Panzanella (Bread Salad)
This adaptable Panzanella salad recipe lets you combine crusty, artisan bread with your favorite dressings and toppings for a bread salad that can’t be beaten! Choose seasonal flavors and enjoy a delicious meal that’s perfect any time of year.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup & Salad
- Method: Bowl
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 loaf No-Knead Artisan Bread (or other rustic, crusty bread)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- 4–6 cups typical salad ingredients (lettuce, tomato, red onion, bell pepper, etc.)
- ½ – 1 cup dressing of choice (Italian, Greek, Caesar, Ranch, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275F. Meanwhile, cut the bread into ½” cubes and place it in a large bowl.
- Toss the bread with the olive oil so as much of the bread as possible is coated. Season generously with salt, pepper and the Italian seasoning and toss again.
- Spread the cubed bread onto a baking sheet and toast for 25-35 minutes, stirring and flipping once or twice. You want the bread to be at least medium golden brown, and definitely crispy. It is better to be too crispy than too soft, just avoid burning.
- When the bread is done, remove from the oven and let it cool.
- Meanwhile, assemble your salad.
- About an hour before mealtime, combine your salad with your bread in a very large bowl. Add ½ cup dressing and toss thoroughly. Add additional dressing if desired, taking care not to over-saturate the salad.
- Place the salad in the fridge until mealtime.
Notes
- Ideally, you assemble this salad about an hour before mealtime so that the dressing just soaks into the bread slightly and the flavors can meld.
- If you need to make this salad a few hours ahead of time, the bread may be slightly softer from the dressing soaking in. I wouldn’t assemble this more than 4 hours ahead of time though.
- Alternatively, you can assemble your bread salad just before eating for extra crunch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 627
Find it online: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/panzanella/