Vegan croutons in the air fryer or oven

Don’t let yesterday’s bread go to waste. Repurpose it into vegan croutons made in the air fryer for a crunchy & inviting salad topper.

We’re in the heyday of salads. Not only is the farmers market popping with the season’s best produce, the gardens of our friends and family are overflowing.

(David and I don’t garden. We have loads of deer, raccoons, squirrels, and groundhogs as neighbors. So our past gardening efforts have been brief and literally fruitless.)

Lucky for us, we’ve been getting unexpected but very welcome deliveries of things like squash blossoms, kale, and tomatoes from loved ones who have an overabundance. (Plus, green tomatoes too! Perfect for vegan fried green tomatoes in the air fryer!)

We have been eating salads aplenty, even more so than usual.

As I mentioned in my post on how to make salads you’ll crave, the key to a really satisfying salad is having a variety of textures and flavors, plus at least one element that will keep you full.

One of my favorite salad toppers is croutons.

Sure, you could buy boxed croutons, but why? The homemade version is so much more delicious and takes next to no work at all, especially with the aid of an air fryer.

Unlike store-bought croutons that are all crunch, homemade croutons have some give. You can break through the crackling exterior and get to a hint of softness underneath.

They’re browned around the edges and crisp enough to add a satisfying texture. But they can still be pierced with a fork on your way to the avocado.

Plus, making croutons at home is a great way of repurposing leftover bread. Our grocery store has a stellar bakery, and we’re there multiple times a week buying a baguette made fresh that day.

The long, crusty bread is used for classic bruschetta appetizer, roasted asparagus bruschetta, slathering with homemade hummus, or dunking into olive oil and vinegar.

However, we are just a household of two humans. So despite how much more delicious fresh bread makes a meal, we always have bread left over. By repurposing it into homemade croutons, nothing goes to waste.

Air fry or roast in the oven

Before I got an air fryer back in December, I always made these croutons in the oven. I’d simply put some parchment paper on a baking sheet, pop it in the oven, flip once, and done.

(You can find oven directions in the notes of the recipe below.)

Air frying croutons is even less work. No pre-heating or parchment necessary. Just throw the cubes into the air fryer basket. And you’ll have hot croutons for your salad in five minutes.

They are flavored with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. That makes them an easy addition to almost any salad. They’d be perfect in a caprese salad while summer is still here.

And once cold weather comes, throw them in creamy vegan tomato soup…

These homemade vegan croutons can also stand up to a kale salad or vegan chef salad without any trouble.

I like to add a drizzle of lemon tahini dressing (pictured on the salads in this post), ranch dressing, or creamy cashew dressing to have a mixture of something velvety with something crisp.

Vegan croutons - baked or air fried

Don't let yesterday's bread go to waste! Repurpose it into croutons. These flavorful, crisp bites add a delicious crunch to lunch. Air fry them or roast in the oven! (Oven directions are in the notes.) Makes 2 cups croutons.

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: air fryer, dairy free, side

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 30kcal

Author: Cadry Nelson

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 heaping cups cubed baguette or your preferred bread, cut in 1 inch pieces*
• ▢ 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
• ▢ Pinch salt & pepper

Instructions

• ▢
  Put cubed baguette into a large mixing bowl. Evenly drizzle extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice across the bread. Then sprinkle on dried oregano, dried basil, garlic granules, salt, and pepper.
• ▢
  Use your hands to toss the cubed bread, getting everything evenly coated, and making sure the spices are on the bread instead of stuck on the sides of the bowl.
• ▢
  Put the bread into the air fryer basket. Cook at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, stopping once or twice to shake the basket.
• ▢
  Serve on top of your favorite salad.

Notes

*I like to slice the baguette in even one inch slices, and then cut those slices into quarters. That will basically give you the size that you need.

No air fryer? No problem. These croutons can be made in the oven instead. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Complete steps one and two. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, and lay the cubed bread evenly across it. Bake for 10 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

For either method, it's good to keep an eye on the croutons during the last couple minutes to make sure they don't get too brown. Depending on the size of cubes, they might need to cook a longer or shorter amount of time.

Nutrition

Calories: 30kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 46mg | Potassium: 8mg | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Tried this recipe?Tag @cadryskitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #cadryskitchen!