Use up that stale, leftover bread by making these buttery, crunchy, savory homemade croutons in your air fryer. The perfect garnish for soups and salads.
If you often find yourself with leftover bread, I can’t think of a better way to use it than making these wonderful homemade Buttery Air Fryer Croutons!
I love croutons, even the store-bought variety, and will happily eat them plain. I’ve also been known to steal the croutons from my husband and children’s salads.
But when it comes to croutons, you are really, really missing out if you haven’t tried making them yourself at home. The difference is hard to describe, but trust me when I say that you must try these croutons!
And with your air fryer, it couldn’t be easier. You can have amazing, impossible to resist croutons in about 10 minutes!
Once you’ve spoiled yourself with homemade croutons, you’ll never want to use the store-bought version again.
Whenever I have leftover, stale bread, I cut it into cubes and stick it in a zip-top bag. Then I freeze the bread cubes until I’m ready to make croutons.
You can make any size of croutons, with any kind of bread, but I prefer larger croutons, so I cut my bread into 1-inch chunks. Note that the size of your bread cubes will dictate how long your croutons need to cook.
Regular sliced bread will work for this recipe, but I get the best results when I use Italian bread, sourdough, or artisan bread. But let’s be honest, any kind of buttered, seasoned bread is going to be delicious.
I have a terrible habit of eating half of every batch of these croutons I make, before anyone even has a chance to enjoy them with soup or salad.
Whatever you do, don’t throw away that day-old bread sitting on your kitchen counter. Use it to make these Buttery Air Fryer Croutons instead.
What Should I Serve with Buttery Air Fryer Croutons?
Obviously croutons will elevate almost any salad, but my favorite place to put these croutons (besides straight into my mouth) is into a hot bowl of soup. Here are some soups that are seriously elevated by the additions of these croutons:
- Ham and Bean Soup with Rosemary
- Chicken Parmesan Soup
- Best Clam Chowder
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Soup
- Slow Cooker Tomato Soup
Be sure to save this recipe for Buttery Air Fryer Croutons to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Tips for Making Buttery Air Fryer Croutons:
- Check your croutons–and give the air fryer basket a good shake–every few minutes. Cooking time can vary quite a bit depending on the size of croutons you’re making.
- Feel free to customize these croutons with herbs, spices or grated Parmesan cheese.
- Don’t worry about perfection. You can even tear your bread into bite-size chunks rather than cutting it into pieces.
- These croutons are taste freshest and best when eaten on the day they are made.
Here’s what you’ll need to make Buttery Air Fryer Croutons
- Bread
- Butter
- Spices: garlic salt, salt and pepper
Buttery Air Fryer Croutons
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread cubed
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the cubed bread with the butter.
- Add garlic salt and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add the bread to the air fryer and cook for 6-10 minutes, tossing at least once half-way through cooking time. Check regularly to avoid over-cooking.
