Homemade Garlic Croutons

Posted on July 10, 2008

Homemade garlic croutons

“Hun, are you done with this bread?” That’s the kind of thing that Shawn might say to me while the leftover, slightly stale bread dangles inches from the trash heap . . . but not any longer. He’s now an official homemade crouton convert.

I buy bread at the farmer’s market here every weekend. We don’t always use it all. I wish I could say we did, but for quite awhile, Shawn’s been afraid to touch any food I bought home — apparently the baguette incident is still fresh in his mind (tore off a piece of baguette before I could even say “Wait, that’s for my lunch tomorrow!” — thing was stale by morning and I was . . . pleasant. Really. K, so I wasn’t. Now you see why it’s stuck in his head).

With the farmer’s market bread — and my fresh outlook on green living — I hate to waste any food. So, we don’t. Instead, I’ve started making croutons with whatever doesn’t get eaten within a reasonable amount of time.

The first time I did this, Shawn was a little surprised. He didn’t realize that I know how to make croutons . . . or that homemade ones kick the pants off of store bought ones. Fact.

Ready for this? The recipe is really simple, easy, and it doesn’t take too long.

Homemade Garlic Croutons

Leftover bread
garlic
extra light olive oil
sea salt
romano (optional)

Cut the bread into big cubes (about 1 inch by 1 inch by 1/2 inch). Mince 1 clove of garlic per cup of bread cubes.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of extra light olive oil per cup of bread cubes. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the bread and stir vigorously to coat. Give the mixture a good sprinkling of sea salt next.

Cook for about 10 minutes until golden, with me flipping often to prevent burning. If desired, add  grated romano to the mixture while cooking.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

They are great for salads or just snacking . . .

  • Share/Bookmark

Comments

4 Responses to “Homemade Garlic Croutons”

  1. Dianne on July 10th, 2008 7:04 pm

    Homemade croûtons hands down beat out the store bought kind! Yours look fabulous! :)

  2. Sarah Caron on July 16th, 2008 7:36 pm

    Thanks Dianne!

  3. Patty on September 19th, 2008 1:54 am

    Great! Try using 1 tb butter melted with the oil & garlic as well as sea salt and course ground pepper. Toss in pan lightly & transfer to a cookie sheet and bake at 350 about 15 minutes.
    Yum!

  4. A Monthly Menu Plan for the Spring on March 30th, 2009 9:42 am

    [...] Tuesday, April 21 – spinach salad with caesar dressing, chicken, and garlic croutons [...]

Leave a Reply