The Easy Way To Give Croutons More Umami And Elevate All Your Salads

Making homemade croutons is one of the best ways to use stale bread. Simply coat your chunks of hardened ciabatta, baguette, or sourdough in a slick of oil and seasonings before baking on a sheet pan and tossing them into a green salad. An easy way to give your homespun croutons more umami flavor is to sprinkle an extra ingredient into your seasonings: black sesame seeds. This nutty addition will amp up the savory character of your croutons and lend them a wonderfully crisp exterior.

Black sesame seeds are commonly used in Chinese and Japanese cookery to boost a food's umami vibes. For instance, they're often toasted and used to coat sushi, lend texture to dipping sauces, and even imbue ice cream with a balancing savory note. Black sesame seeds are also combined with salt to create a condiment called goma-shio that's sprinkled over rice dishes and is a key ingredient in furikake seasoning. 

Coating your croutons in black sesame seeds instantly boosts their quality and gives them a fancier appearance. All you need to do is mix them into your oil and seasonings, such as garlic powder and salt, before adding in cubes of stale bread and giving everything a good toss (you may need to gently press the seeds into the sides of the bread to help them stick). Then, spread them out on a sheet pan and bake for around 15 minutes in a 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven, taking care to turn them over every few minutes.

If you can't find black sesame seeds, feel free to use the white sesame seeds instead. Just bear in mind that the black seeds have a more pronounced nuttiness than their white counterparts and have a crunchier texture. Croutons made with white sesame seeds won't have the same aesthetic contrast when it comes to their appearance, but their milder flavor does promise not to compete with other aromatic ingredients, such as the punchy flavors in these cheese and garlic croutons. Either way, sesame-coated croutons look stunning when paired with a leafy green salad and provide both textural complexity and a fried, buttery flavor.

An effortless way to make your croutons crisper is to tear your bread into messy, irregular chunks rather than identical cubes. This creates croutons with craggier edges that are crunchy and crisp. More tips for making the best croutons include spreading them out in a single layer on a baking sheet so they cook evenly and allowing them to fully cool before storing them away to prevent the risk of sogginess. Air frying your croutons versus baking them is another great tip because they'll crisp up in half the time, and you won't have to turn each one over individually; just give the entire basket a shake to guarantee every area of bread is exposed to the heat.