The best thing to do with day-old or stale focaccia bread? Learn how to make homemade focaccia croutons! I love using these homemade focaccia croutons in chicken Caesar salad, but they're also so good to add some crunch to a warm bowl of creamy tomato soup.
As much as I love making homemade focaccia, unfortunately it's one of those breads that's best eaten same-day. This means finding things to do with any leftover focaccia so it doesn't go to waste. Homemade croutons are the perfect way to give slightly stale focaccia a second life.
While you can make croutons from any type of bread (my soft-baked homemade ciabatta is also a great pick!), focaccia is one of the easiest breads to use since it bakes in a nice flat sheet. So easy to cut into cubes. Focaccia is also an oily, salty bread by default, already well primed to turn into deliciously crisp, crunchy croutons.
So the next time you find yourself with leftover focaccia, don't throw it away. Turn it into croutons! You'll be glad you did.
Ingredient Notes
Here are the ingredients that you'll need to make these focaccia croutons! See recipe card for quantities.
Focaccia is already pretty oily, so you don't need much extra oil to turn it into croutons. You just need a little bit to help the herbs and seasonings stick. You can also use olive oil spray if you prefer.
If you're making homemade focaccia from scratch with the intent of making croutons, you can add the dried herbs right to the top of the focaccia dough before baking. I like to use Italian flavors like dried oregano, dried basil, and dried rosemary which go really well with a Caesar salad or tomato soup.
Pro-tip: Dried rosemary leaves are big and pointy. Pinch and crush them between your fingers as you add them just to break them up a little.
Other Focaccia Crouton Seasonings: Dried thyme, garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast, seasoned salt, tomato powder. You can also use blends like garam masala, Old Bay, or Everything Bagel Seasoning (pulse it in a spice grinder to turn it into a powder first). If using a store-bought seasoning blend, check the ingredients; if salt is high up on the list, you may not want to add more salt to your croutons.
How to Make Focaccia Croutons
This is one of those so-simple-it-hardly-needs-a-recipe recipes. It's super easy to customize to your tastes, and to scale up and down.
Depending on the moisture content of your particular focaccia and how salty it is, you may need to adjust the ingredient quantities, seasonings, and timing of the recipe. The power is in your hands!
You don't need to be super precise with your measuring; the only ingredient to be extra cautious with is the salt. It's very easy to end up with overly salty focaccia, so definitely use a less-is-more approach if you're making any adjustments.
A bite-sized cube of soft bread is very different from a bite-sized cube of hard bread. When you cut the focaccia into cubes, cut them slightly smaller than you think they should be!
Drizzle the oil over the bread cubes instead of pouring it in all at once. It's almost impossible to get a truly even coating of oil, but you don't want the oil to all to absorb into one or two focaccia cubes.
If you want to be particular about it, drizzle half the olive oil in and give the cubes a toss, then drizzle in the rest. You can always sprinkle in more herbs if you think they're needed.
If there's any oil and seasonings left in the bowl, scrape them out over the croutons on the pan.
♨️ Keeping Focaccia Croutons Crispy
Depending on how much moisture was still in the bread and how much oil you've added, it may take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours for the focaccia croutons to dry out entirely in the oven.
Make sure you give them enough space so the evaporating steam isn't getting trapped by neighboring croutons. The more crowded your sheet pan is, the longer it will take the focaccia croutons to dry out.
Shake the pan and use a pair of tongs to stir and flip the focaccia croutons every 15-20 minutes to help them dry evenly.
Don't worry about flipping every crouton every single time. If you don't flip one the first time, you'll probably get it the next time you stir. They will dry out even if you don't flip them at all. The stirring just helps speed up the process a bit.
This is an easy-breezy low effort recipe. No need to stress yourself out.
The best way to tell when focaccia croutons are done is to taste them — BE CAREFUL, they are hot!
Take one crouton off the sheet pan and take a bite. The outside will dry before the inside, so pay attention to how the center of the crouton feels as you bite through.
If it still feels soft or chewy in the center or you're able to tear the crouton in half, the croutons need more time in the oven. A fully dried crouton will crunch and shatter when you bite it, all the way down to the center.
If you're not sure if the croutons are done, give them another 10-15 minutes in the oven. The temperature is so low, they're not at risk of burning. You could even turn the oven off and leave the croutons in there as it cools for a long, slow drying period.
Avoid Burning Your Croutons: Use an Oven Thermometer
Most ovens don't run at the temperature they say. Mine is a full 50 degrees off! I know this because I have an oven thermometer.
Croutons need to be dried at a very low temperature. If your oven runs hot, you'll end up with toasted or slightly burnt croutons. If it runs cold, it'll take longer for them to dry. Using an oven thermometer to know what the actual temperature is inside your oven will help you get the temp just right.
This is the oven thermometer I use. It has a large dial which makes it easy to see in a dark oven.
👩🏻🍳 Practical Tips & Recipe Notes
- To keep homemade croutons crispy, it is super important that they are completely dry inside. A shallow sheet pan with plenty of space will help these focaccia croutons dry quickly. Don't be afraid of giving them extra time in the oven if you aren't sure. It's a low temperature, they won't burn! Store them in an airtight container with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture so they stay crisp.
- No, croutons are not "just stale bread". Though technically as soon as any bread is baked and cooled, the staling process begins, what we think of as "stale" bread has a dry, hard, slightly chewy texture to it due the the way the starches in the bread break down as the bread ages. By speeding up the process of drying out the bread we're able to avoid the unpleasant flavors and textures of truly stale bread to end up with tasty, crunchy croutons that are dried throughout. Using "stale" focaccia that's a day or two old to make croutons means the bread has already lost some of its natural moisture to evaporation and will cut down the amount of time it needs in the oven to dry out.
- Got frozen bread lingering in your freezer? Turn it into croutons! Let it defrost on the counter first, then cube it up and proceed with the recipe as written.
📖 Recipe
Focaccia Croutons
Recipe Notes
- If using other seasonings, aim for about 2-2½ teaspoons total. Different seasoning blends have different intensities, adjust accordingly!
- Once your focaccia croutons are fully dried out and cooled, store them in an airtight container; you may find tucking a paper towel inside helps absorb any excess moisture. Focaccia croutons can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for two to three weeks. You can also refrigerate them or freeze them for up to 3 months. If your croutons seem to be a bit soggy after a day or two in storage, they probably weren't fully dry when you took them out of the oven or the container wasn't fully sealed. Crisp them back up in the oven at 350°F for a few minutes before using them.
Ingredients
- 4 cups day-old focaccia (about 7 ounces, cut into 1" cubes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or use olive oil spray)
- 1 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much of any other type of salt)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Place cubed focaccia in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil, dried herbs, and salt. Toss and stir to combine until all the pieces are somewhat evenly coated.
- Arrange the cubed focaccia in an even layer on a shallow, rimmed sheet pan. Give them a bit of breathing room so they're not all pressed up against each other.
- Place the sheet pan in the oven and leave the croutons to dry. Stir or shake the pan every 15-20 minutes to help them dry evenly. This can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the moisture content of the bread, how dry it was to start with, and how much oil it absorbed.
- To test a crouton for doneness, remove one from the pan and let it cool slightly. Bite into it. When the center is completely dry and crispy, your focaccia croutons are done.
- Let croutons cool completely before storing. Store in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks.
David Thompson says
I make a lot of focaccia and this was a perfect way to use the leftover portions. It’s so good that I will make croutons as part of my holiday gift baskets.