Panzanella Toscana is a classic and ancient Tuscan dish utilizing stale bread and fresh produce to create the most delicious, fresh, and filling salad!
I only recently discovered what Panzanella is. I saw this salad being made with bread, but not croutons, and became intrigued and confused and (most importantly) hungry. After some research, I realized this was panzanella alla toscana!
What is panzanella toscana?
Panzanella Tosacana is an Italian recipe made from stale bread, veggies, and a tangy dressing. This bread-based salad was created to minimize food waste and is often offered as a summer appetizer. It is known for using Tuscan bread, which is historically flavorless and hard because at one time, due to war, Florence locals did not have access to salt (salt is where bread gets flavor and texture!).
While thankfully I have access to salt now, I do love this salad and love that I can limit the bread I have to toss out when it starts going stale. So, here’s how to make panzanella toscana at home!
Ingredients for panzanella toscana
This salad utilizes fresh and flavorful ingredients, meaning you don’t need much to make it really shine!
- French Bread: Since we might not be using staled Tuscan bread, toasting French bread offers a pretty similar result. French bread works well with this recipe because it has many pores to absorb flavor from the dressing.
- Olive Oil: Every Italian-inspired salad needs olive oil! For this salad, I use the oil to get the bread crispy and perfect for tossing throughout the salad.
- Tomatoes: 1 cup of diced tomato adds a refreshing taste to this salad. 1 cup should equal about 1 Roma tomato (but feel free to use any variety of tomato you have on hand)!
- Bell Pepper: I like to use yellow and red peppers because they are slightly sweeter and add fun colors! Any mild peppers will work though.
- Cucumber: Cucumber is an essential summer vegetable and shines in this salad (plus, cucumber is pack with healthy nutrients!)
- Red Onion: Red onion adds a great crunch and slight sweetness and tang to this salad. You can use more or less depending on your love (or lack thereof) for raw onions!
- Basil: Basil is a classic ingredient in panzanella salad, bringing that classic Mediterranean flavor.
- Dressing: For this simple dressing, I did a combination of olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and dijon mustard for a perfectly delicious dressing.
Stale Bread = Better Bread
If you remember ahead of time, you can leave the cubed bread out on the counter on a sheet tray for the day before you want to make this salad. This will result in the tougher bread necessary to hold up to the dressing and fresh vegetables. If not, simply pop it in the oven as the recipe notes.
How to make Panzanella Toscana
This salad comes together super quick and only requires four steps!
Step 1: Bread
Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Combine cubed bread and 1/4 cup olive oil in a large bowl, using your hands to work the oil evenly around the cubes. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until crisp to the touch (but not browned).
Step 2: Drain Tomatoes
Cut tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Set a colander over a bowl and place tomatoes in the colander. Sprinkle with salt and stir to combine, then let tomatoes sit and drain until bread is finished. Reserve the juices that drip out.
Step 3: Salad
In a large bowl, combine bread, drained tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, onion, and basil.
Step 4: Dressing
Whisk together the juice from the drained tomatoes and all other Dressing ingredients. Drizzle over the panzanella and toss to coat.
Recipe tips
Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The bread is meant to be a little moist in the recipe, meaning the overall flavors and textures shouldn’t be impacted if you make it a day or two in advance!
Cheese Please: Feel free to add your favorite Italian cheese to this panzanella, like mini mozzarella balls or shaved parmesan!
More Fun Italian Classics
Want to complete your Italian garden party? Try pairing this salad with any of these ideas!
- Vegan Garlic Bread is perfect because no one can ever have enough bread or garlic!
- Infused Olive Oil for when you want to really amp up the flavor of your salads!
- Easy Vegan Meatballs pair perfectly alongside Panzanella Toscana.
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 lb French bread cubed, 453 g
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 60 mL
- 2 lbs tomatoes any variety, 907 g
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 yellow bell pepper cut into bite sizes
- 1 red bell pepper cut into bite sizes
- 1 cucumber cut into bite sizes
- ½ red onion sliced
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil roughly chopped
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 60 mL
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar 30 mL
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
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Bread: Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Combine cubed bread and ¼ cup olive oil in a large bowl, using your hands to work the oil evenly around the cubes. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until crisp to the touch (but not browned).
-
Drain Tomatoes: Cut tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Set a colander over a bowl and place tomatoes in the colander. Sprinkle with salt and stir to combine, then let tomatoes sit and drain until bread is finished. Reserve the juices that drip out.
-
Salad: In a large bowl, combine bread, drained tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, onion, and basil.
-
Dressing: Whisk together the juice from the drained tomatoes and all other Dressing ingredients. Drizzle over the panzanella and toss to coat.
Gayle says
I do not like stale bread or soggy bread in salads (croutons are different). However for those who do not want the bread (for whatever reason), this salad is great without it because without leafy greens (other than basil) nothing wilts and it lasts a long time refrigerated! I would make a big batch of it and take it to work all week for lunch and even after a week it was still fresh tasting, and seemed to get better with age! And you can add practically any tasty vegetable including regular or spicy Giardiniera!
Sarah Bond says
Yay! Happy to hear your found a way to make this one work for you, Gayle! 😀