Mom’s Ghee Roasted Croutons
Ghee Roasted Herbed Croutons
Growing up in India, croutons weren’t a thing - they weren’t sold in packets and readily available to consume. But when you ate out and ordered tomato soup, they would serve it with ‘toast’ or croutons. My sister and I loved it so much that our parents would always preemptively ask for extra toast.
To recreate the restaurant experience at home, whenever there was tomato soup on the menu, my mum would roast leftover cubed bread on stove top with Ghee and season with salt and pepper. They were so delicious, that my sister and I would sneak in and nibble while mummy would make batches of them on her small iron skillet. Obviously we’d barely have any left by dinner time to pair with soup and our parents would give away their share to the two of us - parents and their big and small sacrifices 💕
Looking back, Mum’s use of ghee to make homemade croutons was brilliant. Not only does Ghee impart a nice nutty flavor, adding Ghee to high carbohydrate foods such as breads, rotis, parathas lowers the glycemic load thereby preventing blood sugar levels from spiking, which translates to better hormonal balance and health. So anytime someone says I am on a diet and avoid ghee on their roti, they are in fact worsening their diet. Moral of the story - don’t skip or skimp on ghee, friends. Sorry, I tend to digress heheh.
I took the ghee idea from Mum and added some herbs to change things up a bit but still preserve the yumminess of homemade croutons. You are going to munch on them just like me and sis did, I promise - just make sure you save some for dinner first 😊.
Chopped Parsley, Melted Ghee & Cubed Bread
Makes 4 cups
YOU WILL NEED
4 cups chopped, cubed bread
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup melted ghee
1/2 tsp finely crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Place the cubed bread in a large bowl, add finely chopped parsely, add melted ghee, black pepper and salt. Toss well to coat.
Scatter the bread onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the bread cubes are golden, flipping the crumbs occasionally.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Store in an airtight container in a cool place, for up to 5 weeks.
Chopped Parsley
Ghee, Parsley & Cubed Bread
Tips
Croutons are perfect excuse to use up bread not in their prime and those pesky loaf ends. #zerofoodwaste
You can use gluten-free bread to make the croutons GF friendly.
To change things up, you can also use herbs like basil, rosemary or thyme, in place of parsley.
Substitutions
Fresh Parsley - If you don’t have fresh herb on hand, use one teaspoon of dried herbs to one tablespoon of fresh herbs. You can also use dried basil in place of parsley.
Ghee - replace with equal amounts of extra virgin olive oil.
Ghee Roasted Herbed Homemade Croutons
Croutons with Tomato Soup