Easy Homemade Croutons (Garlic & Parmesan)

5 from 5 votes

If you're wondering how to make homemade croutons, this recipe is worth a try! You'll never want to get store-bought croutons again.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: croutons recipe, homemade croutons, how to make croutons

Servings:

2 generous cups bread (try a baguette or any good crusty bread) cut into croutons
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375F and move the rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with tin foil for easy clean-up.
Cut your bread into croutons and add them to the baking sheet. Pour the olive oil over the bread, and then sprinkle the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt & pepper as evenly as you can over the bread. Use your hands to toss until everything is as well combined as you can get it.
Spread the croutons out in an even layer that's clustered fairly close together (but not stacked), and then sprinkle the parmesan cheese over top. This ensures that as much cheese as possible will be stuck to the croutons.
Bake the croutons for 10-15 minutes. I find that 15 minutes works well for fresh bread.
Let the croutons cool for a few minutes, then add them to your salad/soup or store in an airtight container. Don't discard the bits that fell off the croutons while baking - I like to add those to salads too because they have tons of flavor.

You can use fresh garlic if you prefer. I'd use 2-3 minced garlic cloves.
I estimated that this amount of croutons serves about 6 (it's enough for a large salad or a couple smaller ones). Of course, it's totally subjective how much people eat. The recipe easily doubles (I would double all ingredients).
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.