Easy Outback Croutons

Submitted by ryseone

"Hi there folks. I used to be a hot-side and cold-side prep cook for Outback and I never signed a confidentiality agreement. Their loss is now your gain. I know all the recipe cards--you will, however, have to break some of them down. I will be making random posts revealing all the tricks. Let me know how you feel about it"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 3
• Yields: 10 salads
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 1 loaf bread
• 1 lb butter
• 1⁄4 cup minced garlic

directions

1. Take any amount of bread. Get an electric bread knife and then you can cut three rows one way four rows another. Let sit in open air overnight--the more stale they get the better to cook.
2. Take a cookie sheet and evenly spread over so that none overlap.
3. Heat oven to 250°. Place in oven for 30-45 minutes. They should have a yellow tint all the way through. Some will burn on edges. Shake cookie sheet to check evenness.
4. Take 1 lb of butter and melt to mayo consistency--no more, no less--this is very important! Add to 1/2 cup of house seasoning.
5. House seasoning from Outback is mostly paprika, dash of salt, some onion powder and garlic powder and a little bit of cayenne pepper.
6. Then mince 1/4 cup garlic. The easy way is to buy cloves that are skinned and use a cheese shredder blade so that its flaky.
7. Mix together in melted butter.
8. Let crouton bread get room temperature and mix butter and toasted bread gently and evenly coat. Then stick it back in the oven at 275°F Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until most butter is cooked. It will always look like it is wet until it cools down for 20 minutes. Shake cookie sheet to see that it evenly coats.

Reviews

[bethanyr25alias]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! These (if you follow the recipe) are identical. I worked with a guy that used to be km at outback and all he would tell me was you just cook them in lots of butter. Though true, much was lacking from his instructions. I've made these three times already. And, if you wish you can make them and store them in ziplock bags. Do not refrigerate, they will get soggy. If you make these make extra, people start snacking on them as they are addicting. I would like to say to "chefyeahright" your review is disrespectful. You say you follow the recipe to the letter and then say you tweaked it and made them a second time letting them get stale first. His very first instruction tells you to leave them out overnight, the staler the better. You should remove your review or change your star rating as you did not follow instruction.<br/>Thanks again cold prep guy! My two favorites from outback are the croutons and the ranch dressing. I'm headed out now to buy buttermilk. I'll be sure to rate your dressing as well, but reading it I can tell it won't disappoint like most of the copycat recipes for outback ranch.

 

[chefyeahright]

I followed recipe exactly...nothing like Outbacks,which i love. That first thing in the oven is too much. It leaves the final recipe croutons as hard as store bought. I did tweak it a second time and let the bread get stale at room temp and it worked good.

 

[AQueen]

Five stars for the technique alone. Now that I know how to get crunchy flavorful croutons I can play with oil/butter seasonings to meet my families likes and dislikes. I followed the recipe, only halved it as I had a stale asiago cheese demi-loaf to use up. My spice mix was half paprika and then the other half was equal parts of the rest. Croutons really don't look done in the end but I went along with it and I am quite pleased with the results. We eat garden salads just about every night and often times for lunch as well. We like croutons. I can't see why I would ever throw out old bread again. Thanks for skipping the confidentiality agreement and posting this.

 

[VikingJuice]

Thanks for publishing this. Your recipe here is the best. First time I had these croutons was in a little restaurant in the Ozarks years ago. Then I went to Outback and they had the same ones. Now can you give us the Ceasar Salad Dressing Recipe please? Thanks Again and I hope you are in a great job somewhere cooking.

 

[capt_tripp86]

These were awesome! I made these the other night specifically for my sister who came to dinner and loves fresh croutons. I had made a fresh baguette the night before and cut it up and let it dry out overnight. Followed the recipe exactly, except I didn't have onion powder so I used onion salt and omitted regular salt. I used 1/4 c. paprika and made combo 1/4 c. of the rest. Everyone raved about them, especially my sister. She took the rest of them home with her. She kept asking for the recipe, but since she'd probably freak out about the amount of butter, I'm going to see if I can modify them by substituting olive oil before I do. But personally I wouldn't change a thing. Thanx so much Ryseone for the recipe. Keep 'em coming!