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Panzanella salad, also known as panmolle, is a classic Italian dish prepared with salad vegetables and bread. It’s traditionally made using stale bread that’s then rehydrated in a tomato juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing. There are lots of different variations to panzanella salad which can be fun to try out. If you’re looking for backyard picnic party ideas, this rustic Tuscan salad will really hit the spot. It’s colorful, delicious and pairs with all kinds of proteins from steak to ribs.

Italian panzanella salad in a large bowl.

The juicy tomatoes, toasted bread, tasty cheese, fragrant herbs, and savory garlic are just some of the delights in this Italian panzanella salad from the heart of Tuscany.

Also try tomato burrata salad, peach panzanella, maple roasted rainbow carrots, roasted beet salad or any of these mouthwatering recipes with corn.

A bowl of classic Panzanella Salad, also known as a Tomato and Bread Salad, with juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, croutons, red onions, and shaved parmesan.

Why You’ll Love It

Unusual: This isn’t your average summer tomato salad. Your garlic, shallot, extra tomatoes and stale bread will come together in a wonderful flavor harmony you never imagined. Seriously, if you’ve never tried a panzanella recipe, prepare to be wowed. Caprese salad is always nice, but this bread and tomato salad is just so distinctively different – it’s well worth making for a change.
Straightforward to make: You toast the bread cubes, prep the veggies and eventually toss everything together to make the most amazing classic panzanella salad.
Great for any occasion: A hearty Italian bread salad is a great way to impress everyone, whether you’re catering a backyard BBQ or bringing a dish to a potluck supper. It’s a Tuscan style treat that everyone will love.

A wooden spoon scooping Panzanella Salad, a classic Italian salad filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, red onions, and basil.

Panzanella Salad Ingredients

A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Heirloom tomatoes: Add vibrant color, sweetness, and a rich, fresh tomato flavor.
Green tomato: Offers a firmer texture and slightly tart contrast to the heirlooms.
Sea salt: Draws moisture from the tomatoes and enhances all the flavors.
Extra virgin olive oil: Adds richness and a smooth, fruity flavor to the dressing and toasted bread.
Italian bread: Acts as the hearty base, perfect for absorbing all the juices and flavors.
Garlic: Brings a bold, aromatic kick to both the dressing and toasted bread.
Shallot: Adds a mild, slightly sweet onion flavor that blends well with the tomatoes.
Red wine vinegar: Provides acidity to balance the sweetness of the tomatoes and richness of the oil.
Fresh basil: Delivers a burst of herbaceous, aromatic freshness.
Oregano: Contributes an earthy, slightly peppery note.
Cucumber: Brings a cool, crisp texture to the salad.
Red onion: Adds sharpness and color contrast with a bit of crunch.
Mozzarella: Offers a soft, creamy element that complements the acidity and herbs.
Shaved parmesan: Finishes the dish with a salty, nutty bite.

Top view of ingredients for a Classic Italian salad: tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bread, parmesan, mozzarella, garlic, basil, oil, vinegar, and seasonings—perfect for a fresh Tomato and Bread Salad or authentic Panzanella salad recipe.

How to Make Panzanella Salad

For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.

Prepare the tomatoes: Chop your tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt, and let them sit in a colander so the salt can draw out the juices.
Prepare the homemade croutons: Brush olive oil over the fresh bread and add garlic and shallot before baking it until golden brown, then cut it into cubes. Homemade croutons are a great way to use up bread that’s dried out a bit.
Assemble the salad: Mix the tomato juice with the shallot vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh basil, mozzarella, then toss with all the other ingredients and serve the panzanella, topped with parmesan shavings.

A bowl of colorful classic Italian panzanella salad with tomatoes, cucumber, croutons, red onion, and shaved Parmesan.

Substitutions and Variations

Add a briny touch: Capers and anchovies often make an appearance in panzanella.
Tomatoes: Although a key part of the salad, you could swap them for watermelon or strawberries for a different flavor profile, perhaps using a balsamic dressing if you do so. Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes could also be used. Another option is to use avocados and extra cucumber and make a Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar dressing. 
Bread: You can try different breads like homemade Irish soda bread.
Optional add-ins: Feel free to throw in anything else you want, like yellow or red bell peppers, shaved zucchini or sauteed mushrooms.

A bowl of classic Italian tomato and bread salad, or panzanella, featuring tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, croutons, and shaved cheese on a rustic table. Try this authentic panzanella salad recipe for a fresh summer dish.

Serving Suggestions

As a side dish: This classic Italian salad is typically a dish comprised of hearty bread, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil (Italian, of course!), and various salad veggies, along with aromatic fresh herbs. It’s a vegetarian dish, but you might like to pair it with roasted chicken, creamy Tuscan chicken, a crab boil, your favorite kind of steak (try a Tomahawk!) or even some fat, juicy shrimp or pork.
With other salads: Enjoy this Italian salad as part of a buffet with other salads such as a rice salad, garden veggie macaroni salad or sweet potato kale salad.

Colorful Panzanella Salad, a classic Italian salad, features tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, bread cubes, basil, and shaved parmesan.

How to Store Homemade Panzanella

Store: Panzanella is best served as soon as it’s ready. You can refrigerate it for a day, but the tomatoes will lose some of their flavor, and the bread will get soggy.
Freeze: This isn’t a recipe you can freeze. It’s best served fresh like many other Italian recipes.

A bowl of fresh Panzanella salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, mozzarella, basil, and shaved cheese makes this classic tomato and bread salad a perfect summer dish.

Top Tips

Don’t skip the draining: Don’t rush this step—salting and draining the chopped tomatoes ensures the salad isn’t watery and gives you a flavorful base for the dressing with the reserved tomato juice.
Toast the bread just right: Aim for golden and crisp on the outside but still a little soft inside. This helps the bread soak up the dressing without turning soggy too quickly.
Toss just before serving: Combine all the ingredients right before serving to maintain the perfect balance of textures—crispy bread, juicy tomatoes, and fresh, vibrant herbs.

A bowl of Panzanella salad, a classic Italian salad, filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, croutons, and shaved parmesan cheese.

Panzanella Recipe FAQs

What kind of bread works best in panzanella?

For this tomato bread salad, you should opt for bread that is firm enough to hold its form while tossed with the tomato dressing but not something that’s too stale to chew. The most popular choice is Tuscan bread, because the dense texture holds up well in panzanella and it isn’t salted so you won’t have an overwhelming salt flavour in the finished salad. If you can’t get Tuscan bread, choose anything you want so long as it’s not too crusty or too soft. 

What’s the history of panzanella?

This authentic Italian panzanella salad recipe isn’t just a way to use up all the tomatoes in tomato season. Although any excuse to make it works! In fact, rustic bread salad goes back to the 16th century and was a way to use up stale bread. Originating as a peasant dish, panzanella, or panmolle, was a mixture of stale bread cubes, tomatoes and onions, vinegar, and olive oil. It’s still a great recipe if you have stale bread to use up but it’s so good it’s well worth making just because the combination of ingredients is so very special.

Close-up of a wooden spoon holding classic Italian Panzanella Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and bread cubes.

Panzanella Salad Recipe

5 from 49 votes

Panzanella Salad

An Italian panzanella salad is a rustic blend of tomatoes, bread, and other salad vegetables. It's a delicious summer salad recipe that can be an appetizer, light meal or side dish.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 5

Ingredients 

  • 3 tomatoes, heirloom or organic if possible
  • 1 tomato, green
  • 1 Tablespoon sea salt 
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil, extra virgin
  • 1 Loaf Italian bread
  • 6 Cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 20 Leaves basil, fresh
  • 1 Teaspoon salt
  • 1 Teaspoon black pepper, fresh cracked
  • 1 Teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 cucumber, chopped
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 Ounces fresh mozzarella, cubed
  • parmesan, shaved, as garnish

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Chop up the tomatoes and put them into a colander over a bowl. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a tablespoon of salt, stir to assure each piece gets salted, and let sit for 15 minutes.
  • Slice bread in half and brush each cut side with olive oil. Sprinkle half the minced garlic and half the minced shallot over the top and place into the oven for 10 minutes to toast.
  • Slice the toasted bread into bite sized pieces.
  • Whisk the tomato juice with remaining garlic, remaining shallot, the vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil, mozzarella and basil to make the dressing.
  • Toss everything together with the dressing.
  • Top with parmesan shavings and serve immediately.

Notes

Don’t skip the draining: Don’t rush this step—salting and draining the chopped tomatoes ensures the salad isn’t watery and gives you a flavorful base for the dressing with the reserved tomato juice.
Toast the bread just right: Aim for golden and crisp on the outside but still a little soft inside. This helps the bread soak up the dressing without turning soggy too quickly.
Toss just before serving: Combine all the ingredients right before serving to maintain the perfect balance of textures—crispy bread, juicy tomatoes, and fresh, vibrant herbs.

Nutrition

Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 2014mg | Potassium: 415mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1132IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 160mg | Iron: 1mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Panzanella salad is a tasty Italian dish that’s made with juicy tomatoes, crispy toasted bread croutons, garlic, salad vegetables, olive oil, and more. This easy and rustic Italian salad pairs with any protein and is also nice for a buffet, BBQ or potluck dinners. So, if you love Italian food, especially juicy tomatoes, you must try homemade panzanella salad. And if it’s tomato season and you have too many, you might also want to bookmark this homemade tomato soup!

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Bella Bucchiotti

Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.

 

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Recipe Rating




5 from 49 votes (44 ratings without comment)

8 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This rustic salad totally hit the spot. The soaked bread mixed with juicy tomatoes and zippy dressing was SO satisfying. It felt super fresh and flavorful

  2. This sounds so delicious! Is there any way of lowering the sodium content? This has about 1,000 mg more sodium than I’m supposed to have in a day. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

    1. Hi Carol, you can either omit the salt altogether, use a salt-free alternative or reduce the amount of salt in the recipe.

  3. 5 stars
    I always end up buying too much bread. What can I say, it just smells so good in the bakery! Anyway once it loses its freshness it’s perfect for this recipe!