Instantly Elevate Any Salad With One Homemade Addition

There are a ton of ways to up your salad game. From mixing different types of greens, to picking the perfect salad dressing, to adding french fries (which makes it into a Pittsburgh salad), there are hardly "rules" when it comes to building a bowl full of greens and toppings. Of course, for many, croutons are an absolute must. They add satisfying crunch, flavor, and a coveted dose of carbs. Store bought croutons will work, but making your own croutons is so easy and delicious that you may never buy them from the store again once you've made a couple batches.

All you really need is some bread and oil or butter, although adding seasonings is always a good idea. And while some may say that you must use stale bread to make croutons, fresh bread can work, too. Using one or two-day old bread will give you more of that signature crunch that's associated with salad croutons, while fresh bread will result in croutons that are crispy on the outside and a little soft on the inside. Truthfully, many people prefer them like this anyways.

You can use everything from white sandwich bread, crusty artisan sourdough loaves, or baguettes. Cube the bread and toss it with olive or avocado oil. You can also use melted butter, ideally clarified butter. If making your own, be sure to look for the signs to indicate when the clarified butter is done. Add your seasonings and bake the croutons in a hot oven until they are golden brown. You can also toast them in a skillet or brown them in an air fryer.

I make homemade croutons all the time, mostly because they taste so much better than any store bought brand. It's also budget-friendly and I know exactly what's going into them (in other words, no preservatives and ingredients I can't pronounce). My go-to method is using whatever bread loaf I have in my freezer (usually a sliced baguette), tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and air-frying them, which takes about six minutes. But you can flavor up homemade croutons many different ways. Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese, and herbs de Provence are just a handful of suggestions that would make croutons delicious.

Because most homemade crouton recipes don't include preservatives, they certainly don't have the lasting power that store bought croutons have. For this reason, I'd recommended making them as needed rather than in huge batches to prevent them from going stale. And, while homemade croutons will seriously elevate any salad you can dream up, remember that they can be used outside the salad bowl as well. Put a handful on top of soups for some flavor and crunch, just snack on them (like I do), or serve them with roasted chicken. Lay some of your homemade croutons on a plate and place the warm chicken and juices right on top. The croutons will soak up that glorious juice and all of the flavor that comes with it.