Use up your stale bread

Croutons are yummy pieces of fried or tasted bread, normally cubed and seasoned. They're great for adding flavour and texture to salads, or as an accompaniment to soups, or even as a snack. 

Did you know? The word crouton comes from the French 'Croute', meaning crust.

This easy recipe takes less than 8 minutes to make in the air fryer, are healthier as they're not deep fried and help save food waste by using up your stale bread.

Ingredients

• Any stale bread you have
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Any other seasonings of your choice

Method

1. Take a loaf of bread that is passed its best, and a bit stale, but not mouldy. 

2. Dice it with a knife or pull apart into small pieces, around 2cm, making sure they're all roughly the same size. 

3. Place them in a bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (or vegetable oil if you have it), a pinch of salt, grind of pepper and a seasoning of your choice. We used garlic. 

4. Place into your air fryer and bake for 8 minutes. Don't have an air fryer? Put a baking tray of diced bread on the bottom shelf of the oven and cook something else on the top shelf to save energy. Or toast the bread slices on both sides before chopping, adding to a bowl and mixing with your seasoning.

5. If you have more bread than your standard loaf, complete the cooking in two batches – no one wants an anaemic or soggy croutons.

6. Stop after 4 minutes and shake the pan.

7. After 8 minutes, you'll have perfect golden crispy croutons!

Serving suggestion: My favourite way to eat them is in a Caesar salad which is a classic. Toss Caesar dressing in with chunky sliced lettuce, finish with garlic croutons and some cheese.

Shelf life and storage: These croutons do not need to be refrigerated, store covered and at an ambient temperature for at least a week (if they last that long). 

Hungry for more? Check out our other time and energy-saving recipes.