This Panzanella Salad is super easy to make, loaded with freshly made croutons, tomatoes, cucumbers and capers. This salad is delicious, fresh, colorful and perfect for any time of the year!
Have you ever had a Panzanella salad before? If you haven’t, you’re missing out. Bread salads are really great and very common in the Middle east. Think Fattoush salads, one of my favorites.Â
The hardest thing to this salad is making the croutons, and I’m exaggerating here. All you have to do is toss the bread with some olive oil, salt and pepper then toast them for 10 minutes in the oven.
And if you don’t feel like toasting the bread, then just grill it. If you choose to grill the bread, cut it into slices first then after it’s toasted, cut it into cubes.
Either way you choose to make your croutons, this panzanella will be incredible. Ingredients are simple every day ingredients we all have in our fridge at all times. Tomatoes and cucumbers, and for something special I threw in some capers.
The other great thing in this salad are the herbs such as basil and mint. Don’t skip the herbs because you’ll be missing out.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #cravinghomecooked on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
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Easy Panzanella Salad
This Panzanella Salad is super easy to make, loaded with freshly made croutons, tomatoes, cucumbers and capers. This salad is delicious, fresh, colorful and perfect for any time of the year!
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total : 25 mins
serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 French baguette cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- 1 English cucumber seeded and diced
- 1 lb tomatoes chopped small
- 6 leaves basil fresh, chopped
- 3 tbsp mint fresh, chopped
- 2 tbsp capers drained and rinsed
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
- In a large bowl add the bread cubes and drizzle the 1/4 cup of olive oil over the bread. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of the salt and pepper then toss everything well together. Spread them into an even layer on a sheet pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and crisp. If the bread is super fresh it might take a bit longer.
- To a large bowl add the remaining ingredients together. Add the bread cubes and toss well. Season the panzanella to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately.
Tips & Notes:
The French baguette I used was around 8 oz in weight. Sour dough bread may be used as well.
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I recommend serving the Panzanella salad immediately, as the bread will get soggy the longer it sits. If you know there will be leftovers, don't add all the croutons to the salad, toss them in before serving so they stay nice and crisp.
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nutrition facts
Calories: 297kcal (15%) Carbohydrates: 26g (9%) Protein: 4g (8%) Fat: 19g (29%) Saturated Fat: 2g (13%) Sodium: 728mg (32%) Potassium: 298mg (9%) Fiber: 2g (8%) Sugar: 3g (3%) Vitamin A: 745IU (15%) Vitamin C: 12.1mg (15%) Calcium: 50mg (5%) Iron: 1.8mg (10%)
