Panzanella Salad
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With crispy, olive oil-soaked Italian bread, juicy tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers, panzanella makes a satisfying summer supper.
In the heart of summer, I love making hearty salads for dinner, and nothing satisfies quite like a rustic bread salad, such as panzanella. This Tuscan dish brings together crispy, olive oil-soaked bread, juicy tomatoes, loads of fresh veggies, fragrant basil, and a garlicky vinaigrette. Originally created as a way to use up stale bread, panzanella is so delicious that I don’t mind buying a fresh loaf just to make it.
To me, panzanella holds its own as the ultimate light summer supper. But, to keep my meat-and-potatoes-loving husband happy, I usually pair it with grilled pesto shrimp or grilled chicken. The recipe is adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties.
Table of Contents
“We LOVE this salad! Thank you. Everyone should have this recipe up their sleeve.”
What You’ll Need To Make Panzanella Salad
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Permeates the bread, adding richness and flavor while keeping the exterior crispy. Also forms the base of the dressing.
- Rustic Italian Bread: Forms the base of the salad, providing crunch and soaking up the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Tomatoes: Adds juicy sweetness, a hint of acidity, and vibrant color to the salad.
- Bell Peppers: Offer a crunchy texture and a subtle sweetness. You can use red, yellow, or orange peppers (or one of each of 2 of the colors).
- Cucumber: Adds crispness and a refreshing taste, balancing out the richness of the bread and olive oil.
- Capers: Add bursts of briny, salty flavor.
- White Wine Vinegar: Provides acidity to balance the richness of the olive oil and bread.
- Garlic: Infuses a subtle savory flavor, tying all the ingredients together.
- Shallots: Contribute a mild oniony flavor. Red onion is more traditional, but I prefer shallots as they don’t overpower the other flavors in the salad.
- Fresh Basil: Adds a fragrant herbal note.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Panzanella Salad
Begin by cutting the bread into 1-inch cubes. Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss well.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the bread is crispy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Most recipes, including the one this is based on, will have you rest the salad for up to a few hours to allow the bread to soak up the dressing. I prefer the bread crispy, so I toss it at the last minute and reserve some to sprinkle over the salad as a garnish.
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, capers, wine vinegar, garlic, shallots, pepper, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the remaining 1/2 cup oil.
Toss well.
Right before serving, add two-thirds of the toasted bread and basil to the salad.
Toss to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Don’t be shy with the salt, as this salad begs for a lot of seasoning.
Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and sprinkle the remaining toasted bread cubes over top. Serve immediately so the bread doesn’t get soggy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure, you can add grilled chicken or shrimp to the salad. If you’re looking for a vegetarian option, cannellini beans or chickpeas would work nicely.
Absolutely! A sturdy gluten-free bread will work nicely as a substitute for traditional Italian bread. If you’re not gluten-free, but don’t find Italian bread at your store, some other good options are a baguette, sourdough, or ciabatta.
I don’t recommend making the entire salad ahead, but you can combine the ingredients for the dressing up to a few days in advance (hold off on the capers until you’re ready to serve the salad). Store in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to serve.
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Panzanella Salad
With crispy, olive oil-soaked Italian bread, juicy tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers, panzanella makes a satisfying summer supper.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 6 cups rustic Italian bread, cut into 1-in cubes (about ¾ lb)
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1½ pounds tomatoes, cut into 1-in cubes (about 2 large)
- 2 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, cut into 1-in cubes
- 1 small English or hothouse cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons finely minced shallots, from 1 large shallot
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup fresh chopped basil
Instructions
- Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and ½ teaspoon salt; toss well. Cook, stirring frequently, until the bread is crispy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, capers, wine vinegar, garlic, shallots, pepper, the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and the remaining ½ cup oil. Toss well.
- Right before serving, add two-thirds of the toasted bread and basil to the salad. Toss to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary (I usually add about ¼ tsp more salt). Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle the remaining toasted bread cubes over top. Serve immediately so the bread doesn't get soggy.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 327
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 497 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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We LOVE this salad! Thank you. Everyone should have this recipe up their sleeve. Although simple, follow the recipe to get the proportion of each vegetable right. It is worth making!!!
Just a few tips or reminders:
MUSTARD-I also add about a tsp of Dijon mustard to the dressing. It adds a nice bit of flavour without dominating. I think I looked up Ina Garten’s version at some point and discovered hers had mustard, so it wasn’t any genius on my part. Mustard always rounds out vinaigrettes.
GROWING BASIL- Also I let my basil grow too long this year. I failed to pick it at its prime for a variety of reasons…I didn’t know basil would go bitter when it overgrows to the seed stage. Now I know. Argh….I will need to replant some new pots.
I will be making this tomorrow. Love panzanella. I just had it for lunch at a restaurant which used a recipe quite a bit like this, but added some beans for protein and arugula for its peppery bite. Quite good.
My husband and I enjoyed it tonight. It’s easy and tasty and a nice change.
I love, love, love this recipe. It is so refreshing and such a change from regular green salad. I served it with rib eyes and used your suggestion of putting half of the croutons (which were delicious on their own) in the salad and the rest of them on top when serving for crunch. Loved the seasoning and it looks so pretty too! I really like that you make it ahead and throw in the fridge and pull out a beautiful and wonderful dish to serve. I will make again and again!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this salad, I could eat it all day. It is like a new form of toasted tomato sandwiches which never grows old. Thank you!!
This dish is delicious! Flavors and textures are all amazing. I have a couple tips: if you don’t think you can eat it all at once, before you put the bread in the salad, split the salad in half, then mix in half of the bread and keep the other half dry, separate from the other half of the salad. Then when it’s time to enjoy the rest of it, mix in your reserved bread to the reserved salad. Don’t try to simply put the bread on your plate and then put the salad over the top. The textures and flavors were all off. You really need to mix in the bread. Anyway, it is an amazing salad that all the adults in my family enjoyed thoroughly!
I started making this last summer and recently made it again! We are huge fans of Panzanellas and I love the capers in the dressing of this one! This is an amazing meal with grilled steak tips on top of it! I also use Olive Oil Ciabatta for the bread and just tear it into small pieces. It is a wonderful dinner!
I made this salad in late July for a friend’s 60th birthday barbecue. The Panzanella Salad was her favorite from the wide selection of salads at the party. Weeks later, she still talks about how delicious it was. I love being the food rockstar!
Made this & ate it for dinner, then breakfast (with a fried egg & sautéed greens) & then lunch the next day
So delicious. I didn’t have white wine vinegar so I used white balsalmic vinegar. Thank you!