Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons are made with minimal ingredients and they are super easy to make. Once you start crunching on these crispy croutons it’s hard to stop, especially when you’ve just pulled them out of the oven. Oh, and going after the golden, salty, nooch-y, garlicky crumbs on the baking sheet is an experience not to be missed.
In my 2-person-household, making croutons has been a great way to use bread that otherwise might go to waste. Another good use of bread that might otherwise go to waste is making Classic Muffin Tin Stuffing.
Feel free to hover over the Servings in the recipe card below to adjust the quantities if you have less leftover bread to make croutons with. One of the great things about making croutons is that you don’t have to be exact about the ingredients and they are likely to turn out great.
We love these Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons for:
- Snacking
- Salads, specifically Caesar salads sprinkled with Garlic Shake
- Adding to almost any soup (homemade or from the can)
Bread
You can use stale, older or fresh bread to make croutons. Stale or older bread tends to cook up a little more quickly, be sure to keep an eye on your croutons when baking. I recommend any kind of crusty bread, but I would not use soft sandwich bread for crouton making.
Cut the bread into approximately 1″ to 2″ cubes or rectangles. I am not very exact about this, my croutons are pretty rustic. Starting with bread that has already been sliced by the bakery makes cubing go quickly. Also, I use cooking shears or titanium scissors to cut the bread. You can make your cubes while watching Netflix if you prefer, I do.

Nooch
Unfortified Nutritional Yeast is often referred to as Nooch. This ingredient adds cheesy, nutty and umami to many kinds of vegan cheese, dishes, and sauces. I prefer unfortified because the fortified kind can taste synthetic and vitamin-y. Vegan recipes use Nooch a lot, just a few faves on this site include 5 Minute Garlic Shake, Green Cashew-Fu Ricotta, and Dreamy Cream Cheese.
Oil
I recommend a good high heat, high smoke point oil like non-virgin olive oil (giggle, giggle) or avocado oil.
If you want richer croutons the oil can be increased up to a 1/2 cup.
Salt
You might want to add more salt. Add more salt to taste, if desired.
Let’s make Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Next, combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss with hands until fully coated.
Transfer to 2 baking sheets (lined with a sil-mat or parchment paper, if desired). Evenly spread out the croutons.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, flipping and moving the croutons around on the pans after about 7 minutes and then returning to them to the oven. To avoid burning the croutons, keep an eye on them for the last few minutes of baking because baking times will vary based on size, type of bread, age of bread and amount of oil.


Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons
Equipment
- oven
- baking sheets
- sil-mat or parchment paper (optional)
Ingredients
- 8 cups cubed crusty bread I use any crusty bread, but I don't think soft sandwich stuff makes very good croutons
- 1/2 cup unfortified nutritional yeast
- 3 TBSP olive oil (non-virgin) or avocado oil a high smoke point oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste, if desired) fine
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° degrees F.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
- Toss with hands until fully coated.
- Transfer to 2 baking sheets (lined with a sil-mat or parchment paper, if desired). Evenly spread out the croutons.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, flipping and moving the croutons around on the pans after about 7 minutes and then returning to them to the oven. To avoid burning the croutons, watch them and check them during the last few minutes of baking because baking times will vary based on size, type of bread, age or bread and amount of oil.
Notes
Nutrition
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Did you make these Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons?
What kind of bread did you use? How did they turn out? Any alterations? How did you enjoy these croutons – snack, salad, soup or some other way? Tell me about it in the comments below.
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