It isn't summer until you grill up this grilled panzanella salad! Sweet charred peppers and grilled onions are tossed with toasted ciabatta, sweet cherry tomatoes and the most delicious slightly sweet and tangy vinaigrette. You'll never want to make panzanella any other way!
During the summer months, I am all about the big salads, or as I like to call it, "no more wimpy salads". Julia Child's Salad Nicoise is a perfect example of that, hearty and full of texture and color.
But this grilled panzanella salad is even easier and is on a constant summer dinner rotation. Between the sweet fresh tomatoes sand the charred peppers and onions, there is nothing better. I mean, look at those stunning colors!
Classic Panzanella is a Rustic Italian Salad
Classic panzanella is a rustic Italian salad made with cubes of stale bread that is tossed with juicy tomatoes and other vegetables and drizzled with olive oil.
The moisture from the tomatoes and vegetables gently softens the stale bread, yet still keeping it's texture. Use a variety of colorful in season vegetables, such as cucumbers, heirloom or cherry tomatoes and bell peppers.
Panzanella is one of those rustic and easy recipes where you don't really need a recipe or exact measurements. As long as you have stale bread or grilled bread, tear it into pieces and toss with your favorite in season vegetables. Add a drizzle of olive oil or vinaigrette and you're golden!
Grilled Panzanella Salad: A Twist on the Classic
Instead of using stale bread (though, if you have any, this is the perfect recipe to use it in), grill the bread to both dry it out and offer another layer of smoky flavor.
Either way, the bread has to be dry so it's able to soak up the vegetable juices and vinaigrette. If you use fresh bread, it may be too soft and make for a soggy texture.
Fresh and Grilled Vegetables
- Cut red and yellow bell peppers in half and season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Cut thick slices of red onion and season the same way.
- Grill the vegetables with the ciabatta until nice grill marks form.
- For the fresh vegetables, cut the cherry tomatoes in half to release their juices. You can also use medium to large heirloom tomatoes, just be sure to cut the tomatoes into a similar size as the other ingredients.
- Keep the cucumbers fresh and cut into similar size as the tomatoes. If using Persian cucumbers, you won't have to peel since the peel is so thin.
A Few More Tips
- If you only have fresh bread and are craving panzanella, you can pop it in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes to dry out.
- The juicier the vegetables, the better. When prepping, add all those lovely tomato juices into the salad.
- Panzanella is fantastic made ahead for up to a day in advance, and I promise, the bread won't get too soggy!
Here are a Few More Hearty Salads to Try:
Grilled Panzanella Salad
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Ingredients
Panzanella Salad
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Salt and pepper
- 1 red onion sliced into thick slices
- 2 red and/or yellow bell peppers cut in half
- ½ loaf of ciabatta cut in half
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 2 Persian cucumbers chopped into ½ inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons capers drained
- 1 cup fresh mint and/or basil leaves roughly chopped
Vinaigrette
- ½ cup Olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon honey
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped or grated
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Drizzle the onions, peppers and bread with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Grill onions, peppers and bread until charred and flip over and grill other side. Keep an eye on the bread because that will toast quickly.
- Once done, chop the grilled onions, peppers and bread into ½ inch cubes and add to a large bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh herbs and capers.
- For the vinaigrette, add ingredients to a mason jar and shake very well. Toss vinaigrette over salad and mix to combine. Let panzanella sit for at least 10 minutes to soak up the vinaigrette.
Video
Notes
- If you only have fresh bread and are craving panzanella, you can pop it in the oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes to dry out.
- The juicier the vegetables, the better. When prepping, add all those lovely tomatoes juices into the salad.
- Panzanella is fantastic made ahead for up to a day in advance, and I promise, the bread won't get too soggy!
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published July, 2012 and updated June, 2022 with a retested recipe, updated photos, and nutritional information.
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Oh! I want this salad right now! Yum Yum Yum!
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