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Home > Salads > Easy Panzanella Salad (Tuscan Tomato and Bread Salad)
25 minutes minutes

Easy Panzanella Salad (Tuscan Tomato and Bread Salad)

Modified: Aug 8, 2024 · Published: May 1, 2024

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Panzanella Italian bread salad in plate with text
Panzanella Italian bread salad in plate with text

Panzanella salad is a Tuscan salad made of chunky lightly toasted crusty bread, tomatoes, red onions, cucumber, and Italian basil all soaked in the simplest salad dressing. If you have ripe tomatoes and day-old bread, the best summer Italian bread salad is just a few minutes away!

Use juicy ripe summer tomatoes that are available in abundance during the season to make delicious simple salads like cherry tomato salad, roasted cherry tomatoes, or marinated tomatoes salad.

Italian tomato and bread salad on a white plate.
Jump to:
  • Why does this salad work
  • Ingredients
  • Variations
  • Step-by-step instructions
  • Servings Suggestions
  • Storage
  • Tips
  • Recipe FAQs
  • Other Summer Salad Recipes
  • 📋 Easy Panzanella Salad (Tuscan Tomato and Bread Salad)

Why does this salad work

  1. It’s simple and easy to make a summer salad.
  2. Great way to use day-old stale bread (note stale bread does not mean bread with molds, it means bread that is days old), which otherwise might end up in the bin.
  3. The best way to use bountiful fresh ripe juicy tomatoes is to create a quick and easy picnic-perfect side dish.
  4. Refreshing side dish for grilled chimichurri chicken, pork, or seafood.

Ingredients

Tuscan tomato and bread salad ingredients on a white board.

For dressing-

all ingredients for Italian bread salad dressing is placed on a white table.
  1. Bread– best to use dense crusty bread like sourdough bread ciabatta or artisan loaf bread. I wouldn’t recommend you to use dinner rolls. Softer bread won’t hold its shape and will turn mushy once salad dressing is added to it. Note stale bread does not mean old bread with molds.
  2. Tomatoes– use the best quality juicy ripe tomatoes for this recipe. Ripe Roma tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes are best.
  3. Cucumber– I like to keep the skin on and remove the seed. You can skip removing seeds and simply slice them into ½ inch slices.
  4. Red onion– did you know Panzanella salad was based on onions and not tomatoes until the 20th century? Red onions are great in salads, if you don’t like the sharp astringent flavor of raw onion, use pickled red onion.
  5. Fresh basil– Italian sweet basil is what you have to use to make this salad. Do not substitute with any other variety of basil.
  6. White wine vinegar or red wine vinegar can be used to make dressing.
  7. Extra virgin olive oil– use good quality EVOO.

Variations

Other ingredients such as anchovies, capers, olives, lettuce, celery, carrots, instant pot hard-boiled eggs, and bell peppers can be added to the salad.

Step-by-step instructions

step-by-step picture collage of making Italian bread salad.
  • Pick the best quality juicy ripe tomatoes. Slice into thin wedges or cut into small cubes.
  • Salt cut tomatoes with kosher salt. Toss well. Let tomatoes sit in a colander with a bowl under it to collect all the wonderful tomato juice. Allow tomatoes to drain the juices for a minimum of 15 minutes to a maximum of an hour.
  • Meanwhile, prep other ingredients.
  • Slice red onions. Cut the ends of the cucumber, and peel the seeds using a melon baller or spoon. Cut the cucumber into ½ inch slices. If you don’t like the skin on cucumber feel free to peel the skin.
  • Cut bread into 1-inch chunks. Toast bread in olive oil until lightly browned on all sides. You can toast bread chunks in the oven or air fryer too.
step-by-step picture collage of making Italian bread salad.
  • To the tomato juice that was drained add white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and extra virgin olive oil.
  • Whisk well.
  • Gather all salad ingredients into a large salad bowl- drained tomatoes, sliced onion, sliced cucumber, toasted bread, and fresh basil leaves.
  • Pour the dressing over the salad.
  • Toss well.
  • Let sit for a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour so the salad marinates and sucks all the flavors and juices.
  • Enjoy with grilled chicken, BBQ chicken, and shrimp.

Servings Suggestions

This salad pairs well with grilled meat, grilled tilapia, and shrimp. It pairs beautifully with BBQ chicken or grilled chicken, grilled steak, and pork chops.

Storage

This salad doesn’t hold good to be stored for days. As soon as it’s made, allow the salad to marinate in the dressing for an hour, longer than that croutons will soften and turn mushy.
If you plan on storing longer for a few days in the refrigerator, reserve the croutons for later.

Tips

  1. Day-old bread. Traditionally this salad starts with day-old stale bread. I like the bread to have a nice crust, so I cut bread into bite-sized pieces and shallow fry in a pan with olive oil (and sprinkle of salt on top). If you prefer to use fresh bread, make sure you don’t skip this step of shallow frying bread. You can also toss bread in the oven until crunchy and golden brown.
  2. Sweating tomatoes. I highly recommend you don’t skip this step. Adding salt to tomatoes will make them sweat all their juices and release excess moisture. Without removing excess moisture from tomatoes the bread would get too soggy from tomato juice.
  3. Serve within a couple of hours. Panzanella salad is served best right after it’s made. You can allow the salad to marinate in the dressing for 30 minutes to an hour, longer than that croutons will soften and turn mushy.
    If you plan on storing longer for a few days in the refrigerator, reserve the croutons for later.

Recipe FAQs

What type of bread is best?

Crusty bread like sourdough bread, ciabatta, or artisan loaf bread. I don’t recommend you to use dinner rolls. Soft bread won’t hold its shape and will turn mushy once salad dressing is added to it.

Can I use cherry tomatoes?

Yes, you can. Although traditional recipe calls for ripe Italian tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or ripe juicy Roma tomatoes will work.
Remember tomatoes should be ripe and firm.

Is it necessary to sweat tomatoes?

I highly recommend you don’t skip this step. Adding salt to tomatoes will make them sweat most of their juices. Without removing excess moisture from tomatoes the bread would get too soggy from tomato juice.

Can I make ahead this salad?

You can make this salad an hour or two ahead. I wouldn’t recommend storing longer than that. The croutons will lose its crunch and turn mushy if stored longer.

crusty bread and tomato salad served on a white plate.

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Tuscan tomato and bread salad in served in clear salad bowl.
4 from 1 vote

📋 Easy Panzanella Salad (Tuscan Tomato and Bread Salad)

Jyothi Rajesh
Panzanella salad is a Tuscan salad made of chunky lightly toasted crusty bread, tomatoes, red onions, cucumber, and Italian basil all soaked in the simplest salad dressing. If you got ripe tomatoes and day-old bread, the best summer Italian bread salad is just a few minutes away!
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
Course Salad, Side Dish, side salad, Sides
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6 servings
Calories 268

Ingredients
  

  • 1 day old crusty ‘stale’ bread about 4-5 cups of stale bread broken into 1 inch chunks
  • 3 ripe juicy tomatoes cut into small wedges or cubes
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 small red onion sliced thin
  • 2 cucumbers unpeeled, seeded, cut into ½ inch slices
  • 1 cup basil

For salad dressing-

  • 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoon garlic minced

Instructions
 

  • Slice tomatoes into thin wedges or cut into small cubes.
  • Salt cut tomatoes with kosher salt. Toss well. Let tomatoes sit in colander with a bowl under it to collect all the wonderful tomato juice. Allow tomatoes to drain the juices for minimum of 15 minutes to a maximum an hour.
  • Meanwhile prep other ingredients.
  • Slice red onions.
  • Cut the ends of the cucumber, and peel the seeds using a melon baller or spoon. Cut the cucumber into ½ inch slices. If you don’t like the skin on cucumber feel free to peel the skin.
  • Cut bread into 1-inch chunks. Toast bread in olive oil until lightly browned on all sides. You can toast bread chunks in the oven or air fryer too.
  • To the tomato juice that was drained add white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and extra virgin olive oil.
  • Whisk well.
  • Gather all salad ingredients into a large salad bowl- drained tomatoes, sliced onion, sliced cucumber, toasted bread, and fresh basil leaves.
  • Pour the dressing over the salad.
  • Toss well.
  • Let sit for a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour so the salad marinates and sucks all the flavors and juices.
  • Enjoy with grilled fish, grilled chicken, BBQ chicken, shrimp.

Video

Notes

  1. Bread: use a day-old dense crusty bread like sourdough bread, ciabatta, or artisan loaf bread. I don’t recommend dinner rolls for this salad. Softer bread won’t hold its shape and will turn mushy once salad dressing is added to it. 
  2. Bread to vegetable ratio: Use 1 portion of bread and 2 portions of mixed vegetables in the salad.
  3. Sweating tomatoes: highly recommend you don’t skip this step. Adding salt to tomatoes will make them sweat all their juices and release excess moisture. Without removing excess moisture from tomatoes the bread would get too soggy from tomato juice.
  4. Tomatoes: use the best quality juicy, ripe tomatoes. You can use Italian tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or Roma tomatoes to make the salad.
  5. Cucumber: feel free to peel the skin off the cucumber. To keep cucumber from releasing moisture into the salad I recommend you remove its seeds.
  6. Vinegar for salad dressing: White wine vinegar or red wine vinegar can be used to make dressing.
 
Nutritional Info – Please remember that the nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 268kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 1gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 20gSodium: 403mgPotassium: 255mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 542IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Follow @CurryTrail and tag #CurryTrail to share your creation!

Created by Jyothi Rajesh

Thank you for stopping by.

I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2014 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.

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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Elizabeth Mulgrew says

    August 28, 2023 at 5:23 am

    4 stars
    Very tasty! My husband gave it thumbs up. I browned the bread cubes in olive oil in a cast iron skillet just to control their browning more, and added them to the salad just before serving. Glad I did so because there was a large amount of liquid in the salad even though I followed the directions closely, and they got soggy pretty fast. But then I didn’t cook the bread in the oven, so maybe that would have kept them from getting soggy so quick. I would recommend draining the salad again before adding the bread just before serving. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      August 29, 2023 at 7:56 pm

      Thank you for sharing your feedback Elizabeth!

      Reply

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Jyothi - Author of Curry Trail.

Welcome, I'm Jyothi

My food philosophy is simple, fresh and full of flavors! I love ‘spicy’ food. In fact so much so that I can skip dessert for extra spicy savory food!

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