier than these croutons.

All you need to do is cut the bread into cubes, toss it with olive oil, garlic powder, and salt, spread them on a baking sheet and bake.

They only take 10 minutes to bake (but if you have really fresh bread, they’ll take longer to get golden brown).

The hardest part, BY FAR, is not eating them all off the baking sheet while they’re still warm. They are an absolutely irresistible combination of chewy and crispy and make for an amazing salad topping or a soup topper.

I’ve been loving them on top of squash soup and I have an Italian sausage stew recipe that is divine with these homemade croutons. They star in this traditional panzanella salad and springtime asparagus panzanella salad.

Let’s review:

1. FOUR ingredient croutons.
2. Baked, not fried croutons.
3. Whole grain croutons.
4. Crunchy, chewy, and irresistible croutons.
5. Croutons in less than 15 minutes, start to finish.

And most importantly of all, these homemade croutons taste WAY better than store bought croutons. There is no comparison. NONE. Really, none.

Tip: I often get asked how to make croutons on the stove. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and toss the croutons around in the hot pan until they are golden brown. You can prepare the croutons exactly the same way if you’re going to make them on the stovetop, and you don’t have to increase the oil unless you want to. I prefer the oven method because it’s slightly more hands-off and frees me up to do other things.

 

Used in this recipe:

• bread knife
• baking sheet
• olive oil
• garlic powder
• sea salt

 

Looking for more delicious salad toppings? Try:

 

• homemade reduced-fat ranch dressing
• fresh raspberry vinaigrette dressing recipe
• vanilla bean candied walnuts
• savory granola (not sweet, and super crunchy with pepitas, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds)
• pepitas (eight recipes!)
• sweet and tangy honey mustard vinaigrette
• olive oil roasted almonds
• seasoned oyster crackers
• pickled red onions

PS: Can’t get enough croutons? Read my comprehensive guide on how to make croutons! Make sure to also try my Ruby Tuesday croutons – they’re the perfect copycat recipe!

Verdict: These baked croutons are SO addicting. I love them–they are the perfect combination of crunchy and chewy.
Husband’s take: He loves these!
Changes I would make: None are necessary but it will be fun to play with some different seasonings on these homemade croutons, or trying different types of bread. I want to try making homemade garlic croutons with leftover garlic bread.
Difficulty: SO easy.