Torn Croutons Are Better Than Cut

Close your eyes and visualize salad. I realize that's absurdly vague—salad can be so many things—but that's the point. I'd bet that for many people, what comes to mind is a bowl of chopped romaine, dotted with cucumber or cherry tomatoes and a smattering of tidy cubed croutons. Your classic salad bar salad. A knee-jerk, throw-it-together quickie that restaurants across America offer to check a box.

This archetypal salad does its job. But it's also the reason too many people think croutons are simply little squares of crisp, golden bread, heavily seasoned with garlic, herbs and cheese. They can be so much more! Put down the knife—or the bag, if you're not already on the homemade crouton train. Erase cubes from your mind, embrace the tools nature gave you, and tear by hand. We learned the technique in Italy, where it's a cornerstone of classic panzanella, and haven't looked back since.

Ripping bread, rather than slicing it, exposes its gluten network (the visible, irregular texture of the torn crumb). After toasting, that uneven surface becomes the croutons’ crowning glory: more crunchy, craggy bits, and more nooks to catch pockets of dressing, herbs or cheese.

A cut crouton has six faces. A torn one has ... tons!

This technique works especially well with rustic loaves: country sourdoughs, rounds of miche, hearty ryes, the end of a baguette that sat on your counter too long and is now stale past the point of saving. Which brings me to another tip: Even bread that's too hard to tear can be rescued. Soak hunks of stale bread in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes, squeeze out as much moisture as possible, then break it apart into crouton-sized pieces. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast at 375°F until browned and crisp, stirring every 10 minutes or so. For fresher bread, same method, just skip bath time.

For a place to start, try our Calabrian-Style Tomato and Bread Salad. For a springtime riff on the Italian mainstay, look no further than Asparagus Panzanella with Parmesan, White Beans and Herbs. Or consider a soup, like Bread and Tomato Soup with Spinach and Parmesan. And, in the vein of rethinking salad archetypes, check out Pita, Chickpea and Herb Salad with Tahini Yogurt—it turns stale pita bread into a satisfying toasty salad, topped with warmed chickpeas and garlic-spiked yogurt.

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Ari Smolin

Ari Smolin writes and edits for Milk Street’s magazine and cookbooks. Before joining the team, she baked her way from Brooklyn to Los Angeles—laminating croissants before dawn, shepherding sourdough loaves by the hundreds, and discovering that stone-milled flour plus seasonal fruit is her happy place. She writes about whole-grain baking as well, most recently co-authoring “Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond.” You can find her fruit-and-grain escapades on Instagram @Ari.Smolin. Want to talk flour? Drop her a line at ari.smolin@gmail.com.