Gimme Some Oven

Summer Panzanella

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This delicious Summer Panzanella recipe is filled with a rainbow of fresh tomatoes and veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, and tossed in an easy Italian vinaigrette. It’s the perfect side or main dish for summertime!

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

This post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

So…I totally married that guy who’s obsessed with salads. ?

You know, the guy who used to regularly purchase and eat an entire carton of spring greens for dinner back in his bachelor days. The guy whose salad emoji is always listed in his frequently-used screen, and who freaked out the day the “Healthy Living” Bitmoji was introduced. The guy who always waits to eat any side salad he’s served until the end of his meal, because he “wants to save the best for last”. The guy who can give you an ultra-detailed review of every chopped salad that has ever been sold at Costco. The guy who just — well — really really love salads!

Well, as you can imagine, we’ve thus tossed many a salad together during our two years together. (His favorite is my 5-Ingredient Arugula Salad — we make it probably at least once a week!)  But lately, we seem to have gotten in a rut with the same greens that we use over and over and over again. So for something different last week, I decided to whip up a simple panzanella salad instead, filled with some of the gorgeous heirloom cherry tomatoes and cucumbers and fresh basil that are overflowing at our neighborhood farmers market lately. And when tossed with some delicious buttery crusty bread, chickpeas, Parmesan and a simple red wine vinaigrette, we both agreed this recipe was an absolute keeper.

Winner winner salad dinner! ?

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

Oh, and freaking gorgeous too. I couldn’t get enough of all of those beautiful colors.

Let’s talk about how to make it!

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

To begin, we start with the heart of a good panzanella salad — delicious, buttery, crusty bread. I always love using a good ciabatta or sourdough bread to make the base of the salad, and all the better if it’s a few days old and slightly dried out. And for sure — all the better if it’s tossed with some yummy melted butter before baking, so that it’s extra golden and flavorful.

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

ALSO — on the butter note — I’m actually really excited that today’s post marks the beginning of a new partnership this year with Land O’Lakes here on the blog. I’ve been a big fan and regular purchaser of their line of butters for years, and love how flavorful it is (guys, good quality butter can kick your recipes up a major notch) and love that they are a Midwestern company that takes such good care of their farmers (a few of whom I’ve even had the chance to meet). More about them — and more butter recipes — to come. ?

But for today’s recipe, I thought I’d mention one of their products that Barclay and I use regularly — Land O Lakes® Butter in half sticks . We love these short little 4-tablespoon sticks because they are super handy with cooking for two. And also, they’re just freaking adorable, and just the amount you need for this recipe.

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

Anyway, while your buttery bread is toasting in the oven, use that time to prep all of your other ingredients and a simple vinaigrette. (Just about any fresh tomatoes will work here.)  Then once the bread is ready to go, combine everything together…

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

…give it a good toss…

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

…and then voila! This gorgeous panzanella will be ready to serve!

Well actually, you can decide when to eat it. I actually love panzanella served fresh after tossing when the bread is extra crispy and warm. But if you’d rather cover and refrigerate the salad and wait a few hours, you get the extra bonus of the vinaigrette soaking into all of those ingredients, making everything even more flavorful.

Up to you!

LOVE this easy panzanella recipe! It's full of cherry tomatoes, veggies, toasted buttery bread, chickpeas, basil, and tossed in a delicious Italian vinaigrette. Perfect for summertime! | gimmesomeoven.com (Vegetarian)

Whenever you’re ready, I just highly recommend adding some extra Parmesan on top, which is never a bad idea.

Feel free to serve this one as a main course (which we did!) or as a side salad (it would go super-well, for example, with anything off the grill during the summertime). And enjoy!!

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Summer Panzanella

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 10 reviews
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 small servings (or 2 large servings) 1x

Description

This colorful Summer Panzanella recipe is ultra-quick and easy to prepare, made with delicious buttery crusty bread, and perfect for potlucks or picnics or easy weeknight dinners!


Ingredients

Scale

Panzanella Ingredients:

  • 1 small (7-ounce) loaf of ciabatta or sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 4 tablespoons butter (I used Land O Lakes® Salted Butter in Half Sticks), melted
  • 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • half a small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
  • 1 batch Easy Italian vinaigrette (see below)

Easy Italian Vinaigrette Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

Instructions

To Make The Panzanella:

  1. Heat oven to 350°F.
  2. Spread the bread out on a large baking sheet (
  3. Meanwhile, as the bread is baking, prep your other ingredients and the vinaigrette.
  4. Once the bread is ready to go, transfer it to a large serving bowl, along with the chickpeas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, Parmesan and basil.  Drizzle evenly with the Italian vinaigrette, and toss to combine.
  5. Serve immediately, garnished with extra Parmesan if desired.  Or, cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours to let the flavors meld together more, stirring only once.

To Make The Vinaigrette:

  1. Whisk all ingredients together until combined.

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35 comments on “Summer Panzanella”

  1. Oh my gosh, this is gorgeous!!! Now I know what I’m making this weekend with tomatoes from the garden. :)






  2. YUM! I can’t wait to try this one. I’ve always been scared of Panzanella Salads for some reason. This one looks do-able and so delicious!

  3. This looks gorgeous and I’m betting tastes every bit as good as it looks. But the highlight of the post had to be your paragraph describing Barclay’s love of salads! It made me laugh out loud! And is there really a salad emoji? Who knew?!

  4. That is truly beautiful.

  5. Beautiful…. you will love this even more if you soak/cook your chick peas rather than using canned. The difference is major. You can use some and freeze the rest for another time, another dish, or another salad. :)

  6. I made this for dinner tonight as a main dish. Very delicious and a nice change.






  7. Yummm!
    Looking back twenty five years, I remember in awe of my nephew at five years old, with a huge smile on his face at the restaurant saying, ” I”ll have salad please”. What, no chicken nuggets and fries? Though his tastes have probably changed, I am looking forward to your yummy salad. Thanks for the great recipes and ideas.

  8. This look so delicious and well made. Thanks for sharing this.

  9. Hi Ali – this looks awesome! Do you have any tips for making this ahead and storing it?

    • Thanks, Alison, we hope you enjoy! You can make this ahead of time, without the bread. You can add the bread about four hours in advance, but we’re afraid it would get pretty soggy if you add it earlier than that. We hope this helps!

  10. Love chopped toss together salads like this instead of the greens versions which get so boring fast! I’m loving all kinds of chopped salads with cherry tomatoes.

  11. Really gorgeous, Ali! Im a color freak too! I love colorful food and everything I cook is drenched in colors.

  12. This look so delicious, this great recipe for hot summer days.






  13. Seeing your e-mails pop up in my inbox always makes my day! Just sayin’ . . . I made this panzanella recipe last week and my family absolutely loved it! I’m making it again tonight to serve along side some juicy steaks. Love taking advantage of all those great summer flavors. Thanks for another winner!






  14. I have recently stumbled upon your blog (the no bake energy bites sold me) and I am loving the recipes. However one thing I do not love (not even a little) are red onions, what would be a great substitute for them, in anything and everything?

  15. I made this tonight and it was so yummy and simple! I love love love your recipes and incorporate them regularly in our house! ;) Thank you!






  16. We made this last night and loved every bite. Thanks, Ali!






  17. I made this today for lunch – incredible salad! The basil and Parmesan add a lot of flavor in particular.






  18. We loved this salad this past summer. I looked it up again tonight to make croutons for soup! I used olive oil instead of butter as one of my guests is vegan.






  19. This is so delicious! Hubby and I gobbled it up.






  20. It turned out delicious, but I think some steps are missing. I assumed the bread was to be tossed in the butter, otherwise the butter wasn’t mentioned in the directions. Also, the directions didn’t specify how long to bake the bread. Step 2 has a open parentheses, but nothing follows it.






  21. Some of the directions are missing. (For baking the bread). That aside, love your recipes! I’ve made a few of your salads over the past couple of years and was missing this one particularly. I also have a significant other who is a vegetarian, so I’m always looking to you for ideas! Thanks!

    • Love all your recipes! You’re my go to for good food! This turned out awesome. Keep them coming!!