Panzanella Salad (Italian Tomato & Bread Salad)
This Panzanella salad recipe is made with humble ingredients but full of flavour. It’s an Italian tomato and bread salad that’s perfect for picnics, potlucks, barbecues, any summer gatherings — or a quick weeknight dinner!
It’s made with simple ingredients that come together to create a colourful and vibrant dish. I love how you can use beautiful heirloom tomatoes and really make them shine in a dish like this.
So if you’re looking for a delicious and healthy salad to enjoy this summer, this Panzanella salad will be a winner! Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
What’s in this summer salad?
This salad features ripe heirloom and cherry tomatoes, stale toasted bread, shallots, olives, basil, oregano, and the perfect vinaigrette to go with it. It’s that simple!
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You can’t make a great Panzanella salad without the use of good-quality tomatoes. Find them at farmers’ markets, good supermarkets, and fruit & veg stores during the summer months. Or, if you’re really lucky, from your own veggie garden!
I wouldn’t bother making this salad when tomatoes aren’t in season. It’s simply not the same.
Tips for making the best Panzanella salad
Even though this recipe is super simple to make, to get the best results, here are a few things to keep in mind.
- Use ripe but firm tomatoes. Otherwise they’ll be too soft when you combine it with the toasted bread.
- The bread needs to be crunchy and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Not completely dried out and hard.
- No matter how small the tomato is, make sure you cut it in half to get the pulp/juice out of it – it’s the key to the best dressing.
- It’s important to slice the bread and tomatoes into larger bite sized pieces so that the bread doesn’t go too soggy. Who likes soggy bread and salad? Two of my worst nightmares in a meal.
- Salt the tomatoes first to extract some of the juices.
- Rustic stale bread is crucial to get the best texture. I’ve tried it with a sourdough, pane di casa, and ciabatta and they all turned out great.
How to serve this tomato and bread salad
This salad can be used as an appetiser as it can sit in the fridge for up to 1 hour before serving, and the bread will still stay crunchy but flavourful. So you can prepare it before the guests arrive if need be and still have a great salad to serve.
Alternatively, plate it up as a side to the main dish. We love the idea of having it with:
- Spinach Pie with ‘Ricotta’
- Eggplant and Mushroom Quinoa Risotto
- Smokey Baked Mac and Cheese
- Creamy Leek and Mushroom Pasta
- Sweet Potato Gnocchi
- Moussaka
- Wholesome Lentil Lasagna
- Creamy Potato Gratin
- Vegan Gibanica Recipe (Serbian Cheese Pie)
- Chickpea Pancakes With a Creamy Pesto Dressing
- Lentil Loaf With a Maple-Balsamic Glaze
- Chargrilled Capsicums in Garlic Parsley Oil (Red Bell Peppers)
- Herby Potato Salad (No-Mayo)
- Easy Vegan Gnocchi with a Simple Tomato Sauce
And the list could go on and on. But you get the point…
If you want to make this a substantial meal and add a bit of plant protein, you can add a can of drained and washed chickpeas. I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work nicely.
I only needed to test this recipe once before making it to photograph, and I fell in love with it straight away. You really can’t go wrong with beautiful tomatoes and crunchy toasted bread soaked in some of the best juices you’ll find in a salad. Pair that with olives, fresh basil and oregano, and it’s a match made in salad heaven!
The key to a good Panzanella salad is to keep the bread crunchy while it soaks up the flavours of the dressing. If you can nail that part, you have yourself a fantastic salad.
Other wonderful recipes you’ll love:
- Vegan Gibanica Recipe (Serbian Cheese Pie)
- Three Incredibly Simple Silverbeet Recipes
- Rustic Vegan Caprese Salad
- High Protein Vegan Salad
- Simple Potato and Radicchio Salad
- Vegan Souvlaki (Tofu Skewers)
- Easy Vegan Tomato Tarts with Pesto
If you try these recipes, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe/s on Pinterest.
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Panzanella Salad (Italian Tomato & Bread Salad)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4*
Description
Give this Panzanella salad a try next time you’re looking for something light and refreshing to make as an appetiser, side or main during the summer months. A salad made with stale bread and tomatoes never tasted as good as this!
Ingredients
- 600g / 1.32 pounds cherry and heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped into large bite-sized pieces (ideally varied colours and sizes)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 slices rustic stale bread (1–2 days old)
- Olive oil, for brushing bread
- 2 cloves garlic
- 15 kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half
- Half a shallot, thinly sliced
- ½ cup (loosely packed) basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 sprig fresh oregano, chopped (optional)
Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add the chopped tomatoes and salt to a bowl and toss well. Set aside.
- To a frypan on medium-high heat, brush the bread slices with olive oil using a pastry brush on one side and place that side down on the pan. Toast for around 5-7 minutes until it becomes a nice golden colour.
- Brush the top side with olive oil and then flip the bread to toast the other side.
- Once the bread is done, using the clove of garlic rub it against the toasted bread. If you have any garlic leftover, mince it finely and add it to the tomatoes.
- Cut the bread into large bite-size pieces – around the same size as the tomatoes.
- Add them to the tomatoes along with the olives, shallots, basil, and oregano.
- In a small bowl, combine all the vinaigrette ingredients and mix. Pour it over the salad and toss it well.
- You can serve it straight away or leave it in the fridge for up to 1 hour before serving. The bread should stay nice and crispy on the outside.
Notes
Yield: It serves 4-5 as a side or an appetiser and 2-3 as a main meal.
Tomatoes: Use ripe but firm tomatoes. Otherwise they will be too soft when you combine it with the toasted bread.
No matter how small the tomato is, make sure you cut it in half to get the pulp/juice out of it – it’s the key to the best dressing.
Bread: The bread needs to be crunchy and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Not completely dried out and hard. It’s also important to slice the bread and tomatoes into larger bite sized pieces so that the bread doesn’t go too soggy.
Rustic stale bread is crucial to get the best texture. I’ve tried it with a sourdough, pane di casa, and ciabatta and they all turned out great.
- Diet: Vegan
This was a great recipe! The whole family loved it and I even forgot the olives. I will definitely make this again.
So glad you enjoyed it, Knate! Thanks for the review x