Enjoy this crouton twist on a cold weather comfort food: grilled cheese croutons!
There are a few foods that I can, no matter the time of year, eat without any issues and grilled cheese is certainly one of them. It was definitely a college staple…when I could splurge on cheese I mean. But the combination of grilled cheese and tomato soup just does something for me. Can I get an amen? And now that I’m freezing all the time it’s fall I can enjoy as much soup as I want! Whenever I want!
But imagine my devastation {grilled cheese devastation is a thing. I promise} when I went to the bread bin the other day to make grilled cheese and all our bread was stale. Insert a sobbing emoji here. But when life hands you stale bread you make croutons, y’all. At least that’s what they say. Or whatever.
And seriously, croutons could not be easier. Cut your bread into chunks, toss them in melted butter…or olive oil if you’re feeling health conscious…and some herbs, and bake! Boom. Homemade croutons. I actually made two batches with all our stale bread and may or may not have eaten the non-grilled cheese batch before I was able to get pictures. They’re just so easy to grab out of the bowl as you walk by to do dishes or feed the dog or pretend to need something out of the cabinet. No shame.
Most of the grilled cheese “crouton” recipes on the internet consist of cutting a regular grilled cheese into crouton sized pieces which isn’t really what I had in mind while trying to revive my stale bread into some grilled cheesy goodness. Instead baking the croutons like normal and sprinkling cheese over them in the last 3 to 5 minutes gave me the exact kind of grilled cheese crouton I was going for.
Next time I might try slices of cheese instead of shredded but either way these are perfect on top of a bowl of tomato soup! I have a serious love for roasted tomato soup and so I’m definitely going to be trying this garlicky tomato soup from Brian at Krumpli asap. Because garlic. Or if you want a little kick go for this roasted red pepper and tomato soup from Byron at Pretty Practical Pantry.
What is your favorite cold weather soup?

Grilled Cheese Croutons
Enjoy this crouton twist on a cold weather comfort food: grilled cheese!
Ingredients
- 6 cups stale bread cut into half inch cubes
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
- Toss bread cubes in melted butter and garlic powder until evenly coated.
- Spread in an even layer on a lined baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes remove croutons from oven, sprinkle with cheese and bake for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and croutons are nicely browned.*
Notes
*Keep an eye on the croutons while the cheese is melting. They can go from perfect to burned in an instant!