Homemade croutons
January 13, 2020
: 6
: 5 min
: Easy
Homemade croutons are a fantastic topping for soups or salads. They beat anything store-bought, and you can get creative with the flavour.
Ingredients
- Leftover bread (a few days old, but with no mould), chopped into 1-inch pieces
- Olive oil
- Sea salt (we used Maldon)
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celcius (fan force) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Step 2 Put the bread in a bowl and drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Toss with your hands, to evenly coat.
- Step 3 Place the bread on the baking tray in one even layer. Cook for 10-20 minutes, or until golden. (Fresher bread will take longer, so keep an eye on it.)
- Step 4 Remove from the oven and leave to cool. The croutons will store well in an airtight container for a few weeks.
Variations:
- You can experiment with flavours by using garlic salt, celery salt or chilli salt.
‘Waste not, want not’, the saying goes. However, according to Gail’s Bakery, the UK throws away around 24 million slices of bread every day, which has inspired their commitment to #WASTENOT and their ‘Waste Not’ menu, made from ingredients that would usually be thrown away.
To become more waste savvy at home, try keeping an inventory of the food you throw out during the week. You can use this list to better plan your next shop and think of creative ways to use off-cuts – for example, making stocks out of the fading herbs and veggies, or breadcrumbs out of stale loaves of bread.
