I have always loved making fresh homemade salad bowls full of my choice of goodness. As I love to have a bit of crunchyness in my salads, I always add croutons to all my traditional salad mixes.

Initially, I would go out to shop for packaged croutons which were available in most grocery shops in various flavors like Garlic & Herbs or Parmesan. Obviously, these would never be fresh and always have some kind of preservatives in them to increase shelf life.

Then one fine day, when making a salad and ironically feeling lazy to go down to the grocery shop to buy some croutons (yes, I was trying to eat healthy but not wanting to act healthy by going down for a 5 minute walk to the grocery shop), I had an idea!!!

I had some left over bread which wasn’t really super old but wasn’t super fresh either and I decided to make my own Homemade Crispy, Crunchy, full of flavor hot and fresh CROUTONS!

 

Now I always do this whenever me and hubby love are in the mood for a good bowl of salad. You can also use these in soups, I always do when I make creamy mushroom or tomato soups.

P.S. – you can make these croutons and just eat them plain like a snack too, they are so simple to make and so yummy tasting.

Ingredients: If a measurement is not specified, then it’s as per your taste

• 3-4 Bread slices, hot dog breads or buns (depending on the size, if small then 4 if large then 3)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Dry garlic sprinkles or powder
• Dry Oregano sprinkles
• Dry Basil sprinkles
• Crushed Black Pepper
• Cajun Spice
• Mixed herbs for cooking (optional)
• A pinch Salt
• Parmesan – to sprinkle after they are done
• I sometimes also like to add Chipotle or BBQ seasonings depending on their availability and I also like to drizzle a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar on them for a nice and tangy taste (alternative for salt).

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 200* degree C.
• Cut your bread slices in even, medium bite size chunks
• Take a baking tray and cover it with aluminum foil
• Place the bread chunks on the tray closely together
• Drizzle the olive oil generously and evenly all over the pieces
• Then sprinkle all the seasonings, garlic, oregano, basil, black pepper, Cajun, salt, and other (if you choose).
• Give it a nice shake to make sure all the pieces are well coated with all the goodness.
• Bake the croutons for 10 to 15 minutes (timings and temperatures may differ for different ovens)
• I usually rotate the baking tray half through
• Serve with a yummy salad or a hot soup