How to Make Croutons

Croutons are crunchy little bites of seasoned goodness- they can turn an okay salad into a Fabulous Salad; but that’s not all they’re good on, enjoy them in soups, or try our cinnamon croutons on fresh sliced fruit for a change of pace. Here are 5 fantastic homemade crouton flavors to start with . . . .

Technically, there are unlimited combinations of flavors, you can choose from any of the following seasonings to make fantastic croutons. For this recipe you can use any type of stale bread, rye, french, italian, white, wheat, etc.

Choose your seasonings:

• Parsley
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• salt
• pepper
• rosemary
• thyme
• paprika
• parsley flakes
• Italian Seasoning Blend
• Lemon Pepper Seasoning Blend
• minced garlic
• basil
• thyme
• cinnamon & sugar
• nutmeg

You’ll also need:
Oil (canola, vegetable, or Butter)

Seasoning Mix Italian Garlic Croutons
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Minced Garlic or Garlic powder
3 c. Bread Cubes

Seasoning Mix Red Pepper Delight
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp red Pepper Flakes
3 c. bread cubes

Seasoning Mix #3 Ranch Croutons
3 tsp Dry Ranch Dressing Mix
3 c. bread cubes

Seasoning Mix #4 Lemon Pepper Croutons
3 c. Bread cubes
3 tsp Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Seasoning Mix #5 Cinnamon Croutons – these are wonderful on sliced fruit such as strawberries/blueberries or sliced pears or on a fruit salad, apple waldorf salad, etc3 cups bread cubes (or cut up some cinnamon stale raisin bagels!)
3 Tbs Cinnamon/Sugar Mix
2 Tbs butter (do not use oil for this one)

First and foremost, regardless of the flavor you’ll need to prepare your bread cubes. On a cutting board, cube the bread. Cut it into 1″ or smaller pieces.

Heat about 2 Tbs of Butter, Cooking oil OR Olive oil over medium heat.

Add the seasonings (any of the mixes you want) into the oil, and lightly saute them then add your cubed bread. If the seasonings are too strong for your preference, use less, if they aren’t strong enough for your tastes, use more. Pretty simple stuff!

Toast/grill on one side til golden brown, flip over and toast/grill the other side. The whole process of toasting takes about 5 minutes or less.

Serve hot or cold. Be sure that you have thoroughly toasted/dried them before storing or they’ll be chewy. Alternatively they can be baked in the oven (after they’ve been seasoned!) at 350° for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.

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