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Panzanella is a classic summertime salad in Italy as they produce so many tomatoes, and of course, the Italians are known for their fine bread-making skills so there is always a lot of bread there. This is a wonderful salad that will use all those extra tomatoes and day-old bread.
Panzanella is a simple salad made with stale bread, tomatoes, onions and fresh basil and is served with an oil and vinegar dressing. Our garden is overflowing with produce this year and the juicy, red, vine-ripened tomatoes are one of our favorite parts of summer. We are enjoying this salad!
Often other vegetables are included in Panzanella such as cucumbers, radishes or chunks of zucchini but we like just plain, bread, tomatoes, onions and lots of basil. The dressing couldn’t be simpler….olive oil and red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
This is a recipe from the cookbook, Italy Today, the Beautiful Cookbook and it uses a coarse rye day-old stale bread. We are using Pugliese which is a coarse bread that will really soak up all the flavors from the juicy tomatoes and the dressing. You will not need to squish the tomatoes or let the bread soak in advance. This is an easy-peasy delicious salad.
Try this salad today while the wonderful vine-ripened tomatoes are still available. Ummmm good!
Take a look at these salad ideas: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Aged Goat Cheese Butter Lettuce, Strawberries and Cocoa Nibs Garden Purslane Salad
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Panzanella
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Ingredients
For the Red Wine Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup red or white wine vinegar
- 1 or 2 garlic cloves, grated
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Panzanella Salad:
- 1-¼ pound coarse day-old bread, (choose any kind ) crusts removed and cut or torn into 1 inch cubes about 10 ounces of bread cubes
- 3 pounds large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 red onion, sliced thin
- 2-3 ounces of fresh basil leaves, (or as much as you prefer), torn into bite-size pieces
Instructions
For the Red Wine Vinaigrette:
- Add the vinaigrette ingredients to a small dish and whisk together. Set aside.
For the Panzanella Salad:
- Add the bread cubes, tomatoes and onion slices to a large salad bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the top and toss to combine. Allow to sit for at least 1/2 hour and up to 4 hours. Add the torn basil and toss again just before ready to serve. Serves 6-8
Notes
- Although you can make and enjoy this salad immediately, it is best if the bread, onions and tomatoes sit for at least 30 minutes in the vinaigrette with the fresh basil being added just before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Isn’t baldamic vinaigrette supposed to have balsamic vinegar in it?
Hi, Denise….Thanks for that good catch we made the correction…it is a red wine vinaigrette but a balsamic vinaigrette would sure taste good as well. Thanks again for pointing out our bad 🙂
With the basil overflowing the garden, and tomatoes finally getting ripe, this is wonderful!
Hi, Laura….and it tastes wonderful! 🙂
This is my favourite summer salad. So light and fresh and a great way to use up bread too.
Thank you, Dannii 🙂
Yummm! I want to make this for my Italian family!Thanks!
I’m sure they will enjoy it, Hannah 🙂
It’s been too long since I’ve made panzanella!
Now is the time, Jessica, while the tomatoes are at their peak!
I love panzanella, it’s so tasty and easy to make!
Thank you, Amy….I can make my meal with this salad!
Panzanella is one of my favorite recipes. You did a great job with the recipe.
Thank you, Ginny! 🙂