A Traditional Panzanella Salad is the perfect end-of-summer Italian salad filled with fresh tomatoes, basil, and red onion. This is a quintessential classic Italian dish using fresh and leftover simple ingredients.
Looking for more delicious Italian salads? Try our Traditional Caesar Dressing on a salad or Caprese Tortellini Salad.
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Why This Salad
Traditional Italian recipes rely on a few simple but high-quality fresh ingredients. This Panzanella salad is one we'd have at the end of the Summer when there was bread to get rid of and plenty of tomatoes growing in the garden. Typically, my dad would grill out and we would have this salad with Italian Ring Sausage (Chevalatta) or Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs.
Our family always had fresh tomato dishes out in the summer, and this one is perfect for when you have some leftover bread to use up. It gives the bread another day of life, because there's no good reason to toss a perfectly good half loaf of bread!
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Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Tomatoes. I used a combination of German Johnson and Campari Tomatoes, but you should use whatever fresh tomatoes are available when making recipes like Panzanella salad, EASY Ricotta Bruschetta, or Creamy Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup.
- Mozzarella. I like to use fresh mozzarella and tear it into bite-sized pieces. You could substitute a dried mozzarella or provolone.
- Day-Old Bread. I like to use a day-old Italian bread or baguette. You can also use sourdough or semolina bread. Whatever bread you have can work. You can even use Homemade Italian Parmesan Croutons for extra flavor. That's the delicious part about a panzanella salad; you can use the leftover and fresh ingredients that you have available to you.
- Olive oil. Use an extra virgin olive oil. High-quality olive oil can make a huge difference in the flavor.
- Balsamic Vinegar. You can substitute red wine vinegar or lemon juice.
*Please see the recipe card for more information on the ingredients.
How to Make a Traditional Panzanella Salad
This dish relies on the fact that we always had extra loaves of Italian bread or Semolina bread at our house. We could make croutons, homemade breadcrumbs, use them for Classic Italian Fried Meatballs, or make Panzanella salad!
Step 1: Take day-old bread and cube it. Leave it out on the counter overnight to dry, or preheat the oven to 225℉ and bake for 15 minutes to dry.
Step 2: Chop tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.
Step 3: Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool once it's crunchy.
Step 4: Combine the tomatoes in a bowl with red onion, basil, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Step 5: Once the bread cools, add the bread to the tomatoes and mix well. Let it sit out on the counter for 30-60 minutes. The bread will soak up all the juice.
Step 6: Tear the mozzarella into pieces and toss it into the salad. Combine well. Serve immediately while the bread is not completely soggy.
Panzanella salad is a recipe that is pretty much a "serve when it's ready and eat it all" type of dish. Most tomato dishes are like this. You're not going to reheat Italian Fried Green Tomatoes, and you're not going to serve people bread that's been sitting in the refrigerator overnight.
Tomatoes, in general, completely change texture once they are put in a refrigerator. Avoid putting fresh tomatoes in the refrigerator at all costs!
Pro-Tips
- Dry your bread in the oven like you're making croutons. You will get the same dried hard bread result as stale bread without the stale flavor.
- Fresh tomatoes over a specific type of tomato, like roma tomatoes or plum tomatoes. I used German Johnson and Campari tomatoes from the Farmer's Market.
- Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This will make the flavor significantly better. Bad olive oil can really make this dish lackluster.
- Slice the red onion super thin so that it doesn't overtake all the flavor in the salad. If you cut it too thick, it will be really sharp.
Recipe FAQs
It's traditional for a balsamic vinaigrette or red wine vinaigrette to be used. You could also substitute a Lemon Basil Vinaigrette.
You can take a loaf of bread and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Then bake it in the oven at 225 degrees F for 15-20 minutes to dry it out. Or you can use croutons.
Panzanella doesn't last in the fridge for long. It should be served immediately after sitting out to marinate, so the bread still has some crunchy texture to it.
You can make panzanella last longer by not combining the bread with the dish until you're ready to serve it. But it's best served at room temperature, so refrigerating the tomato part of the dish will change the texture and flavor, too.
What to Serve with Panzanella Salad
- Chicken. Serve it as a salad on the side of your favorite chicken sides like Chicken Spiedini or Garlic Parm Chicken Skewers.
- Pork. Have it with your Cast Iron Boneless Pork Chops or Classic Pork Chop Milanese.
- Sides/Appetizers. Add it to your platter of Summer sides and appetizers like Antipasto Caprese Skewers, Zucchini alla Scapece, or Italian Green Bean Salad.
More Delicious Italian Classics
Please leave a comment and star rating below in the recipe card! I love to hear what you think of our recipes. Feel free to tag us on Instagram @vindelgiudice.
📖 Recipe
Traditional Panzanella Salad
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 large bowl
Ingredients
- 1 loaf day-old Italian bread or semolina bread
- 3 lbs fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1 ¼ red onion, sliced thin
- 1 handful fresh basil, julliened
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Instructions
- Take day-old bread and cube it. Leave it out on the counter overnight to dry or preheat the oven to 225℉ and bake for 15 minutes to dry.
- Chop tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Combine the tomatoes in a bowl with red onion, basil, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- Once the bread cools, add the bread to the tomatoes and mix well. Let it sit out on the counter for 30-60 minutes. The bread will soak up all the juice.
- Tear the mozzarella into pieces, and toss it into the salad, and combine. Serve immediately while the bread is not completely soggy.
Notes
- Dry your bread in the oven like you're making croutons. You will get the same dried hard bread result as stale bread without the stale flavor.
- Fresh tomatoes over a specific type of tomato, like roma tomatoes or plum tomatoes. I used German Johnson and Campari tomatoes from the Farmer's Market.
- Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This will make the flavor significantly better. Bad olive oil can really make this dish lackluster.
- Slice the red onion super thin so that it doesn't overtake all the flavor in the salad. If you cut it too thick, it will be really sharp.
Vinny says
One of my favorite uses of stale bread! I love making croutons but panzanella is so so good! I know you'll love this one.