Julia Child's Clever Technique For The Crispiest Soup Croutons

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Hailed as one of the first beloved celebrity chefs, Julia Child toiled for years over a multi-volume cookbook that introduced American home cooks to the art of French cooking. It was in this very cookbook, "Mastering the art of French Cooking," that chef Child provided a clever technique for the crispiest soup croutons. In an entry for garnishes for onion soup, chef Child instructs cooks to bake cubes of freshly cut French bread in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for half an hour. 

Child's clever and controversial technique for crisping the croutons is applying butter or olive oil halfway through their stint in the oven. This is in contrast to conventional crouton recipes that toss bread in oil or butter before baking them at much higher temperatures for less time. The low-and-slow baking period sans fat really helps the croutons dry out and become more porous so that when you baste them, they'll better absorb the oil. Consequently, they'll be more flavorful and even crispier. You're essentially toasting them for 15 minutes and then oil roasting them for another 15 minutes.

An earthy olive oil like this California Olive Ranch brand will bring a richness to croutons, but Child also recommends swapping oil for beef drippings for the ultimate umami boost. If you haven't recently made beef stock or any beef dish that supplies drippings, you could also buy beef tallow, like this South Chicago Packing Wagyu beef tallow.

Julia Child's low, slow, and dry baking technique will make croutons extra crispy, flavorful, and even more capable of soaking up the soup that you add them to. But we've got some tips of our own to supplement her approach. Child uses French bread for her croutons, which exemplify the ideal sturdy type of bread we recommend for the best croutons, but sourdough and pumpernickel are also great options.

Another tip is to ensure that the croutons are the same size and that you bake them in an even layer, taking care not to crowd the pan. Seasoning croutons can and should include more than just oil. So when you baste the croutons halfway through the bake, you can also sprinkle on fresh herbs, spices, or powdered aromatics.

Child uses the croutons for onion soup, which also layers on melted cheese. But croutons are a delicious garnish for many other types of soups. They'd be the crunchy contrast that any creamy soup needs, like this silky cream of celery soup or this easy roasted butternut squash soup. Because croutons are a key component in Caesar salads, we recommend using anchovy oil as a tasty upgrade to your next batch. Instead of beef drippings, you can use the residual oil from these Cento canned oil-packed anchovies for a comparable umami burst.