Food Waste Busting Crunchy Herbed Crouton Recipe
These Crunchy Herbed Croutons are not only delicious and really easy to make, but they’re also the perfect way to use up stale bread crusts. That’s a win-win-win in my books!
We use them on top of soups and stews in the colder months, and on salads in the warmer months. They’re so tasty and crunchy. They add so much flavour and texture, they can really lift a meal.
We think that crusty sourdough loaves make the best and crunchiest croutons, but you can use any type of stale bread crusts. In the past (before the local greengrocer started selling these amazing fresh crusty panna de casa loaves on Saturdays) we used supermarket wholemeal sliced bread crusts and they worked fine too.
We do plan to make our own bread in future, but our current oven (and let’s face it, the entire kitchen) is terrible and not conducive to baking bread. I’ve seen LITERAL shacks with more functional kitchens.
This recipe only requires a few other ingredients, which you almost certainly have lying around: a small handful of shredded fresh or dried herbs (store bought dried herbs are usually pretty bland and dusty tasting, so I dry herbs from the garden myself); olive oil; and pink Himalayan or sea salt flakes, or similar ground salt.
Don’t use table salt, it contains aluminium and microplastics and is devoid of trace minerals.
Dry your bread cubes
The most important thing is to make sure your stale bread is really nice and dried out before cooking the croutons. It will ensure that they end up crunchy, not chewy, and they will last much longer because any excess moisture has been removed.
The best way to do this is to cut them into cubes and leave them somewhere warm and dry. We put them on a pizza tray on top of the fire to dry out when it’s cold enough to have the fire going. You can also put them in a very low oven for 5-10 minutes, checking often, or even leave them in a hot car to dry out. You could also just leave them covered with a clean teatowel for a few days, if you’re not in any hurry and have the space.
You want the cubes dry, but not browned. Test a piece by squeezing it hard between your fingers, if it crumbles, you’re good to go.
You can do the drying stage separately from cooking the actual croutons. Once they’re thoroughly dried, they should keep for a couple of months in an airtight container. Then you can cook the croutons fresh whenever you want them, even on short notice.
Let’s make Herbed Croutons!
Place enough oil in your frying pan to cover the bottom and add a good pinch of salt
Add your bread cubes to the pan and toss them around so they are fully coated in the oil and salt
Cook on a medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown
Remove pan from heat, add shredded fresh herbs, toss or mix to combine (we used thyme, marjoram and chives from the garden for this batch)
Place croutons on a plate lined with a clean teatowel or paper towel to drain excess oil (be sure to compost paper towel afterwards if using)
Allow to cool before serving
Place any leftovers in an airtight container, they should last about a month
Optional
You could also add a sprinkle of garlic powder with the fresh herbs to make herb and garlic croutons.
If you’re planning to use the whole batch of croutons immediately (or in the next few days) you can cook your croutons in bacon or other animal fat. Stick to olive oil if you plan to store some for later, or they might go rancid.
Serving suggestions
These croutons are an amazing way to add extra flavour and texture to summer salads and winter soups!
I thought I had a photo of some minestrone with croutons, but I can’t find it anywhere!
These Crunchy Herbed Croutons are so tasty, you will never look at stale bread the same way again!
Have you tried making these croutons? I’d love to see how they turned out! Snap a pic and tag me @maddythemaker on Instagram.
Happy crouton making!
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