When the Bread Gets Crusty, Turn It Into Croutons

I, like many others, over extend myself sometimes, and I buy things, with ideas in mind of how I want to make them, and then life happens, and plans change. When working with food, sometimes this means you need to come up with a plan “B” real quick or you will need to throw food away. I hate throwing away food unless I absolutely have too. So, I get creative instead.

I had planned on making something that used my pesto and some French bread, but that never happened. So, I have been using my pesto for other things. My French bread got really crusty, which was making it to hard to eat as is. So ……. When the bread gets crusty, turn it into croutons.

You can make croutons with as little or as much bread as you need to. There are no right or wrongs and no absolutes with this recipe, except that they are going to taste absolutely scrumptious. Croutons are a very easy way to use up your end pieces or dried bread. You can add whatever flavors you like and mix and match with whatever you have. This is an old trick from my restaurant days. It used up our breads that were not good enough to eat or serve on their own, and it was a great way to save on costs too, because we did not have to purchase croutons when we could easily make them up in house. This time, I made them with Parmigiano cheese, roasted garlic flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil, melted butter and dried parley.

Preheat the oven to 400* F or 200* C.

With a serrated knife, cube the bread into bite size pieces.

Mix together the butter, oil and all your other ingredients, then toss the bread into the mixture to coat well and spread out on a baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the croutons become golden brown and crisp. Toss them about half way in between to help them cook evenly. You can add them to soups or salads or just munch on them one at a time as is. They will be full of flavor.

Stay safe, stay well and enjoy the day. ‘Til next time.

Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people.

11 thoughts on “When the Bread Gets Crusty, Turn It Into Croutons”

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  6. This is a good lesson. When my daughters started baking in their early teens, sometimes the batter didn’t go right for whatever reason. I taught them to just scrape it. Sugar, flour, milk are not expensive. We’ve lost a little bit of money, a little bit of time. Knowing all the ways to save a recipe gone rogue is a long road and we have to learn from people like yourself, one little tip at a time. Recently some cupcakes didn’t rise because of dead baking powder or something. I told my daughter, don’t worry about it. We’ll crumb them and make a tart base or something with them. But we only learn how to use our mistakes by making them in the first place and ADMITTING our mistakes to people who know more than us. A great post, and great thoughts!

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