Homemade Italian Croutons Recipe
An easy Homemade Italian Croutons Recipe made from scratch, with simple ingredients, perfect for soups, salads and a little nosh!
Happy Friday! Here’s a delightful recipe for Homemade Italian Croutons if you’ve been eating a lot of salads this summer, like we have. This recipe is great on Butter Leaf Lettuce Summer Salad, and Best Antipasti Chopped Salad, and this Epic Cobb Salad Board Recipe!
Homemade Italian Croutons Recipe
It’s easy to make your own croutons, and you only need a few on your salad for a little crunch and nosh! Right?
What are croutons made of?
Croutons are made from toasted or fried bread, including white, whole wheat, and sourdough. I love sourdough croutons! But for this recipe we used focaccia bread – delish!
Use them for a crunchy texture in salads, soups and more. Any piece of bread that has been toasted or fried counts as a crouton, if it’s crunchy and crisp! They are amazing on this delicious summer Tomato Strawberry Gazpacho soup, made with fresh produce!
Here’s what you need for this homemade croutons recipe:
- Stale bread (I used focaccia bread) cut into 1’’ cubes
- Olive oil
- Salt, dried marjoram, dried oregano
- Garlic powder
- Pepper
How do you make croutons from scratch?
- In a small bowl, combine all of the spices.
- In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes in the olive oil. When cubes are mostly coated, sprinkle on the seasoning. Add one large pinch at a time, while tossing the cubes with your other hand. Toss until bread is evenly coated in the seasoning.
- Spread cubes onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, then toss the cubes to ensure even cooking, and return back to the oven. Total cook time is about 12 minutes, but you can go longer if desired.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container!
How long do homemade croutons last?
Store croutons in zip-top bags, or in airtight containers, at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for several weeks. They also keep in the fridge for several days with only a small loss of crunchiness.
We keep them in our pantry!
They’re also delicious served on a steak salad! My steak salad recipe is coming soon, so stay tuned! :) It’s one of my favorite summer salads. Oh, and try these croutons on this Instant Pot Summer Soup!
Attitude Check by Chuck Swindoll
How’s your attitude today, Friends? I mean, with what’s happening in the world, do you still have joy? I love mornings here in central Oregon, cool and refreshing, a great time to sit and read something good for my soul. I love Chuck Swindoll, and he wrote these words quite a few years ago:
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.” –Chuck Swindoll
Wow. I’ve had to read this a few times this morning.
Life is all about our attitude isn’t it?
With our world right now, we can definitely show love and peace through our attitudes, and here’s something that is not mentioned above.
What do you think about our attitudes affecting our physical or emotional health? Or the physical health of those around us?
Get the Recipe:
Homemade Italian Croutons Recipe
Ingredients
- 10-12 oz stale bread, I used focaccia bread cut into 1’’ cubes
- 1/4 c olive oil, about
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a small bowl, combine all of the spices.
- In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes in the olive oil. When cubes are mostly coated, sprinkle on the seasoning. Add one large pinch at a time, while tossing the cubes with your other hand. Toss until bread is evenly coated in the seasoning.
- Spread cubes onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, then toss the cubes to ensure even cooking and return back to the oven. Total cook time is about 12 minutes, but you can go longer if desired.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I wavered a little bit on this recipe using old sour dough bread. The Oven temp 350 degrees and I baked the croutons for 10 minutes.
Immediately after pulling the croutons out of the oven I lightly sprinkled them with grated Parmesan cheese.
Everyone loved these.