This Simple Panzanella Salad is made with loads of fresh tomatoes, crispy bread, red onion, arugula and a balsamic dressing.
It is Summer and if you are only going to make one salad, this Simple Panzanella Salad is the one!
If you have never had panzanella salad it is basically all of the good things you want in a salad - simple ingredients, a tasty dressing and crispy bread. Because bread in salad is a must-have.
And the bread in this salad is particularly important. You need a nice crusty bread to soak up all of the tomato juices and dressing. So when toasting your bread, be sure to get your bread super dry. This is not the time to under-toast your bread.
The best tomatoes for this Simple Panzanella Salad
So, the reason this salad is perfect for this time of year is because we are entering the peak of tomato season. The tomatoes will be juicy and sweet. Not to mention plentiful if you have a garden or are able to shop at your local farmer's market.
I used a combination of cherry tomatoes and pearl tomatoes. You can use whatever you have on hand, just be sure to cut them into bite-sized pieces.
How to serve Simple Panzanella Salad
To finish off the salad you are just going to combine the chopped tomatoes, crusty bread, red onions, arugula and basil in a big (I mean, BIG) bowl, and drizzle everything with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper.
And that's it. Once everything is combined, grab a fork and serve this up right away.
Need more recipe inspo? Check these out:
Simple Panzanella Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups tomatoes cut in bite-sized pieces
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar to taste
- salt & pepper
- 3 large slices crusty bread I used sourdough
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 cups arugula loosely packed
- 10 large basil leaves chopped
Instructions
- Add tomatoes and red onion to a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. Toss to combine and set aside.
- Heat 3 tbsp. of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add bread, dried basil and a pinch of salt & pepper to the pan. Cook, tossing regularly, until bread is toasted on all sides. Remove the bread from the pan and set aside.
- To assemble combine tomatoes, onions, bread, arugula and basil in a bowl. Add additional olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately.
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Nutrition
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Marsha Rubinstein
Delicious,I just added dried cranberries for a touch of sweetness
Margaux
SO good! Tastes like summer in a bowl. This hearty salad was the perfect summer dinner. Pan frying the bread was a genius way to avoid oven heat.
Rene
Yay! So glad you liked it!!!