Easy Homemade Croutons

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut bread into cubes. I prefer larger cubes approximately 1″ in size, but cut them in whatever size you prefer. I find I like them square, but a little skinny; if they are a true cube, they don’t cook as well. Try to cut them into similar sizes so they will cook evenly. Put these in a big bowl.

Take the melted butter and drizzle it all over the bread. Take a spoon and toss the bread a couple of times so the butter is spread throughout evenly.

Sprinkle the herbs all over the bread. Toss again to spread herbs around evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until crispy and golden. You want them crunchy and not soft.

I put them in a Ziploc and store them in the refrigerator. This makes a LOT of croutons, so it will last a while. They will only keep about 3-4 weeks at room temperature.

I don’t buy bread for this recipe; I save all the heels from my homemade sourdough bread and put them in a Ziploc in the freezer until the bag is full. But day-old bread would be a cheap way to make this as well. Sourdough works wonderfully, as it has a lot of flavor to add to the croutons.

You can vary this recipe depending on what herbs you like. An easy solution is to find a mix like “Italian Seasoning” in the spice section of the store and use that. Or go through your spice cabinet and see what you have; some choices are sage, thyme, basil, black pepper, etc. Another option I use sometimes is to mince up some fresh garlic and saute it on the stove and then add it to the bread. The parsley doesn’t add as much flavor here, but it does add in a nice green color, so I always add it if I have it on hand.