Panzanella Salad with Sourdough Bread

What do you do with sourdough bread? Make this super easy sourdough panzanella salad! This classic Tuscan salad is made with easy ingredients and tastes beyond delicious.

Sourdough bread has had so much good press over the last few years.

That’s for good reason!

Sourdough bread is the “healthier” of all the breads out there. So, let’s seat back and enjoy a bowl of this delicious warm bread salad.

Originally published on August 3rd, 2016 at 4:31pm. Click here to see why this recipe was updated.

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Ingredients

Here is a quick look at the ingredients. It is to understand why these specific ingredients were chosen. To get the full recipe, go to the bottom of this post.

Sourdough Bread – “The long fermentation process of making sourdough bread means that the bread is so much more digestible and healthy for our gut. Sourdough contains bacteria that activate an enzyme which breaks down phytic acid, a difficult to digest anti-nutrient that’s present in all grains and seeds. In addition, sourdough amazingly breaks gluten down into amino acids making it easier for many people to digest without restricting their diet.” – Susan Vinskofski – Learning and Yearning

Olives – If you have followed me for a while, you know that I sing thunderous praises for olives! It’s one the healthiest ingredients on the planet. Packed with good fats, it can be a great snack or light lunch. I am using black olives and manzanilla olives.

Tomatoes – Yes, I am a huge fan of tomatoes on the vine (AKA Campari tomatoes) because they are packed with lycopene and anti-oxidants. It adds Vitamin C to this recipe that makes it priceless.

Red onions – Red onions have a ton of sulfur in them. Sulfur, among other advantages, can help lower blood sugars and reduce the production of unhealthy cholesterol. Source: Tufts.edu.

Capers – Other than a delicious tangy taste, there is a lot of good in capers. They are rich in antioxidants, fiber and iron. It helps your heart and brain function more efficiently. Source: MotherEarthStorehouse.com.

🍅 Tomato Tip: To prevent the salad from getting soggy, use firm tomatoes. Firm tomatoes don’t leak too much juice when chopped.

How to make sourdough panzanella bread

Step 1: Toasting the bread

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C) and place your sourdough bread on a cutting board
2. Roughly cut the sourdough into cube shapes.
3. Place bread in a glass bowl and drizzle avocado oil (or extra virgin olive oil) over the sourdough bread. Spread cubed bread to a baking sheet
4. Place it in the oven & bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Your cook time will depend on the freshness of your bread. Fresh bread will require more time in the oven.

Step 2: Assembling the sourdough bread salad

1. While the bread is in the oven, cut the tomatoes and onions. I like chopping them into cube shapes.
2. When bread is cool to touch, put it into a glass bowl.
3. Put the chopped tomatoes and onions in the bowl, along with the other ingredients.
4. Mix well and serve, immediately.

🌿 Herbs tip: If you can find fresh basil, oregano and parsley, use that in this tomato bread salad. Fresh herbs add amazing flavors.

Answering Common Questions

🍞 Air Drying the Bread: Don’t want to turn on the oven? Cut your bread into pieces and then put it close to a window for about 15-20 minutes. This will dry out the bread. Tip from Jamie Oliver.

Make ahead and storage

Making this salad with bread and tomatoes means that it will get soggy after an hour. So, sadly, this bread should be eaten as soon as you make it.

But, you can toast the bread ahead of time. Chop the ingredients and store them in a glass container. Bring the salad together when you are ready to eat it.

If there are any leftovers, refrigerate immediately. Use it up within a day or two. Do not freeze this salad because it will get soggy when thawed.

I normally buy sourdough bread so that I can make this amazing avocado tartine and even this sourdough pasta. Have you tried it?

What to serve with it

This bread salad works great as an appetizer. Serve it at any Sunday brunch alongside puff pastry pinwheels, beet lemonade and caprese tart.

It’s a great appetizer at any Italian dinner night. If you are serving pasta like lemon orzo pasta, casarecce pasta or stuffed peppers, then this sourdough panzanella will be the perfect fit.

Try these bread recipes

Have even more stale bread leftover? Turn it into croutons or panko breadcrumbs.

Sharing is caring

Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on this panzanella salad recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

Version 1 of this recipe

I used white bread for this salad and that didn’t work for me anymore. So, I remade this recipe using sourdough bread. Most of the ingredients are the same here. Get the original recipe here.