Croutons are a necessary addition to a great salad. Freshly baked croutons with good quality greens, nuts, cherry tomatoes and dressing make for a truly memorable salad, and they're a great way to use up bread that's about to go bad. Simply hack up the loaf, season it with some herbs and bake to take old bread and give it a fresh, crunchy taste. Read on and learn how to make great homemade croutons.
Picking the right bread is essential for making good croutons, because bread that is overly crusty or mushy won't be sturdy enough to make proper croutons. Bread such as sourdough, ciabatta, focaccia or Italian-style bread are great choices, whereas it's recommended to avoid regular sandwich bread, challah, brioche and bagels.
There are several ways to change up the basic croutons to make them something special.