Panzanella Salad with Mozzarella

Panzanella Salad with Mozzarella is the best summer salad. Croutons, tomatoes, mozzarella, and cucumbers are tossed in a vibrant dressing. Every bite is infused with classic Tuscan flavors that will keep you refreshed all season long!

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

You may know croutons to be a wonderful and crunchy addition to fattoush salad and Caesar salad, but this Panzanella Salad with Mozzarella really puts them on a pedestal! You’ll find homemade sourdough croutons tossed with tomatoes, mozzarella, cucumber, and Italian dressing in every bite. It’s a vibrant, yet simple recipe you can make all summer long at your next bbq!

Toasted bread is the star of this recipe - giving artisan bread new life with an extra crunch! It’s why I love making it with dried sourdough bread rather than stale bread or storebought croutons.

This way, your Tuscan Panzanella salad remains exceptionally crunchy and rich rather than dry and challenging to eat. Keep the stale bread for Thanksgiving stuffing and toast the fresh stuff yourself.

The refreshing ripe tomatoes and cucumbers, creamy mozzarella, and crunchy croutons are all marinated and dressed in a savory, tangy Italian vinaigrette to really make everything pop. I tell ya, there aren’t many refreshing summer salads quite like a Panzanella!

❓ What is Panzanella salad?

Panzanella (or panmolle) is an Italian summer salad that first originated in Tuscany in the 1500s. It was meant to be a dish that used up older ingredients, like stale, crusty bread. There are endless variations nowadays, with most recipes featuring cucumber, mozzarella, herbs, olives, and sometimes meat. Bread is never left out!

🍴Ingredients

A classic Panzanella salad is made with croutons and fresh Italian vegetables and cheeses. This is what you need:

• Croutons - You can use storebought croutons or make them yourself. I love to tear a sourdough loaf, baguette, french bread or focaccia into small bite-size pieces, drizzle them in good olive oil and a pinch of salt or other seasonings like garlic powder, and bake them until crisp and golden brown. They’re easy to make and 10 times as delicious as storebought!
• Mozzarella - Just like Caprese salad, a ball of fresh mozzarella is a must in an authentic Panzanella salad. I used fresh Ciliegine Mozzarella cheese for this recipe because they already come as bite-sized cheese balls, which means there’s no prep needed!
• Vegetables - All you need are cherry fresh tomatoes or ripe heirloom tomatoes and fresh cucumber. I love the pop of juice and flavor from cherry tomatoes but feel free to replace them with any kind of tomato you have on hand.
• Salad dressing - Bread salad is dressed in an easy Italian vinaigrette made from garlic, shallots, red onion, citrus juice, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic. 

⚒️ Equipment

• Sheet Pan or Baking Sheet - If you’re toasting the croutons yourself.
• Aluminum Foil - It makes cleaning up after making homemade croutons extra quick!
• Chef’s Knife - For slicing and dicing the tomatoes and cucumbers.
• Small Bowl - Or use a sealed mason jar to mix up the dressing.
• Big Bowl - Use a large or medium-sized bowl, depending on how much salad you plan to make.

📖 Step by Step Instructions

Not only does this salad take minutes to put together, but most elements can be prepared ahead of time. Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Toss the bread, cheese, and veggies together. Add the croutons, cucumber, tomatoes, and mozzarella to a large bowl. Toss to combine.

Step 2: Make the dressing. Whisk the shallot, garlic, red onion, and the rest of the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.

Step 3: Let it marinate. Drizzle the dressing over the crouton salad and toss to combine. Place the bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes. Letting the salad marinate will help soften the bread and allow the vegetables to soak up all kinds of flavor.

Step 4: Serve and enjoy. Once the salad is finished marinating, serve it in individual bowls or on a large platter and enjoy!

⏲️ Substitutions & Variations

• Bread is the star in Panzanella - Ditch the stale bread! Instead, use homemade croutons, high quality storebought croutons, or toast pieces of a hearty loaf of bread with oil and salt to help this salad taste its best.
• Serve the salad with or without greens - Stir in chopped romaine or arugula for more substance or keep it simple with fresh basil leaves.
• Salt the tomatoes first - This will extract any excess liquid (making your salad less watery) and help them taste better.
• Pair it with protein - Feel free to add some chicken, prosciutto, shrimp, or bacon.
• More add-ins - Stir olives, chicken breast, bell peppers, burrata, capers, onions, pickled garlic, caramelized garlic or shallots into the salad for more flavor.

❓ What goes well with Panzanella?

This is a summer salad, so pair it with colorful, fresh, and flavorful recipes. It’s a fantastic appetizer you can serve while the chicken thighs or steaks grill on the barbecue, or with pasta salad when it’s too hot to cook. Add summer fruits with tajin to the mix and a spicy pineapple margarita perhaps? SO many possibilities!

If you want to stay on theme and only serve it with Italian and Mediterranean-style dishes, pair the Panzanella with fresh focaccia bread, air fried sweet potato fries, lemon herb tahini yogurt sauce and pesto sauce for dipping.

❄️ Make ahead and storing

The dressing, crisp cucumber, juicy tomatoes and homemade croutons can all be prepared a few days ahead of time. Keep the dressing and vegetables in separate containers in the fridge and the croutons in an airtight container at room temperature.

In general, traditional panzanella is best eaten the same day it’s made and I don’t recommend storing the leftovers for later. The croutons soak up the dressing and become soggy within a few hours.

Hungry for more summer recipes?

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