These crunchy croutons made with only 3 simple ingredients in the air fryer. Seasoned with olive oil and ranch seasoning, they are the perfect addition to any homemade soup or salad.
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I love adding croutons to my soups and salads. They add a nice crunch, especially to creamy soups like cauliflower soup, tomato soup, or chowders.
Homemade croutons are easy to make, taste delicious and they are super cheap to make. You can make them in a variety of flavours to suit your taste, and they are a fantastic way to use up left over bits of bread.
They also have a much better texture than store-bought.
Once you see how quick and easy these air fried croutons are, you will probably never want to buy them again.
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Why We Love This Recipe
Simple Ingredients – All you need to make these air fried croutons is bread, olive oil and ranch seasoning. If you don’t have ranch seasoning you could even substitute Italian seasoning, or any other dip mix or powdered salad dressing.
It’s quick – This recipe takes less than 10 minutes to make, including cook time. Great for when you want some crunchy croutons for salad or soup and don’t have time to go to the store.
It’s inexpensive – Making homemade croutons is so much cheaper than buying them at the store. Because we encourage using leftover bits of stale bread it is a great way to use up things already in your kitchen.
Ingredients
You only need 3 ingredients to make these delicious, crunchy croutons.
- Bread – You can use any bread you like, but I find the texture of the croutons is best with a chewier bread like sourdough, French bread, or baguettes. However, they also work just fine with plain white bread if you choose.
- Olive oil – I like the flavour with extra virgin olive oil, but light will work as well. You could use melted butter if you prefer.
- Ranch seasoning mix – This is the ranch mix you’d use to make dip or salad dressing, often found in little envelopes near the rest of the salad dressing. If you don’t like ranch you can use any dip mix or salad dressing mix you like. It also works great with homemade ranch mix!
Pro Tip – Using bread that is slightly stale works better than using fresh, soft bread. The stale bread will dry out better making the croutons crunchier.
Instructions
Using a serrated knife, cut the bread into cubes. I generally like to slice them into approximately ¾ inch cubes, but you can make them any size you like.
Place the bread cubes in a medium size bowl, drizzle the olive oil over the cubes and then toss well to make sure all the cubes are coated. If you are using fresh bread you may need to add a bit more olive oil as the bread will absorb more.
Sprinkle the ranch seasoning overtop and toss to coat.
Place the bread cubes in a single layer in your air fryer basket and place the basket in the fryer.
Set the air fryer to 350°F for 5 minutes. At the half way mark shake the basket.
After 5 minutes check the croutons. They should be lightly golden and feel slightly crispy. If they are still soft, add another minute cook time.
When they are done, pour them onto a baking sheet to cool. They will continue to harden as they cool. Once cool, serve as desired.
Store cooled croutons in an air tight container at room temperature.
FAQS
Homemade croutons should last a couple weeks in an airtight container or ziplock bag if kept at room temperature.
Yes you can. Gluten free bread can have a different texture and moisture content than traditional wheat bread. I have found it often needs a little longer to crispy up so just check it after 5 minutes and add extra time in increments of 1 minute until they are golden and crispy.
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Printable Recipe
Air Fryer Ranch Croutons
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 Cups bread cubes 4-5 Slices
- 2 Tbsps Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Ranch seasoning mix
Instructions
- Using a serrated knife, slice the bread into cubes ½-3/4 inch in size.
- Place the cubes into a medium size bowl, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. If the bread is very soft it may absorb more oil, in which case you can drizzle a bit more to coat all of the bread.
- Add the ranch seasoning and toss to coat.
- Place the bread cubes into the air fryer basket in a single layer.
- Place the air fryer basket into the air fryer and set to 350°F for 5 minutes. Half way through shake the basket.
- After 5 minutes, check on the croutons. They should be lightly golden and crispy. If there are cubes that are still soft you can add a minute to the cook time.
- Once the croutons are finished cooking pour them onto a baking sheet to cool. They will continue to harden as they cool.
- Once completely cool, transfer to an air tight container. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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