Homemade Vegan Croutons
Homemade vegan croutons are buttery and crunchy with a savory flavor. They’re perfect for anyone with a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance and make a delicious topper for salads, soups, and more.
I’m not even sure if you can buy dairy-free store-bought croutons, but luckily homemade croutons are incredibly easy to make.
Plus they’re a great way to reduce food waste because they work best with leftover stale bread, also called day-old bread.
Ingredients
- Vegan butter or oil – such as avocado oil or olive oil. This helps the seasonings stick to the croutons.
- Sourdough bread – you can use any loaf of bread on hand, but croutons work best with leftover bread that’s slightly stale and isn’t super fresh. If you’re using fresh bread, you’ll need to bake the croutons a little longer to dry them out.
- Seasonings – nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder.
- Kosher salt and black pepper – to taste.
How to Make Vegan Croutons
Step 1. Use a serrated knife to make bread cubes. Add the cut bread to a large bowl and toss with vegan butter or a little olive oil/avocado oil and the seasonings.
Step 2. Arrange the seasoned bread pieces in a single layer on a large baking sheet without parchment paper. Bake until golden brown and have reached your desired level of crunchiness. They’ll continue to crisp up as they cool.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make these easy vegan croutons using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- Make gluten-free croutons – use your favorite gluten-free bread.
- Variations – use any seasonings of your choice. Use different flavors based on what you’re serving it with.
How to Store
Let the leftover croutons cool completely, then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Helpful Tips
Avoid using parchment paper. Baking the croutons directly on the baking tray without parchment paper helps to crisp the edges of the cubed bread which yields the crispiest croutons.
Have a toaster oven? A quicker method is to toast them at level 3 for 2 rounds.
No recipe needed. Once you get the method down, you don’t need to measure anything. Just cut any amount of bread you want to use, toss with a little oil or vegan butter, season to taste, and toast until they’ve reached your desired crunchiness.
More Vegan Condiments
Vegan Croutons
Ingredients
- 4 cups cubed bread
- 3 tablespoons melted vegan butter, avocado oil, or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- couple cracks freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Use a serrated knife to make bread cubes. Add the cut bread to a large bowl and toss with vegan butter or a little olive oil/avocado oil and the seasonings.
- Arrange the seasoned bread pieces in a single layer on a large baking sheet without parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. They'll continue to crisp up as they cool.