12 Panzanella Recipes To Make When You’re Craving a Bread-Filled Salad
Who says hearty salads don’t exist?!
GREG DUPREE
We love greens-filled salads because they’re (often) healthy, versatile, and easy to adapt to your own tastes or whatever you have in the refrigerator. However, we’re well aware that a bowl filled with arugula or kale isn’t for everyone. That’s where panzanella comes in. If you’re unfamiliar with panzanella, it’s basically a tomato and stale bread salad, which is as delicious as it sounds. The Italian dish is typically made in the summer with the freshest tomatoes, and often also includes onion slices. Plus, that stale bread softens beautifully in the fresh tomato juice. You may also find fresh basil, mozzarella cheese, and cucumbers for even more richness, texture, and flavor, and the whole thing is most commonly dressed in a simple combination of olive oil and vinegar.
While there are standard panzanella recipes, you can also adapt this dish to your liking by adding chicken, switching up the dressing ingredients, or using various types of bread, such as cornbread. As you’ll see from this recipe roundup, there’s a panzanella for everyone!
Related: 100 Healthy Summer Dinner Ideas That Are Perfect for Hot Days
Classic Panzanella Salad
It doesn’t get much more classic than this panzanella recipe, which is filled with chunks of dried bread and salted ripe tomatoes. You’ll also find garlic for some pungent flavor, and chopped basil leaves for a pop of freshness, not to mention a tasty dressing made with olive oil, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and more.
Cornbread Panzanella
This take on panzanella is made with golden cornbread croutons that are tossed with a mix of juicy heirloom and cherry tomatoes, zippy red onion, crisp cucumber, and chunks of creamy avocado. You’ll also find delicious mozzarella balls, as well as thinly sliced basil for freshness. This salad is a summer staple, but works any time of the year so long as you can find juicy tomatoes.
Big Breakfast Salad
Victor Protasio
While not technically a panzanella salad, this dish does include bread and tomatoes, so we’re counting it. Plus, in addition to the crunchy bagel chips and sweet cherry tomatoes, you’ll also encounter roasted potatoes sprinkled with everything bagel seasoning, mini cucumbers, and plenty of jammy eggs. Lastly, a creamy avocado-basil dressing coats all of the ingredients.
Panzanella Salad With Cucumber
The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga
Summer’s go-to salad gets an extra boost of freshness and crunch courtesy of English cucumber slices and bell pepper pieces. You’ll find standard ingredients such as cherry tomatoes, bread cubes, and basil leaves, and can add in some crisp greens such as arugula, or capers and olives for a salty bite.
Fried Polenta Panzanella with Tomato, Basil, and Burrata
Matt Armendariz
What we love about this panzanella recipe is that it uses fried polenta in place of stale bread. While that might sound odd, we swear it works. To make this variation, all you need to do is cut store-bought polenta into one-inch rectangles, and fry it in a cast iron skillet until it’s browned all over. The result is a very crispy and slightly chewy collection of croutons that manage to soak up all the juices from the tomatoes and vinaigrette, just as stale bread would.
Related: 60 Cold Dinner Ideas That Are Perfect for Hot Summer Nights
Chicken Paillard with Caprese Panzanella
If you’re worried that munching on panzanella alone will leave you wanting more, give this recipe a whirl. Here, a classic panzanella salad is joined by creamy mozzarella and quick-cooking chicken cutlets to create a complete, balanced meal.
Lobster and Grilled Corn Panzanella
This elevated take on panzanella is one of our favorites, and it’s easy to see why. In this recipe, which takes just over an hour to make, standard panzanella ingredients are joined by grilled corn, steamed lobster tails, and a vibrant tarragon vinaigrette. Serve this dish when you’re ready to impress.
Banh Mi Panzanella
Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches meet Italian panzanella in this unusual yet delicious dish. Here, you’ll find pickled and fresh vegetables, lemongrass-marinated tofu, and not one but two sauces that are packed with sweet, spicy, and savory flavors. The bread used here is a French baguette loaf, which is especially crunchy and toothsome when stale.
Strawberry Caprese Panzanella
This recipe proves that panzanella doesn’t just need to be savory. In this variation, fresh, sweet strawberries are paired with standard panzanella ingredients such as mozzarella cheese, yellow grape tomatoes, basil leaves, and baguette pieces. This sweet and savory salad is also topped with a dressing that includes garlic, red wine vinegar, honey, and more.
Chicken Panzanella Salad
Shredded chicken adds plenty of protein to this panzanella salad recipe, which means you can eat it for lunch or dinner instead of just a side. To save yourself some time, use leftover rotisserie chicken instead of making your own chicken from scratch.
Related: How to Make Shredded Chicken—and 7 Things to Do With It
Summer Fruit Panzanella
Panzanella for breakfast? It’s possible. Here, croissants are toasted with cinnamon sugar and combined with a variety of fresh summer fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, and peaches. The result is a sweet, delicious meal that’s worth getting out of bed for. We promise!
Roasted Root Vegetable Panzanella
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
Panzanella is typically thought of as a summer dish, but with this recipe you can enjoy it in the colder months, too. Instead of fresh summer tomatoes, you’ll toss root vegetables such as parsnips, sweet potatoes, and beets in a maple brown butter dressing and roast ‘em. The result is a stellar fall dish that even works as a colorful Thanksgiving side.
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