Ready for a bread-based salad with juicy tomatoes and veggies? Try our modern version of the traditional Panzanella Toscana salad! We've added mozzarella and chicken for extra flavor and protein! This beautiful dish comes together in just 28 minutes!
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🤔 What is a Panzanella Toscana?
Panzanella is a traditional Tuscan dish comprised of stale bread, olive oil and onions. In Italian the word 'panzanella' is a combo of the words for 'bread' and 'deep dish.' Looking at the history of panzanella, the salad was actually based around toast and garden veggies (namely onions) until the 20th century, when tomatoes were also incorporated.
A modern Panzanella Toscana salad typically has these as a base: bread, olive oil, onion & tomato. And then you could add some cucumber, fruit, cheese (mozzarella, feta or parmesan), capers, basil, parsley, roasted peppers, olives, sturdy greens, vinegar, etc. I feel like we live in more culinarily irreverent times. So, it seems like you can make this salad whatever you want, as long as it still has the delicious croutons!
👍 Why we Love Panzanella Toscana
Easy and fast! Our Panzanella Toscana salad takes 28 minutes or less and is very simple.
Customizable- Panzanella salad has some basic key components, but you can make it whatever you want. We added chicken to the salad to satisfy heartier appetites, as a stand-alone dish for dinner.
Veggies galore! This dish is loaded with fresh veggies and the juicy tomatoes give the salad a huge pop of flavor that we can't get enough of!
🛒 Ingredients
Notes on Ingredients:
For the chicken:
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Salt
- Italian seasoning
- Lemon zest
- Garlic-minced or zested
For the Panzanella Toscana salad:
- Loaf of rustic bread- just not sourdough, since the flavor of sourdough doesn't really work for this salad
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Heirloom tomatoes- cut into thick slices
- Red onion- thinly sliced
- Cucumber- peeled & chopped
- Fresh basil- cut into strips
- Mozzarella balls- ciliegine
- Balsamic vinegar
🍞 Stale or Toasted Bread?
Traditional Panzanella Toscana calls for stale bread for the salad croutons. Stale bread is thought to absorb juices better than fresh bread, without falling apart. This works well if you plan ahead of time and let your bread get stale.
For this recipe, we operate under the assumption that you haven't planned ahead of time and are working with fresh bread. So, our instructions are to put cubed fresh bread in the oven for a bit. Same effect.
👩🍳 Instructions
Step 1: Toss chicken in seasoning.
Step 2: Prepare and bake bread.
Step 3: Grill chicken and cut into strips.
Step 4: Assemble/plate the salad individually and drizzle 2 t of the oil-vinegar mix atop.
🥄 Kid Steps:
- Use tongs to flip over chicken. Using tongs can be fun and supports the development of fine motor skills.
- Check the chicken's temperature using a meat thermometer (our fave is the Thermapen®).
- Cut veggies! Kids can use one of these safe, awesome kids kitchen knives to cut the tomatoes or cucumbers while you are doing other things.
✔️ Expert Tips and Tricks
- Get a good olive oil. If you can splurge a bit on any one ingredient, choose a great olive oil. The combo of the bread and olive oil is really the star of a panzanella. Moreover, I would go with extra virgin olive oil, either Italian or Spanish, stored in a dark glass bottle.
- Don't over-bake the bread. You want it soft on the inside but a little crunchy on the outside.
- Be sure to check the temp of the chicken with a reliable meat thermometer. Chicken is fully cooked at 165°F.
- Make this Panzanella Toscana salad dairy-free and vegetarian by simply eliminating the cheese. The salad is super flavorful without the cheese...and healthier. Lol.
- Make this salad vegan by taking out the mozzarella and chicken. You'll be left with a delicious and more proper Panzanella Toscana salad! I don't think you even need any replacements for these ingredients because the flavor is so solid already.
🧊 Storage
This dish is best served immediately, otherwise the croutons may become soggy as they soak of the salad's juices. Store Panzanella Toscana salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
❓ FAQ
You can add almost anything to your panzanella. Here are some popular ingredients: bread, olive oil, onion, tomato, cucumber, fruit, cheese (mozzarella, feta or parmesan), capers, basil, parsley, roasted peppers, olives, sturdy greens, vinegar, etc.
You can use dried basil but we don't recommend it. Fresh basil will make your salad much more flavorful.
While we opt to add grilled chicken to our Panzanella Toscana, you can easily pair this salad with any grilled meat, like steak, shrimp or salmon.
👧🏽 Tips for Picky Eaters
🍅 Separate the parts! Some kids find meals more palatable when the ingredients are separated out. Food isn't as scary when you can identify it. While I don't want to encourage this, if it gets your kids to eat, do whatcha gotta do.
🍅 Set aside the onions
🍅 Go easy with the croutons! My kids ate the bread before it was cut up, after I flavored it, and when it came out of the oven. They couldn't stop! lol. Just monitor their bread intake.
✂️ Craft for this Recipe
Need a craft to keep kids busy while you cook? We've got you! Use extra bread to make this adorable Painted Toast Craft! With this craft, you turn leftover bread into a bright and colorful snack.
🥗 Other Salads For You
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Best Panzanella Toscana Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons salt divided
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 small lemon, zested & juiced
- 1 clove garlic, minced or zested
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 loaf of any rustic bread but not sourdough
- ¼ cup olive oil divided
- cooking spray
- 3 heirloom tomatoes, cut into thick slices
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber, peeled & chopped
- 1 cup fresh basil, cut into strips
- 6 ounces mozzarella balls, ciliegine
- 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Set oven to 400 degrees.
- In a small bowl, combine 1 ½ t of the salt, Italian seasoning, lemon zest and garlic. Place chicken in medium bowl and sprinkle mixture on top. Toss and set aside.
- Cut loaf into 1" cubes (makes ~ 3 cups of bread cubes). Put cubes in a large bowl. Drizzle lemon juice, ½ of the olive oil, and ½ t of the salt over bread. Mix together with your hands, kind of sponging it together. Place bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, max. Bread should be toasted but not dried through.
- Meanwhile, coat a grill pan with cooking spray, using a basting brush to spread it, and heat on medium. Once hot, lay chicken on pan and cook for 10 minutes, flipping over several times. Remove chicken from heat, and once cooled, cut into strips.
- Plate the salad individually: 2-4 tomato slices, topped with a few slices of red onion, some cucumber, strips of chicken, basil, croutons, and mozzarella. Mix together the balsamic vinegar and the other ½ of the olive oil. Drizzle roughly 2 t of that mix over each plate (4 plates total).
Notes
-
- Plate the salad individually: 2-4 tomato slices, topped with a few slices of red onion, some cucumber, strips of basil, croutons, and mozzarella. Drizzle 2 t of the oil-vinegar mix atop.
- Get a good olive oil. If you can splurge a bit on any one ingredient, choose a great olive oil. The combo of the bread and olive oil is really the star of a panzanella. Moreover, I would go with extra virgin olive oil, either Italian or Spanish, stored in a dark glass bottle.
-
- Don't over-bake the bread. You want it soft on the inside but a little crunchy on the outside.
-
- Be sure to check the temp of the chicken with a reliable meat thermometer. Chicken is fully cooked at 165°F.
-
- Make this Panzanella Toscana dairy-free and vegetarian by simply eliminating the cheese. The salad is super flavorful without the cheese...and healthier. Lol.
-
- Make this salad vegan by taking out the mozzarella and chicken. You'll be left with a delicious and more proper Panzanella salad! I don't think you even need any replacements for these ingredients because the flavor is so solid already.
Nutrition
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. While we are not certified nutritionists, we work with a WordPress-integrated nutrition API to calculate our recipes' ingredient values.
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