Absolutely one of the easiest things to make is homemade croutons. You’re in for a real treat compared to the over-processed store bought versions. Try them in your favorite soup, I happen to think that tomato soup screams for them. Also adding them to a salad is a rather obvious choice, especially a caesar salad, where having good croutons is essential and makes a huge difference.

INGREDIENTS
day old bread, sourdough or any other good bread
good olive oil
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
First, tear the bread into bite sized pieces. By tearing them, you have more craggy edges that crisp up beautifully, and have lots of texture. Obviously, you certainly could cut the bread into cubes, but they just won’t have the wonderful texture of the torn pieces.

Next, choose a skillet depending on how many croutons you are making. If you are just doing enough for a salad, a small skillet will do. If you’re going to do a whole batch, find a larger pan. Either way, make sure that the croutons are in a single layer and if you have to do them in more than one batch, so be it.

I must say these are so quick, easy, and really best the day of or the day after making them, that I do suggest making them in smaller batches. However, if you do choose to do a large batch, they can be refreshed in a skillet to crisp them back up. When I have leftover bread, I tear it, lay it out on a sheet pan and freeze them. Then, when they are fully frozen, I put them in a container and back into the freezer. If you just throw them all in together, without freezing first, they will freeze together in one big lump. That way I can grab a handful or two when I want them for my salad, toss them in a skillet for a few minutes and I’m done.

Put a small amount of oil in the skillet (you don’t want soggy croutons) on medium-high heat, toss in the bread, in a single layer, add salt and pepper to taste and shake the pan to coat the croutons. If you feel they are too dry, you can add a tad more oil, but do be careful and don’t soak them or they won’t crisp up. Let them be for a few minutes, that will brown them up nicely on one side. When you see them browning, you can shake the pan, stir or turn them to get browning all over. That’s it, easy as can be and your done in five minutes!

NOTES
There are a million ways that you could amp these up. I happen to prefer them simpler, as I’ve noted above, but use your imagination and try different seasonings. An obvious choice would be to add some garlic powder, Italian seasoning, or even za’atar, etc. Another obvious add, would be parmesan cheese. When adding parmesan (or any other cheese you might like), I would add it right when you pull the croutons off the heat. That way you don’t have a melted, cheesy mess in the pan and the cheese will melt into the croutons.