Stuck with stale sourdough bread or any other loaf and wondering how to use it up? Make yourself some homemade croutons! It’s super easy. We will show you how to make sourdough croutons with herbs and garlic, and you can use this recipe with any type of bread. If you make a lot of soups and stews (and we Instant Pot users do!), these croutons make for a great addition to any slurpy, soupy meal and more!

If you’re a regular sourdough user, you will know that after a few days that perfect loaf can get pretty stale and solid. It’s always a shame to have to throw it away. One of the best ways to use up the leftovers is to make homemade croutons. You can use this template recipe for oven-baked croutons with most other bread that is stale or getting there.

HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH CROUTONS

The key to good croutons making sure you cut up the bread into similar size squares or cubes, so that they can cook evenly in the oven. Many people fry up the bread croutons in a frying pan with lots of oil or butter but we love this oven-baked method as it requires less oil and is a bit more hands-off.

If the bread that you are using is too hard to cut, you can microwave it briefly or pop it in a hot oven for a minute to soften up slightly. Otherwise, use a very good knife and be careful slicing it. We recommend putting a towel over the bread to hold it while slicing, as it keeps it in place and protects your hand.

The next part is seasoning the croutons. Stale bread is kind of boring so tossing it with good quality olive oil, spices, herbs, and plenty of salt will bring it to life. We used freshly chopped rosemary and garlic powder, but you can also season them with onion powder or onion soup mix, chicken salt, Cajun spice blend, any kind of dry herbs, cumin or paprika, pepper and the list goes on.

The croutons should be baked in a medium heat oven so they brown and dry out at the same time. Spread them over a piece of baking sheet on a flat tray and pop in the oven until crispy and golden brown.

WHAT TO USE HERB & GARLIC CROUTONS WITH

Crunchy, flavorful croutons can be used in many ways:

Add to any soups, especially pureed ones like creamy butternut squash, broccoli or potato soup.
Serve on top of a hearty stew like this veggie-loaded number or our Italian pork and bean stew.
Add to salads like a classic Caesar, Panzanella or watermelon and feta salad.
Toss through a stuffing mix and bake as a casserole.

Herb & Garlic Sourdough Croutons

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Author: Instant Pot Eats
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4-5 1x
Category: Side
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Learn how to make homemade croutons using leftover sourdough bread (or any other type) seasoned with herbs, garlic and sea salt. Great in soups, stews, salads and more.

Ingredients

Scale

7–9 oz / 200 g sourdough bread (1/4–1/3 of a loaf), sliced and cut into cubes

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons herbs (we used chopped rosemary)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 355 F/180 C.
Add the cut-up sourdough cubes to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle in one tablespoon of olive oil and toss through. Add the remaining oil one tablespoon at a time, tossing the croutons each time. This will make sure you don’t drizzle all of the oil on a single side of the bread.
Once coated with oil, sprinkle evenly with the herbs, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Use your hands to mix through well, squishing the bread slightly as you go.
Transfer the croutons on a flat-ish oven tray line with baking paper. Pop in the oven for 20-22 minutes. Make sure to check it after about 15 minutes to see if any pieces need to be turned or moved.
Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Notes

Storing croutons: Store croutons in Ziploc bags or in airtight food storage containers at room temperature for up to three days or in the freezer for several weeks. They also keep in the fridge for several days with only a small loss of crunchiness.