Sourdough Croutons

You’re going to love this simple recipe for crunchy sourdough croutons, made using simple pantry ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes! This recipe is a great way to use up leftover sourdough bread or even those loaves that don’t bake up quite right. You can use these golden brown, crunchy morsels to add a little crunch to creamy soups, as a garnish for fresh salads – or even as a crispy snack.

Why You’ll Love Sourdough Croutons!

• Use Up Stale Sourdough Bread – Making croutons is a fantastic way to use leftover sourdough bread like sourdough baguettes or sourdough sandwich bread. You’re reducing food waste and creating something delicious!
• Oven Baked –  You’ll love that these sourdough croutons are oven baked, not fried. They’re less oily and much better for you! 
• Flavor Variations – You can vary the flavor of your croutons very easily using what you have on hand. I’ve added a list of potential flavor ideas further down this post, like Italian herbs and cheese!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Sourdough Bread – Day-old or slightly stale sourdough is ideal because it contains less moisture and crisps more readily. Fresh sourdough can still be used, but it will take longer to cook. You can use plain sourdough bread or a flavored loaf like this sourdough golden cheese bread, jalapeño cheddar sourdough loaf or even this Italian herb and cheese sourdough loaf.
• Olive oil – Helps the croutons brown and gives the seasonings something to adhere to. Melted butter or avocado oil can also be used.
• Salt & Pepper – The basic seasoning. From here you can customise them however you like.
• Other seasonings – Garlic granules or fresh minced garlic, Italian Seasoning, Rosemary Leaves, onion powder. You can pretty much use any seasonings you love to eat. I recommend no more than a teaspoon of each to make sure the flavors don’t overpower the croutons. A little grated parmesan can be a lovely addition too!

How To Make Sourdough Croutons 

Right, let’s make a big batch of your own homemade sourdough croutons! You’ll find the specific ingredient details in the recipe card at the end of this page.

First, slice your sourdough bread into cubes. I’ve made mine around 3/4 to an inch in size. For the best texture, make sure some sourdough breadcubes have the crust on and others don’t. This will give your croutons a more rustic vibe. 

Lay your sourdough breadcubes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, ensuring they are in a single layer and not too cramped. If you don’t give the croutons enough space, they won’t crisp up evenly.

Drizzle the cubed sourdough bread with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper and any other spices or seasonings you’ve chosen. I love mkaing mine with garlic granules, dried parsley, onion powder and a little Italian seasoning. But even with just salt, pepper and olive oil they will taste amazing!

Gently toss the bread around with your hands to ensure each cube is coated oil and seasonings. I like to do this on the tray rather than dirty a separate bowl because I hate extra dishes! 

Bake them in the oven until they’re golden and crunchy. 

Air Fryer Instructions for Sourdough Croutons

I love using my air fryer to make sourdough croutons, particular if I’ve just got a small batch. Here’s how to do it!

• Preheat the air fryer to 180°C/350°F for 2–3 minutes. Add the croutons in a single layer. Avoid overcrowding the basket (cook in batches if needed). Air fry for 6–8 minutes, shaking the basket after about 3–4 minutes.
• Check from the 5-minute mark, as smaller or drier pieces can brown quickly. If your bread is very fresh, they may need closer to 8–10 minutes as it will take longer to dry out the moisture in the bread.

For the crunchiest air fryer croutons, don’t overcrowd the basket. Giving the pieces plenty of space allows hot air to circulate around them so they crisp rather than steam.

How To Store

It’s really important to make sure your croutons are fully cooled before you store them. If they are warm when you place them into a bag or container, moisture will form inside and soften your croutons. This moisture is what will cause them to go moldy before you get to enjoy them!

Room Temperature – The easiest way to store sourdough croutons is in a large resealable plastic bag. They also do really well in glass jars. As long as they are fully dry, they should last at least 2 weeks at room temperature. If they do go a little soft, you can just pop them in the oven and bake them again for a few minutes to crisp up.

Freezer – You could also freeze sourdough croutons, however you would need to crisp them up in the oven after defrosting.

The best way to use the freezer would be just to cut up the stale bread or leftover bread you’re wanting to use up, pop it in an airtight container and freeze that. When you want to make the croutons, you can just use the frozen bread cubes.

How To Use Sourdough Croutons

You can literally add croutons to anything you like! Here are a few suggestions:

• Add them to your favorite soups just before serving – I love adding them to my creamy vegetable soup.
• My kids literally eat bowls of these as a snack (I usually make some with parmesan cheese, rosemary and salt for them to munch on).
• Use them on top of your favorite casserole. I love using them on top of my sourdough mac and cheese. 
• Grind them up in a food processor to make crunchy seasoned breadcrumbs – perfect for breading chicken or adding the burger patties.
• Add them to the top of a salad – they add so much flavor and interest. I absolutely love them in a fresh Caesar salad with chicken or on a crunchy iceberg lettuce with homemade ranch dressing. Ok I’m officially hungry now!!

Sourdough Crouton Flavor Variations

Sourdough croutons taste great no matter what you put on them, but here are a few suggestions if you’re looking for a little more flavor when you make your next batch! You’ll still need to use olive oil, these are just suggestions for extra seasonings.

• Garlic Parmesan – 2 grams (1 tsp) garlic powder and 50 grams finely grated Parmesan.
• Rosemary Sea Salt – Fresh or dried rosemary and as much flaky sea salt as you like.
• Italian Herbs and Cheese – I like to use 2 tsps of Italian seasoning and 50 grams of parmesan cheese. A little lemon zest is a really lovely touch here too!
• Ranch – 2 tsp of Ranch seasoning. I usually skip the salt if I’m using Ranch because it can become too salty with both.
• Everything Bagel – 2 tablespoons of homemade Everything Bagel seasoning. Just like the ranch, I tend to skip adding extra salt here.
• Cheesy – 100 grams of any cheese you like. My favorite is a combination of Parmesan, Pecorino and finely grated cheddar.
• Spicy – 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and chilli flakes to your taste.

Troubleshooting

One of the biggest questions I see asked in my sourdough community is why aren’t my sourdough croutons crunchy? There are a few reasons your croutons haven’t crisped up, the most common being:

• croutons were stored before completely cooling making them soft.
• bread cubes are too large and thus the baking time was too short.
• the baking sheet is overcrowded.
• sourdough bread was very fresh and wasn’t baked long enough to dry out the moisture.

Share the sourdough love!