I realize some of you will see this and be like, “What? He posted how to make croutons?”. Let me preface this… I have been in a love hate relationship with croutons for years. Decades, perhaps. I suppose like any child, I wasn’t a huge salad fan. Now that I am old more mature, I love them. In my mind, you just can’t have a good salad without the perfect crouton. I’m not a rabbit. I mean, with all of that green stuff in it, you have to have some buttery carbs to balance it out. I didn’t even think about making my own croutons for the longest time. Even with all of the baking and cooking that I do, it just seemed to slip my mind.
From the day that I tried this, I haven’t turned back to even glance at the grocery store varieties. These are perfect in every way. You can change the seasoning to match your mood, cook them so they are crunchy on the outside and a big soft on the inside (my personal favorite), and probably the best part– you can add all of the butter you want. These Craveable Crunchy Croutons (check out that alliteration, Mom!) are the key to success in your salad future.
With as often as I make my famous Best {burger} Buns in Town, I always tend to have leftover bread around. Usually the leftovers are the rejected ones that somehow always end up being the size of a baby’s head. Seriously… Those things are the one recipe that I can’t seem to ever keep consistent. After a day or two, these buns really start to scream to be made into croutons.
You can also use any bread that you have around that might be past it’s prime. Or brand new bread, even. Whatever works and fits into my schedule is what I use. A favorite is some challah bread after the weekend. The sweet honey taste makes for an absolutely sensational salad sidekick (I did it again, Ma! — The teacher in her will be so proud.).
I have to say that I cheat a bit when I make these most of the time. You know that cooking spray that probably, most definitely, isn’t real butter? Butter ‘flavored’. Just oil with some sort of off butter taste applied. That stuff. I bought it on accident once. After cussing myself because I refused to use that stuff like I would normal cooking spray, I decided to try it out on these (I’m a cheap-o, really, and didn’t want to waste it.). It was perfect! I usually don’t even fool with using the real thing anymore (Sorry, Paula!). It just makes it so easy. Give them a good, heavy spray and then season with whatever you have in your cabinet.
I usually go for my own house seasoning that seems to get applied to everything from pasta to sushi. Ok… not sushi, but just about everything else. Garlic, salt, pepper, bit of cayenne, touch of celery salt. I’ve even made these with cajun seasoning and it is great. Customize it for your meal, or just have a bit of fun to add a different twist to that boring pile of lettuce!
- 4 cups bread, cubed (day old is best)
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon italian seasoning (or mix of individual seasonings by taste)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- cooking spray, butter flavored
- Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
- Place cubed bread on parchment covered baking sheet.
- Spray heavily with butter spray. Mix up and spray again to get some of the uncovered sides.
- Season evenly with spices.
- Salt and pepper as desired.
- Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
- Cool and enjoy!
- Visit SouthernFATTY.com for more.
Do you have something unique that you usually add to your salads? Let us know below!
I’ve been meaning to post on this for awhile now – sorry for the delay! I really wanted to test this recipe, so after getting a loaf of Publix white bread as their Penny Item for the week, I thought – why not? Let me tell you – this recipe works, even with the plainest white bread! Just amazingly crunchy and delicious. Also, I made these about 3 weeks ago – I have some for my lunch salad today – still crunchy!! Thanks for this “go to” recipe!
What is this Penny Item business?! I love a good deal! Hah So glad you liked it. I literally make these every single week.
Every Wed, there is a coupon in the paper for the Publix Penny Item, usually on the 2nd page. I search the Internet for that week’s item, or you can just ask a
Publix employee. If you buy $10 in groceries, you get that week’s item for a penny. Last week, it was vanilla wafers. Always the Publix brand.
YUM! I remember eating a lot of croutons while I was growing up, but then, for reasons unknown, I stopped eating them. Perhaps it was all that anti-carb propaganda that happened in the early 00’s? Now I eat them again, and these look suuuuper tasty!
Thanks, Brandon!
Sadly, I never hit that anti-carb campaign very hard. I just sorta eat these from the bag now.
Great idea for using left over bread, not that I’m making my own buns anytime soon, but croutons like these, buttery and crunchy, yes.
Thanks! But, but, but homemade buns can be soooo easy. Hah! These get made weekly at my place. So good!
2 things – you have inspired me to try these. Miranda has been doing homemade forever, but I just didn’t want to take the time. Now I will, especially since you just sprayed those suckers. Easy peasy! Secondly, I love that you are not afraid to show your “well loved” cookie sheet! Mine looks like that, too! It shows they are used and used well. 🙂
Let me know how it goes! They really couldn’t be any easier, I don’t think. My 2 cents… there isn’t anything better than a good ol’ loved pan. With different pans giving different results at times, I like to be absolutely sure I know what to expect. Tried and true!