With juicy heirloom tomatoes, crisp cubes of grilled bread, cucumber, and fresh basil, this panzanella recipe is a dish you’ll find yourself making all summer long. Serve it as a side or as a light meal.
Classic Italian Panzanella Salad
Panzanella is a Tuscan bread salad that combines crusty bread, tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, red onion, and olive oil—like Caprese Salad, it’s a perfect summer dish for lunch or as a side for Grilled Chicken Breast. (You can also make it into a fun appetizer, like these Grilled Shrimp Panzanella Skewers.) After tossing everything in a bowl, you’ll let it all marinate for a little while to allow the flavors to blend. The juices from the tomatoes mixed with the olive oil forms the dressing, which makes this salad recipe even easier to put together!
Why My Family Adores This Salad
This simple Italian salad has become a summer tradition in my home. Here’s why we love it—and why you will too!
- A celebration of summer. Summer recipes let fresh ingredients shine and that’s what’s best about panzanella. Start with fabulous heirloom tomatoes and fragrant fresh basil leaves and you’re already halfway there to a perfect salad.
- Crispy bread. If croutons are your favorite part of a salad, you’ll appreciate panzanella, where the toasted bread isn’t just a garnish, but a main component of the recipe.
- Lighter than the traditional version. I add only a tablespoon of olive oil to my panzanella recipe, keeping the calories in check.
Yield: 8 servings
Serving Size: 1 cup
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Lightly spray bread with olive oil and season with a little salt; grill over medium heat, until toasted and nicely browned.
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Remove from heat and cut into 1 inch cubes. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, basil, olive oil, and season liberally with salt and pepper.
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Let it sit for about 30 minutes to let the flavors combine.
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Add the bread cubes and toss.
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Serve in individual bowls.
Last Step:
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As a main dish: Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 2 cups • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Serving: 1 cup, Calories: 104.3 kcal, Carbohydrates: 17.7 g, Protein: 3.1 g, Fat: 2.9 g, Fiber: 2.2 g
What You’ll Need
The key to making this simple salad is using the freshest high quality ingredients. I used ripe tomatoes from my garden, my homemade Sourdough Bread Recipe, fresh basil, and a good extra virgin olive oil.
- Tomatoes – I enjoy using colorful heirloom tomatoes because they’re so beautiful in a salad, but beefsteak tomatoes will also work.
- Seedless cucumber – Like English cucumbers.
- Red onion – Or use shallot for a milder flavor.
- Basil – Fresh is a must. Dried just doesn’t taste the same!
- Extra virgin olive oil – Plus some EVOO spray for toasting the bread.
- Bread – While I used sourdough, you can also use French bread or a good crusty Italian bread.
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper – To season everything and bring it all together.
How to Make Panzanella
Here’s how easy it is to make this panzanella recipe!
- Grill the bread. Spray the bread with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt. Grill over medium heat until it’s toasted, then cut it into cubes.
- Start assembling the salad. Toss the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and basil with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Let the salad sit for 30 minutes.
- Finish. Add the cubes of bread and toss again, then serve.
Tips and Variations
Here are a few additional pointers and some ways you can put your own spin on this panzanella recipe.
- Use day old bread. If you do this, you can skip grilling the bread.
- Scoop out the seeds of garden cucumbers. Have cucumbers from your garden? You can use those in panzanella too! Just slice them lengthwise and then scoop out the seeds before chopping them.
- Add other ingredients. Sliced black olives, balls of fresh mozzarella, shaved Parmesan, white beans, cooked and cooled Grilled Eggplant—there are so many options for this recipe. You can also add a drizzle of balsamic glaze just before serving, like I do with this Bruschetta Pasta Salad.
- Plan on eating it right away. The bread will get soggy as the salad sits, so this is best eaten immediately. If you want to make panzanella for a party, I recommend storing the bread separately and then adding it just before serving.
What to Serve With Panzanella
While I love panzanella as a light lunch or dinner, it’s also great as a side dish. Here’s some inspiration.
Proper Storage
If you know you’re not going to eat the whole salad in one sitting, only add the bread to the portion you’ll be eating right away. Then, keep the toasted bread in an airtight container for 1-2 days and store the veggie component of the panzanella in the refrigerator in a separate airtight container.
Once you’ve added the bread, the salad will last a day in the fridge, but the bread will get soft.
