Garlic Croutons are a simple and delicious component to soups, salads, snack boards or for scooping up dip. The secret to tasty garlic croutons is in using fresh garlic and butter for rich punchy flavor and golden brown craggy edges. Ready in about 20 minutes, they’re easy to make with 4 simple ingredients. This recipe is vegetarian.
A Simple and Versatile Condiment or Snack
When it comes to homemade soups and stews, croutons make a delicious accompaniment to soak up all that tasty broth and provide a contrasting crunch to soupy textures. They’re also fabulous on snack platters as a vehicle for scooping up dip.
Whether you want crunchy Garlic Butter Croutons, or homemade Olive Oil Sourdough Croutons, they’re easy to make and make quick work of leftover bread.
About the Key Ingredients
- Bread: I love croutons made with a good sturdy sourdough bread not only because of its flavor, but also because of its craggy edges. Baguette or French bread work well too. If you have heels of bread hanging out in the freezer, this is a perfect recipe to use them in.
I tested this recipe with freshly made bread, day old bread and previously frozen sourdough bread. When made according to this recipe, fresh bread was a bit softer than the others because it takes longer to dry. That would generally be okay for croutons, because we could just bake them longer. But because we’re cookin’ with fresh garlic, the longer it’s in the oven, the more prone to burning it is.
- Fresh Garlic: has a punchy, rich flavor and the taste is cleaner than garlic granuals. You can adjust it to taste in this recipe by reducing by up to half for a more mellow flavor. Garlic burns easily in the oven, so while you’re keeping an eye on your croutons, check out the garlic too. The golden-brown crunchy garlic bits are so tasty.
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How to Make Garlic Butter Croutons
Step by Step
You can make these croutons lightly crunchy or very crunchy simply by how long you keep the croutons in the oven. For a heartier crunch, bake a little longer.
Traci’s Tips
- Share With: these garlicky croutons are delicious on creamy soups like this Roasted Carrot Sweet Potato Soup or shared along side Roasted Red Pepper Hummus for dipping or scooping.
- The Window of Crunchy: Garlic Butter Croutons can go from crunchyish to really crunchy depending on how long they’re in the oven. I call this the “window of crunchy”. It’s about a five minute window that takes the croutons from a softish crunch, to major crunch!
- More Garlic Please: I love these croutons with bold garlicky flavor. Feel free to adjust the garlic to taste.
Oven Baked Crunchy Garlic Butter Croutons
Servings:8 1/2 cup servings
Calories:118kcal
Garlic Croutons are a simple and delicious component to soups, salads, snack boards or for scooping up dip. The secret to tasty garlic croutons is in using fresh garlic and butter for rich punchy flavor and golden brown craggy edges. Ready in about 20 minutes, they're easy to make with 4 simple ingredients. This recipe is vegetarian.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (225 grams) Day Old Bread sourdough, French or baguette, torn into bite size pieces (about 1/2 pound)
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) Unsalted Butter
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Garlic minced, about two fat cloves
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon Dried Italian Herbs
- 1/8 teaspoon Onion Powder (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit (190 celsius) and arrange rack in the center of the oven.
- In a medium mixing bowl add the torn bread. Set aside.
- To a mini sauce pan, add the butter, garlic, salt, herbs and onion powder if using. Melt on medium-low, swirling the pot several times.
- Once melted, pour the butter mixture over the bread. Mix throughly.
- Scrape out the ingredients onto an unlined sheet pan and bake at 375 Fahrenheit for five minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 Fahrenheit (176 celsius) and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, stirring the croutons mid way through baking. The longer they bake, the crunchier they'll become.The croutons are done when golden to darker golden brown. The garlic should be light to dark golden brown, not burnt (*keep an eye on it). Taste for salt adjustment, and add a pinch more if desired.
- Share warm or at room temperature, making sure to enjoy the crunchy garlicky bits. They're especially delightful in soup.
To Store:
- Room Temperature: cool completely on the sheet pan, then transfer to a lidded container. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days.Freezer: homemade croutons freeze really well, up to two weeks. Thaw at room temperature for about an hour, or gently reheat in a warm oven.
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 279mg | Potassium: 40mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 146IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg
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