Appetizing toasted croutons are an inexpensive and delicious snack. They are served with beer, cocktails, and other drinks. They are good as a stand-alone dish or as a light aperitif. A variety of sauces will help to add additional flavoring nuances to the croutons. You don't have to buy them - homemade sauces are much more interesting, healthier and tastier.
Sauces for croutons: cooking features
Any food goes well with fried bread, so there is no limit for imagination. Sauces based on vegetables, sweetish fruit chutneys, mixtures with cream, sour cream, butter are suitable for croutons. Spicy sauces with the addition of hot or sweet mustard, chili, freshly grated horseradish are very tasty.
Most sauces contain garlic. It goes well with other ingredients, gives the mixture a light spiciness, but does not make the sauce too harsh. It is not recommended to store such a mixture, the garlic quickly becomes bitter, this spoils the taste of the seasoning. Tomato paste, curry powder, saffron, paprika will help to change the shade of the finished sauce. Several mixtures of different colors and tastes look very nice, laid out in small bowls and served with croutons. This assortment will turn a modest snack into a real feast and give each guest the opportunity to try their favorite option.
Garlic sauce: classic
One of the most successful additions to croutons is spicy piquant garlic. On its basis, it is easy to make a hearty sauce that even a novice cook can handle. No need to whip cream or boil the yolks - ordinary high-quality mayonnaise is suitable for cooking. It is worth considering that there are a lot of calories in the sauce, those who follow the figure will have to limit the amount of servings. If desired, you can include fresh herbs in the composition: dill, parsley, celery, basil.
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp. l. mayonnaise;
- 5 cloves of garlic;
- 2 tbsp. l. olive oil;
- 0.5 lemon;
- 2 tbsp. l. thick sour cream;
- salt.
Chop the garlic very finely or crush it in a mortar. When passing through a press, the pieces are not small enough. Thoroughly grind the garlic with salt to form a homogeneous gruel.
Transfer the garlic mixture to a bowl, add the olive oil and juice squeezed from half a lemon. Beat the mixture with a whisk or mixer until smooth and white. Add mayonnaise and sour cream, mix thoroughly. Try the sauce - you may need some more salt. For those who prefer a spicier taste, you can increase the amount of garlic or add a little ground hot pepper.
French Mustard Sauce: Step-by-Step Preparation
An excellent addition to toast snacks, can be used as an addition to sandwiches and canapes. The sauce goes well with rye bread, the proportions of spices can be changed to taste. The finished product can be stored in the refrigerator without any problems.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion;
- 1 tbsp. l. butter;
- 0.5 cups low-fat sour cream;
- 2 tbsp. l. sweet mustard;
- 0.5 lemon;
- salt.
Peel the onion and chop very finely. Fry in hot butter until golden brown. Stir constantly to prevent the onion from burning. Cool the roast. In a separate container, beat the sour cream with freshly squeezed lemon juice and mustard. Season with salt to taste, add fried onions, mix well. If desired, you can add additional ingredients to the sauce, for example, finely chopped fresh dill. Before serving, keep the mixture in the refrigerator, pouring into a gravy boat or a wide low bowl made of glass or earthenware.
Pepper sauce: for those who like it hot
A great addition to toast and beer. The sauce turns out to be spicy, pungent, with a pleasant long aftertaste. The color is very beautiful, pale yellow. The sauce is best served with black or gray bread sprinkled with caraway seeds or other spices. From the specified number of products, you will get a large portion, which will be enough for the whole company.
Ingredients:
- 500 ml extra virgin olive oil;
- head of garlic;
- 1 tsp tomato paste;
- 0.5 tsp saffron;
- 4 egg yolks (preferably large);
- cayenne pepper to taste
- salt.
Disassemble the head of garlic into cloves, peel, chop in a blender or in a mortar. Add salt, cayenne pepper, saffron and grind until smooth. Beat the yolks in a separate container, add the garlic mixture. Pour olive oil in portions, add tomato paste and beat again. If the mass begins to separate into fractions, slightly warm it up and continue beating. Pour the prepared sauce into a ceramic or glass container and refrigerate before serving. Hot sauce will make an excellent duet with a more tender creamy one, they can be served together so that each guest chooses the option to taste.
Creamy cheese mix: simple and tasty
Delicate thick sauce with a pleasant creamy taste is a great addition to toast and croutons from white bread. The only drawback of such a supplement is its high calorie content, so the amount of servings should be limited.
Ingredients:
- 120 g of any hard cheese;
- 100 ml cream;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- freshly ground black pepper;
- salt;
- a few sprigs of dill.
Grate cheese. Pour the cream into a saucepan installed in a water bath, heat to 40-45 degrees, but do not boil. Do not cook the sauce directly on the stove, it can burn and acquire an unpleasant aftertaste.
Pour grated cheese into hot cream, stirring, heat until the mixture becomes completely homogeneous. Chop the garlic very finely or chop it in a blender. Put it in a saucepan, add freshly ground black pepper and finely chopped dill. Salt as desired, the exact proportions of salt depend on the type of cheese. Mix everything well, remove from the water bath and cool. It is better not to put the cheese sauce in the refrigerator, otherwise it will harden.
Sour cream sauce: a light dietary option
Those who don't like too fatty sauces will love the delicate version based on fresh sour cream. The mixture with a delicate refreshing taste will go well with any croutons and products fried in batter.
Ingredients:
- 400 ml sour cream;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 small fresh cucumber;
- fresh parsley;
- salt;
- ground black pepper.
Pass the garlic through a press, peel the cucumber, grate on a coarse grater, squeeze the released juice. Put sour cream in a bowl, add cucumber, garlic, finely chopped parsley, black pepper and salt. Beat everything well and transfer to a gravy boat or bowl. Serve well chilled.
Mushroom sauce: original taste
A rarer recipe is mushroom-based sauce. It should be served with wheat or grain bread toasts, prepared without additional additives.
Ingredients:
- 200 g of fatty sour cream;
- 100 g fresh champignons;
- 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 1 small onion;
- salt and pepper;
- fresh dill.
Wash the mushrooms, peel the onions. Chop the food very finely and fry in hot vegetable oil. Remove mixture from heat and cool. Add chopped garlic, sour cream, salt and ground black pepper to it. Grind the sauce in a blender, add finely chopped parsley, stir and cool.
Spicy yolk sauce: a step by step recipe
Those who prefer mayonnaise croutons will love the egg yolk sauce. It has a more harmonious original taste, it goes well with rye, grain and wheat croutons and toasts. It is better to cook the sauce in small portions; it is not suitable for long-term storage. The original shade is given by tomato paste, the mixture looks very beautiful in photographs.
Ingredients:
- 2 raw egg yolks;
- 0.5 cups extra virgin olive oil;
- 1 tsp tomato paste;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice or white wine vinegar;
- salt;
- freshly ground black pepper.
Grind the yolks in a bowl, pour in olive oil in a thin stream, without stopping whipping. Gradually add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Put in tomato paste, mix thoroughly, add chopped garlic. Serve chilled, preferably with other sauces.
