Name: Panzanella salad recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1/2 baguette (stale); 1/2 cucumber (in cubes); 1 bunch basil; 500 g heirloom tomatoes; 2 tbsp capers; 15 ml red wine vinegar; 2 balls mozzarella cheese; Salt and pepper to taste; Olive oil

Delicious panzanella salad recipe. Panzanella is originally from the Tuscan region and this is my easy version of making this delicious Italian classic. Imagine you are in Italy for a moment with this delicious recipe for Panzanella. Delicious as a lunch salad but also perfect for a summer barbecue.

Panzanella salad recipe

Panzanella is one of my all-time favorite Italian salads. The first time I tasted it was in Tuscany and the salad was made by none other than Giulia from Juls Kitchen. The original recipe for panzanella can be found here. According to Giulia, it tastes best with Tuscan bread, but since that is not so easy to find here, I went for regular crusty bread instead. A baguette will do fine or sourdough bread is also really good. Ciabatta bread or focaccia bread can also be used.

Panzanella salad recipe
Ingredients for the panzanella recipe
Use good olive oil
Other great recipes with old bread:

Panzanella tastes best when made with really old bread or stale bread. And since baguette gets old pretty quickly, it’s easy to use this. But if you don’t have any day-old bread lying around, you can bake fresh bread in the oven for a similar effect. Tear chunks of the bread so the bread cubes have a rough surface and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and place on a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roast the bread chunks in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown and dried.

Ingredients for the panzanella recipe

There are many versions of this classic Italian salad. I myself have made a panzanella with halloumi before, but this version is closer to the ‘real’ classic. For the fresh tomatoes, it is nice to choose nice ripe juicy tomatoes of different colors and sizes. This is not a must, of course, but it looks nicer and the flavors are more varied, so I recommend it. I love using heirloom tomatoes or any other juicy summer tomatoes.

A nice ball of fresh mozzarella cheese goes well with the Italian bread salad. Or – even better – burrata.

Other than that, it’s a pretty simple salad that’s ready in a jiffy. I think it’s a great summer salad because nothing tastes better than ripe tomatoes that had some time in the sun.

Use good olive oil

There is no such thing as a classic Tuscan bread salad without good extra virgin olive oil. So don’t buy a cheap bottle of olive oil from the supermarket. Buy a really good extra virgin olive oil. Because the panzanella salad has such simple ingredients, it is extra important that the ingredients used are of great quality.

Cut the tomatoes into different sizes. This also gives them a different texture. I use large tomatoes here rather than cherry tomatoes. It’s not that you can’t use cherry tomatoes, but the big ones are recommended for the panzanella. You want some of the tomato juice soaking into the bread, so it’s ok to bruise the tomatoes a bit so the juices come out. But let it stand on the counter for a little bit will do the same trick.

Sprinkle some red wine vinegar over the bread as well and fresh basil is a must for the tomato salad as well. Let the tomatoes get to room temperature before serving as that will greatly enhance the flavor as well. Sprinkle with some sea salt and black pepper and serve. It would also go really well with the easy eggplant parmigiana.

Other great recipes with old bread:

How long can I keep the panzanella salad?

Since part of the appeal of eating a panzanella is the fact that the bread soaks up the flavors, you can definitely keep it for a day. I wouldn’t keep it any longer than that. But eating it the next day will still be really good.

What can I add to the panzanella?

If you want some additional ingredients to the panzanella you can add some red onion or bell pepper if you want. You will find all sorts of different variations of the classic panzanella but ultimately it depends on what you like. I don’t like raw onion all that much so I don’t tend to add that.