How to Make Croutons for Free

Here on our homestead reducing food waste is extremely important. Not only does it reduce waste but it SAVES you money. And who doesn’t need or want to save money these days? Everything is so expensive every little purchase really adds up. Even something as small as a bag of croutons! Not to even mention how much healthier homemade croutons are for you! Really ya’ll croutons should not last for a year. Especially when they are so easy to make and did I mention we can make them for free! So here is how to make croutons for free!

If you make your own sourdough bread, i’m sure you have parts of the loaf you don’t normally use. Like the end pieces or if your like me slices that you cut so uneven you cant use them for a sandwich. Ooops. You also may have parts of loafs that get stale! Its still good DON’T through it out. This is how we make our croutons for free.

Now what if you don’t make your own bread? That’s okay! You can still make croutons from store bought bread.

So how do we actually make these croutons? Well you take your stale/ giblets of bread ( whatever kind of bread you need to use) and cut them into cubes. I like to cut into about 1 inch size cubes but you can cut them into whatever size your heart desires.

Put your bread cubes into a large mixing bowl then drizzle with a good oil of your choosing. I like to use this olive oil. You want your croutons lightly coated with oil but not drenched in it.

Now comes the fun part, you get to season your croutons to your liking. First every crouton needs salt but after that is all up to you. Personally I use salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and smoked paprika. You just season to your liking, Then take your hands and toss the bread cubes and seasoning until everything is evenly coated and mixed.

Set your oven to 350 and put your croutons onto a baking sheet. After your oven is hot place your croutons into the oven to bake. I wish I could tell you how long to bake them but it really depends on how many croutons you have made. Just keep checking them, they are done when they are dry and crunchy.

After your croutons are crunchy to your liking. Bring them out of the oven and allow to completely cool then store in a airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Well there you have it! You just made croutons for free out of stale bread giblets. Items you normally would take to the compost or give to the chickens. Talk about being resourceful!

BONUS TIP!

You can only eat so many salads right? Well what if you have plenty of croutons made but still have stale bread to use? You can take your already made croutons and put them into a food processor. Process them until you have seasoned bread crumbs! Use your homemade bread crumbs as you would any store bought bread crumbs!