Here’s a great and universal recipe for homemade croutons that you can make both in the oven and in a pan. They will be a perfect addition to soups or salads.
they can be made from stale rolls or bread. with the addition of grated cheese, serve them as a snack. the description contains many ideas for various spice sets
Ingredients
- 100 g bread – preferably a Parisian roll
- 3 tablespoons of your favorite olive oil or other vegetable oil for frying
- Spices: ½ teaspoon each of dried garlic, thyme, and sweet paprika; a generous pinch of salt and pepper
Croutons
This is an approximate number of calories calculated based on the products I used in a given recipe. From the given amount of ingredients, I got about 130 grams of mini croutons. This is enough for 4 servings of cream soup or as an addition to four small salads.
Before preparing the recipe, I also encourage you to read the entire entry first. In the content I give a lot of interesting tips about ingredients and their substitutes. You may want to add grated cheese or other spices to your croutons.
Croutons recipe
You can make homemade croutons from both fresh and stale bread. I recommend light or dark bread, but without any additives. The best are a baguette, a branded roll and plain white wheat bread. This time I had a sliced wheat roll at hand (e.g. capital roll, Parisian roll, company roll). I cut 100 grams of the roll into strips and then into pieces approximately 2 x 2 cm in size. If you have unsliced bread, of course first prepare slices of the same thickness
Place the pieces of bread in one bowl. My favorite combination is: half a teaspoon each of dried garlic, thyme and sweet pepper; after a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Mix the spices and sprinkle them on the bread roll. Mix everything. Finally, pour olive oil or other vegetable oil for frying. Pour the olive oil slowly in a thin stream – preferably while stirring carefully in the bowl. It is important not to pour all the olive oil in one place. Each piece of bread should “get its portion” of olive oil.
Tip: If you want spicy croutons, add some chili or ginger. You can also go ahead and use ready-made spice mixtures. The mildest is a mixture of Italian/Provençal herbs. Nothing stops you from preparing croutons with kebab/gyros spices or, for example, curry spices.
You can finish your homemade croutons in two ways – in a pan or in the oven.
To make oven croutons, first preheat the oven to 180 degrees – top-down heating or 170 degrees with convection. Place the bread pieces on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place the baking tray approximately on the middle shelf in the oven. Watch the croutons in the oven. They will probably be perfectly brown after about 8-12 minutes. However, a lot depends on the specific oven, so I recommend being in the kitchen all the time to shorten or extend the baking time if necessary. The browned croutons can be taken out of the oven immediately and served.
To make pan croutons, all you need to do is first heat a large pan with a thick bottom. Heat the pan slowly, using medium heat. Place the croutons in spices and olive oil on a dry, heated frying pan. Stir the croutons every 1-2 minutes, e.g. with a wooden spoon. When the croutons become brown, you can remove them from the pan.
Tip: If you want to add some very finely grated cheese (Parmesan or cheddar) to your croutons, I recommend adding more halfway through baking in the oven. Then open the chamber, sprinkle the croutons with cheese, mix them with tongs and continue baking. Do the same with pan toast.
Homemade croutons are the perfect addition to soups, especially cream soups. They will be perfect for many salads.
Store the cooled croutons in a tightly closed container. You can use a cookie container, a jar with an airtight lid or a grocery-grade ziplock bag. It is important that the area is dry, as moisture will cause the croutons to become soft. So don’t keep them in the fridge. Homemade croutons are best on the day of preparation, but if stored properly they will last for several days or longer. Remember, however, that the longer you store them, the more they may lose their crunchiness and flavor.
Enjoy your meal.
