Name: Air Fryer Croutons
Prep time: 4 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: ¼ of a large loaf (6oz or 170 grams) bread (, about 4 slices); 2 tablespoons olive oil (, or 1½ tablespoons of aquafaba for oil-free); ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (, plus a pinch more if you like an extra peppery flavour)

Air Fryer Croutons are quick, easy, and the perfect way to use up stale or leftover bread. All you need is a little olive oil (or aquafaba for oil-free croutons), plus some salt and pepper, to make crispy, golden croutons in less than 10 minutes! No air fryer? Make my oven-baked vegan croutons instead!

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Any soup or salad can be made better with a generous tumble of crispy crunchy air fryer croutons and they are ridiculouly quick and easy to make. You can have a batch ready in about 10 minutes, start to finish, and they are so much nicer than anything you can buy at the store.

Put them in airtight containers (if you can resist eating them straight off the baking sheet!) and they last about a month so you can have them on hand to snack on or add to meals.

You can make my basic air fryer croutons recipe with olive oil, salt and pepper, or customize them with extra seasonings. I give lots of flavour ideas below.

Mel x

🤍 WHY YOU'LL LOVE MY AIR FRYER CROUTONS RECIPE

Really quick and easy. They can be prepped and ready in less than 10 minutes.
Quicker than baking croutons in an oven.
No need to turn the oven on. Your air fryer will make them extra crispy!
A great way to reduce food waste. Use any stale bread that you would otherwise throw out.
They taste way better than store-bought croutons!
They elevate any salad or creamy soup.
Delicious for snacking on by the handful.

Ingredients

Here is what you need to make homemade air fryer croutons:

Bread - Stale bread makes better croutons than fresh bread. You can use white bread, whole wheat bread, rye bread, baguette, ciabatta, or sourdough bread. Even burger buns, hot dog buns, cornbread, leftover dinner rolls, or bagels can be made into croutons!
Oil - I think the best oil to use for croutons is extra virgin olive oil because it gives them a really rich flavour. Regular olive oil or avocado oil works well, too and if you happen to have some leftover garlic butter in the fridge that makes really amazing croutons!
Seasoning - A generous amount of salt and black pepper for flavour.

Flavour Variations

Feel free to customize your air fryer croutons. You can add pretty much any dry seasonings, herbs, or spices to them. Here are some ideas:

Cheesy croutons - A dusting of nutritional yeast makes for deliciously cheesy, savoury dairy-free croutons. Amazing on my vegan potato soup!
Cheese & onion croutons- Add a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast and 1 to 2 teaspoons of onion powder.
Garlic croutons - There are a few ways to do this. You can just add some garlic powder. 1 to 2 teaspoons. Or you can toss your bread cubes in vegan garlic butter instead of the oil.
Onion croutons - Add a generous amount of onion powder, 2 to 3 teaspoons.
Garlic & rosemary croutons - Use 1 to 2 teaspoons of garlic powder and 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary.
Herby croutons - Use your favourite dried herbs. Rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, sage, Italian seasoning, Italian herbs and Herbs de Provence are ones I love to use. 2 to 3 teaspoons should be enough.
Spicy croutons - Chili powder, smoked paprika or cayenne pepper for a delicious spicy hit. 1 to 2 teaspoons should be sufficient, depending on how spicy you want them.
Chili croutons - Use chili oil instead of the olive oil for spicy flavour that will seep right into those little bread pockets, or sprinkle over some chili flakes or chili powder when tossing them.
Buttery croutons - Use vegan butter instead of the olive oil for delicious buttery-tasting vegan croutons.

Recipe

Air Fryer Croutons

Author: Melanie McDonald

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PREP 4

COOK TIME 6

Total 10

SERVINGS cups

Ingredients

▢ ¼ of a large loaf (6oz or 170 grams) bread , about 4 slices
▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil , or 1½ tablespoons of aquafaba for oil-free
▢ ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper , plus a pinch more if you like an extra peppery flavour

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT

Air Fryer

INSTRUCTIONS

▢
Cut or tear the bread into chunky bite-sized pieces.
▢
Put the cubes of bread in a large bowl then drizzle over the oil (or aquafaba) and sprinkle over the salt and pepper. Add any extra optional seasoning (there are lots of ideas in my post above), then using your hands, toss the cubes of bread so they are all coated in oil and seasonings.
▢
Spread the cubes out into a single layer in your air fryer basket making sure there is a little room around each cube. Don't crowd them.
▢
Air fry them at 400°F (200°C) for about 6 minutes, giving them a good shake halfway. All air fryers are different so they might need a minute or two more or less. You will need to keep an eye on them. Once done, they should be golden, completely dried out and crispy.
▢
Turn off the air fryer and let the croutons cool in the air fryer basket before transferring to an airtight container. I find they keep best in glass jars.

NOTES

Store air fryer croutons in an airtight container at room temperature. They will last for about a month. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat them from frozen for a few minutes in your air fryer to restore their crunch.