Although there are many vegan bread types, I used to like Dave's Bread to make my oil-free crispy garlic croutons recipe. Recently, though, Dave's Bread was purchased from a secondary company and began adding oil to the recipe. So, I had to change my garlic crouton recipe to maintain my oil-free crispy garlic crouton recipe.
We often have a large salad for dinner, and my family loves the crunch of a good crouton.
Store-bought croutons, however, are full of oils and other unnecessary ingredients. To keep it healthier and cleaner, I make my own garlic croutons. Not only is making garlic croutons easy, making them oil-free is simple.
For instance, if you think about a toaster, which doesn't use oil to toast your bread, a good non-stick pan works the same way.
WHAT STORE-BOUGHT BREADS ARE OIL-FREE?
Even though most bread is vegan or plant-based, many contain oil and unnecessary ingredients. All bread, despite what some believe, is processed to some degree.
Of course, the goal is to find a bread with little ingredients without oil or added fats—the cleaner the bread, the better the bead.
Of course, you can always make your own bread, but if you are looking for store-bought oil-free bread, here are some of my suggestions:
- Life Ezekiel Bread: 4:0 slices of bread, English muffins, and tortillas
- Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Tuscan Pane
- Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pita Pockets
- Organic Whole Wheat Vermont Company
GLUTEN-FREE OPTIONS:
- Rudi's Organic Bread (some types contain oil, so please read the label)
- New Grain's Bakery
- Engine 2 (only sold at Whole Foods)
- Ener-G
TRICKS TO MAKING HOMEMADE GARLIC CROUTONS-CRISPY AND OIL-FREE
First and foremost, I used frozen bread. This way, as it thaws in the pan, it cooks slowly and toasts evenly. Secondly, I used aquafaba (chickpea liquid) and brushed the frozen bread before cutting it.
Then, I cut the bread into equal-sized cubes, tossed it with garlic powder, onion powder, and garlic salt.
The next step is to cook the garlic croutons in a non-stick pan on low, flipping using a spatula until all the croutons are crispy and crunchy.
Add this oil-free crispy garlic croutons recipe to any salad or soup for a little crunch without the oil and fat.
Oil-FREE CRISPY GARLIC CROUTONS GO GREAT WITH:
- Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Skinny Vegan Rainbow Salad
- Skinny Cream of Tomato Soup
- Hungarian Mushroom Soup
- Very Veggie and Bean Soup
- Harvest Salad
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Potato Leek Soup
- Vegan Carrot Soup
- Vegetable Barley Soup
Oil-Free Crispy Garlic Croutons
Ingredients
- 4 slices Oil-free Multi-grain bread or any bread of choice FROZEN; gluten-free bread also works
- ¼ cup aquafaba chickpea fluid or almond milk will work as well
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 3 teaspoons garlic salt
- 2 cloves minced fresh garlic
Instructions
- Freeze four pieces of bread
- Place aquafaba in a small shallow bowl and use a basting brush to brush both sides of each piece of frozen bread.
- Cut each piece of bread (while frozen) into strips and then equal sized ½ inch cubes, or smaller, depending on what size you prefer
- Place damp, frozen bread cubes in a large ziplock bag or bowl.
- Combine seasonings, and add slowly to bag bread and shaking gently
- In a Non-Stick Pan for Oil-Free Cooking, add fresh minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add all bread cubes, and cook on low.
- Allow the croutons to cook for several minutes before flipping with a spatula.
- Continue to cook until crispy and crunchy.
- Remove from heat.
- Allow cooling
- Move to a bowl for serving; leave uncovered until serving.
- *Do not cover; the croutons will get moist in a covered container and get mushy. If you have leftovers (which never happens at my house), you can cover them later, and the croutons have been left out for an hour or so.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Ashley
I had made some homemade vegan bread and then used this recipe as a guide to crisp up the cubes for a salad wrap. Thanks!
Kathy Carmichael
Ashley, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad it worked. You should join my facebook recipe share group page and post that recipe. I know everyone would love a good homemade bread recipe.