How to Make Homemade Croutons, Wontons, and Tortilla Chips
Making crispy fun toppings for salads, soups, and more in minutes! If you’re looking to add a little crunch and a lot of flavor to your meals, homemade croutons, wontons, and tortilla chips are the way to go!
They’re quick, easy, and way more fun (and tastier!) than store bought. Whether you’re topping a fresh salad, dunking into a bowl of soup, or layering your next taco night or tortilla soup, these homemade favorites will take your everyday dishes to the next level.
Homemade Croutons – Perfect for tossing into Caesar salads, garden salads, or even serving as a crunchy topping for soup. Just cube up some day-old bread, drizzle with olive oil and seasoning, and bake until golden. The smell alone will make you hungry! A perfect item to munch on when your snack cabinet is empty.
Crispy Wontons – Fry or bake them, and you’ll have the ultimate soup topper or party snack. They’re light, airy, and perfectly crunchy. Dip them in sauce, float them in chicken soup, or crumble them over an Asian-inspired salad.
Tortilla Chips – Nothing beats a warm tortilla chips, perfect for dipping into Salsa, Guacamole, and serving with this Taco Dip.
One of my favorite recipes to make with tortillas is these tortilla “empanadas.” I make them with beef and cheese, and often add black beans and sweet potatoes with taco seasoning, they’re so yummy! The possibilities are endless, and it’s super easy shortcut recipe. Other flavor options are chicken and spinach, ham and cheese, and pork with salsa verde.
The best part?
All three are ready in minutes and can be customized with your favorite seasonings and spices. Think garlic and parmesan croutons, sesame wontons, or tortillas flavored with herbs or cinnamon sugar. Once you start making these at home, you’ll wonder why you ever bought them pre-packaged.
So grab some pantry staples, turn on your oven or skillet, and get ready to crunch, munch, and enjoy homemade croutons, wontons, and tortillas. These little bites of joy will make your salads, soups, and dinners a whole lot more exciting!
There are three ways to cook them, bake, fry or air fry. You choose what method you’d like and whip up some yumminess in minutes.
I often make croutons for salads and get asked, what brand are these, they are way better than the ones I buy… so funny. It’s because they are homemade!
And be sure to check out my BEST TIP for toasting bread, old bread, stale bread, just so-so bread…. this tip is GENIUS!
For recipes on making bread, look here, here, and here… and make some of this if you have extra bread!
Speaking of wontons and tortillas- you have to try these.
- Tortilla Empanadas– one of my favorite go-to quick, easy meals my family devours!
- Southwest Chicken– wontons or eggrolls, use Asian wrappers or flour tortillas, make them big or small!
- Wonton wrappers make the cutest appetizers, these are a must make.
and more fun with eggrolls…
While most restaurants deep fry croutons, wontons, and tortillas. I wanted to share how to make great-tasting items without the need to fry them. If you don’t want to… fried is always yummy, but baked is great too.
Another option is to use an air frier… so you can easily have those crunchy, delicious items you crave for lots of meals.
- Tortilla Soup
- Caesar Salad
- Pumpkin Sausage Soup
- Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad
- Mushroom Soup
- Tomato Bisque
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
Flour tortillas… fried, so yummy with hummus and guacamole, not as great with salsa as it’s so wet, but that’s what corn tortillas are for, right?
When I’m cooking dinner, I often cut up a flour tortilla and heat it up for someone to snack on, and often dip it in hummus!
Great items to serve with fried flour tortillas:
More items to make with tortillas:
And one of my favorite snacks that are fried is these Fried Tortellini. I make them on cold winter afternoons, when we have dinner parties. They are super easy and only take minutes to make, and everyone is impressed. You can also use refrigerated ravioli (both large and mini work well)
And if you have some hot oil… no better time to make some funnel cake from scratch, or quick and easy funnel cake using pancake mix. honestly if I’m going to fry things in oil, I often make a small funnel first. I rarely go to fairs, and funnel cake is irresistible! Give this chocolate funnel cake a try!
Now, if you’d like some more fried yumminess, put these on your must make list. Fried Oreos, Rosette Cookies,
And if you want the yummiest pork wontons, skip the take-out and make them!
I think potatoes are underrated, and if you do too, make these potato pancakes/latkes. These are a crowd pleaser. I typically use 5 lbs of potatoes, but you can make any amount you’d like!
And if potatoes are your thing, here are some more great potato recipes:
Use wonton wrappers to make wonton cups… and fill them with all sorts of yummy fillings, from artichoke dip, to crab rangoon filling, shrimp, and so much more!
If you like how-to posts… I have more. Check out some fun how-to items here.
And once you make those chips, you’ll need something to dip them into…
- Chips and Salsa or Pico De Gallo– Crunchy chips paired with fresh, bright salsa or pico for a classic crowd pleaser.
- Green Olive Dip– Creamy and savory with a salty olive bite that keeps everyone coming back.
- Goat Cheese Crostini– Toasty crostini topped with creamy goat cheese for a simple yet elegant appetizer.
- Cottage Cheese Taco Dip– Creamy, protein-packed dip with bold taco flavors and a fresh finish.
- Pizza Dip– All the flavors of your favorite pizza baked into a warm, cheesy dip.
- Crab Rangoon Dip– Creamy crab dip with a hint of sweetness inspired by the classic appetizer.
- Texas Egg Rolls with Jalapeno Pepper Jelly- Crispy egg rolls filled with bold Texas-style flavors, dipped in sweet and spicy jalapeño pepper jelly that is also delicious poured over whipped goat cheese or cream cheese.
I often crisp up some flour tortillas I’ve sprayed with oil on the black stone for a snack while I’m cooking, dip them in a little hummus, so I can keep the rest of the food on the grill and not have all of it eaten by the time I’m done cooking. Also, I fill tacos and crisp them up before being filled, and once they are filled, if needed. It helps to melt the cheese a bit if cheese is added.
