5 Ways to Use Croutons (Other Than in Salads)

Plenty of dishes besides salad can be enhanced by the crunch of croutons.

Celery Soup with Bacon Croutons
Photo: © John Kernick

Though salads are a great way to use up batches and batches of delicious, chewy, crispy croutons, there are other dishes that can benefit from them. Here are five great ways to use croutons.

Eggs

Stirring croutons right into soft, creamy scrambled eggs eliminates the need for a side of toast. Plus, soft-cooked eggs and croutons can transform stew.

Soup

Buttery croutons give creamy tomato soup some delicious texture. They're also wonderful on top of chilled potato soup. Or silky broccoli-spinach soup. Or really, any pureed soup to ever come out of your kitchen.

Fish

Fish is often topped with crunchy breadcrumbs, but croutons make this roasted halibut dish much more satisfying. They lend a welcome crisp bite to shrimp and cod stew, too.

Poultry

Plate boneless roast chicken on toasty herbed croutons to soak up the delicious juices. Or follow Ina Garten's lead and punch out seasoned puff pastry croutons to top a comforting chicken pot pie. Chef Paul Kahan pairs peasant bread croutons with Pekin duck breast.

Dry Aged Duck Breasts with Golden Beet Panzanella
© Antonis Achilleos

Stuffed tomatoes

These tomatoes are almost like inverted tuna sandwiches. They're stuffed with creamy tuna, mellow cannellini beans, and crunchy croutons.

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