The best recipe to make crispy, crunchy, flavorful homemade croutons in the air fryer with leftover sourdough or french bread. They pack a lot of flavor crunch and come together in just a few minutes to perfectly pair with salad or soup.
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things I love about air fried croutons
It is a great way to use up stale bread. Instead of throwing it out, you can make croutons out of it.
A great way to create flavorful breadcrumbs. If you need breadcrumbs for a recipe and don't have any on hand, you can pulse these in the food processor and have bread crumbs in seconds.
It's quick and easy. You can have air fried croutons in less than 15 minutes.
Ingredients you'll need to make air-fried croutons
- your favorite bread (I use a rosemary sourdough)
- onion powder
- dried basil
- dried oregano
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- oil (I use avocado oil)
how to make homemade croutons in the air fryer
Detailed instructions and measurements are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Mix all of the spices together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Cut the bread slices into small squares and add them to a mixing bowl.
- Drizzle half of the oil and toss together coating the bread on all sides. Drizzle the remaining oil, tossing again to coat.
- Take your spice mix and sprinkle a little at a time, toss to coat, and repeat until all of the spice mixture is mixed in and all the bread is coated.
- Place the bread cubes in the basket of the air fryer.
- Place the basket in the air fryer and fry at 400°F for 4 minutes.
- Open the basket and shake so that all the croutons are mixed around. Place back in the air fryer and fry an additional 2-3 minutes at 400°F.
- Remove from the air fryer and enjoy on your favorite soup or salad!
tips and tricks
- Don't cook your croutons too long in the air fryer. When you put them back in the second time, keep a close eye on them so they don't burn.
- They will get crispier as they cool down.
- If you want a little spice, you can add crushed red pepper to the spice mix.
- If you choose salty bread, go easy on the added salt. They can get too salty quickly.
- Don't overcrowd your air fryer basket. They will not cook evenly if the basket is too full. They don't need to be in a single layer, but it isn't important that there is room for them to crisp up.
It's best to store them in an airtight container. They'll stay nice and crunchy!
I find that they last about 2 weeks at room temperature.
You absolutely can! You can use them in any place you would use pre-made croutons.
I find that sourdough and French bread work very well in this recipe
air fryer recipes you might like
alterations to lower calories and weight watchers points
- You could use oil spray (olive oil or avocado oil) instead of ¼ cup of oil.
- Use a point-friendly/lower calorie bread. You can use pretty much any bread in this recipe. Make sure the nutritional information on the bread is lower calorie or weight watcher friendly.
substitutions
avocado oil - You can replace the avocado oil with melted butter for more flavor. It will increase the calories but will add a lot of flavors.
garlic powder - you can use garlic salt in place of garlic powder, but you will need to be sure to lower the amount of kosher salt you add to the bread.
gluten-free - you can turn these into gluten-free croutons by using gluten-free bread in place of sourdough or French bread.
Italian seasoning - if you don't have dried basil and dried oregano on hand, you can use Italian seasoning instead.
how to store homemade croutons
Keep them in an airtight container. They will stay fresh for a couple of days.
recipes that go well with homemade croutons in the air fryer
Homemade Croutons in the Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 8 slices of your favorite bread I use a rosemary sourdough
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup oil I use avocado oil
Instructions
- Mix all of the spices together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Cut the bread slices into small squares and add them in to a mixing bowl.
- Drizzle half of the oil and toss together coating the bread on all sides. Drizzle the remaining oil, tossing again to coat.
- Take your spice mix and sprinkle a little at a time, toss to coat, and repeat until all of the spice mixture is mixed in and all the bread is coated.
- Place the bread in the basket of the air fryer.
- Place the basket in the air fryer and fry at 400°F for 4 minutes.
- Open the basket and shake so that all the croutons are mixed around. Place back in the air fryer and fry an additional 2-3 minutes at 400°F.
- Remove from the air fryer and enjoy on your favorite soup or salad!
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