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 Soup & Salad Herb Croutons

If you are a herb gardener, you'll love to homemade croutons. They are quick and easy to make. And, the taste is so much better than store brought croutons. Sure, you can use store bought herbs. But, the croutons will not taste anywhere near as good as ones made with your own fresh garden herbs.

If this is the first time you've made croutons, we encourage you to experiment with the selection of herbs and combinations of herbs. Later, you can make more of your favorite herb flavored croutons.

Use homemade croutons in soups and salads. They can also be used in stuffing turkeys, poultry and other meats.

Tip: Kids love to help make croutons. Get them involved with every part of the process, except the broiling.

Ingredients:

  • Slices of bread

  • Homegrown herbs- Fresh chopped, or dried and crumbled.

  • Butter or margarine

  • Grated Parmesan Cheese

Preparation  Directions:

  • Take a slice of bread and apply a very thin coat of butter or margarine. Butter can be melted, or soft.

  • Place buttered bread on a cookie sheet.

  • Sprinkle a single herb, or combinations of them on both sides of the bread.

  • Repeat the process for as many slices of bread as you want.

  • Place them under the broiler. Toast under the broiler until browned. Move them around as they cook, to get a more even browning of each slice of bread.

  • When one side is browned, turn over and repeat the browning of the other side.

  • Cut browned bread slices into cubes.

  • Allow croutons to air in the open for a while. They must be fully dried before storing. 

Some Flavor favorites:

  • Garlic Croutons - Try spreading garlic butter on some of the croutons before browning.

  • Onion croutons - good flavor. Make an onion butter for best flavor.

  • Sage - a favorite for stuffing of poultry and seafood.

  • Parmesan Cheese - It may not be a home grown herb. But cheese croutons are a favorite by themselves or in combination with herbs.

  • Parsley - Not a lot of flavor. But, it adds color to the croutons. We use parsley in combination with other  herbs.

  • Basil - Try Basil croutons in Italian Wedding soup and Minestrone.

 


More Information:

More of our Recipes

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