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These Easy Homemade Croutons are perfect for any salad — or you can eat them for a snack as I do! This is a great way to use leftover bread that is on the verge of being tossed out.

When I make a salad, I have found out that I love making my dressings for my salads. For years, I have been making homemade ranch and Olive Garden Copycat dressing. Recently though, I've started adding another homemade element to my salads — and that is my own homemade croutons. Skip the store-bought croutons from the grocery store and make these instead.

These are the best crunchy croutons and are flavorful thanks to spices like garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning as well as olive oil. It's an excellent way to use up any leftover bread you might have lying around as well.

How to Make Homemade Croutons Recipe

For this recipe, you will need the following simple ingredients —

• 1 loaf of stale bread ( I like to use French bread but I have also used Sourdough bread or whole wheat bread. The kind of bread you use is up to you as long as it is your favorite bread)
• olive oil
• salt
• Black Pepper
• Italian Seasoning (or spice of your choice)

Start with a loaf of day-old French bread. A lot of times, stores will sell these for .25-.50, so when I find them on markdown, I buy them up and store them in my freezer for this moment. It is better not to use fresh bread when making these because fresh bread is soft and will smush when cut or torn. You want good crisp cut lines with your bread.

Take the loaf and cube up until your pieces are about 1″ cubes. Toss them in a large bowl.

Take the cubed bread, place it on a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper. I have learned that by using parchment paper the croutons tend to get a bit more crispy.

Once you put them in a single layer on the baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil. You do not need a lot — don't soak the bread. Just a drizzle is all you need.

Once you have the olive oil drizzled on, sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Then, using Italian season (or those yummy ZapPaks from Little Caeser Pizza), sprinkle on your spices. You can try all kinds of different seasonings for these croutons.

This is where you can get creative with the flavor of your croutons.

Now, just pop them in a 350-degree oven and bake for about 8-15 minutes, depending on how brown and toasty you want your croutons. Skip the oven method and toss these in the air fryer to bake as well.

We like ours to get golden brown. During the cooking process, take them out occasionally and give the pan a shake. This will ensure that they brown on all sides.

Make sure the croutons cool all the way off to room temperature. You do not want hot croutons on your green salad. These are the best croutons you will ever make. For extra color, mince some fresh parsley and sprinkle the fresh herbs over the top of the croutons. It's the perfect way to enjoy them!

Once they cool off, you can store them in a ziplock bag or an airtight container on the counter. You will want to use them in just a few days. They will start to soften after about 4 days on the counter. You can also make frozen croutons and pull out what you need instead of thawing the whole bag. Just place them in a freezer bag. They should be kept in the freezer for about 3 months.

Other great options for these croutons is to eat them as a snack! They are so addictive you won't be able to eat just one. I also like to serve them on top of tomato soup.

Another option is turning these into homemade bread crumbs! Just throw them in the food processor and grind them up.

Have you ever made your own croutons before? 

Interested in more delicious recipes perfect for a salad? Check out these recipes below!

• Homemade Ranch Dressing
• Classic Caesar Salad Dressing
• Rainbow Fruit Salad
• Broccoli Salad
• Greek Pasta Salad