Peach Panzanella Salad
Peach panzanella salad is the epitome of summer. It has juicy peaches, ripe tomatoes, crunchy toasted bread, fresh basil, and a tangy vinaigrette. This crowd pleasing recipe will hit you with layers of flavor in every bite.
Looking for more summer salads? Try my zucchini corn salad, caprese peach salad, or mediterranean cucumber salad.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this summer panzanella salad:
- Crusty bread – sourdough, Tuscan, ciabatta, or baguette. I used Ciabatta bread.
- Tomatoes – any variety of tomatoes is great. You can use cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, vine tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, etc.
- Cucumber – English, hot house, or Persian are the best for this salad as they contain the least amount of seeds and have a pleasantly crunchy texture.
- Peach – I prefer yellow peaches for a nice pop of color.
- Fresh basil – for garnish and added flavor.
- Tangy dressing – olive oil, red wine vinegar, tomato juice, dijon vinegar, minced shallot and garlic, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
How to Make Peach Panzanella Salad: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Toast bread. Add the cubed bread to a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper then spread into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden brown.
- Salt tomatoes. Add the halved or chopped tomatoes to a small bowl. Season with a generous pinch of salt and stir to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to release their juices, then remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
- Make dressing. In the same bowl that has the tomato juice, add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and minced shallot and garlic. Whisk well to combine and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Combine. In the large bowl with the tomatoes, add the toasted bread, cucumber, peach, and fresh basil. Pour the dressing over top and toss to combine. Allow the panzanella to sit for at least 30 minutes so the flavors have time to meld and the bread can soak up some of the dressing.
Helpful Tips
- Use stale bread. If your bread isn’t dried out, you’ll want to leave it out on the counter overnight. This helps it absorb the dressing.
Quick Tip: Let the salad rest. Just 30 minutes in the fridge allows the bread to soak up some of the dressing and heightens the flavors even more.
Storage
Panzanella doesn’t keep very well. It’s best eaten either the day you make it or the following day.
The following day the bread softens quite a bit from the dressing (without turning mushy) but the flavor is unreal.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this simple peach Panzanella salad using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- Make it gluten free – use your favorite gluten free bread.
- No cucumber? – sub another crunchy vegetable such as red bell pepper or thinly sliced jicama.
- No peaches? – use nectarines instead.
- No shallots? – you can also use red onion or sweet onion.
- No red wine vinegar? – use sherry vinegar or champagne vinegar.
- Add-ins – sliced bell peppers, olives, capers, dairy free mozzarella cheese or real mozzarella if not dairy-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Panzanella is a type of salad that originated in Tuscany, Italy as a way to use up stale bread. Although there are many variations, traditional panzanella has chunks of stale bread, onion, and ripe tomatoes that are tossed in a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing. Many times, it also includes cucumber and fresh basil.
If possible leave it out on the counter the night before you bake it to help dry it out or bake the bread for a bit longer to dry it out further.
Even if your bread is dried out, toasting it in the oven allows it to keep some texture without becoming completely soggy when mixed with the dressing.
More Summer Salads
- Zucchini Corn Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
- Cantaloupe Melon Salad With Cucumber and Mint
- Peach Caprese Salad
I hope you love this Peach Panzanella Salad! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!
Peach Panzanella Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 cups crusty bread cut into 1-inch cubes, see notes below
- olive oil
- 2 cups tomatoes (any variety) halved or cut into bite size pieces
- 1 cup Persian or English cucumber cut into half moons
- 1 peach pitted and cut into bite size pieces
- handful fresh basil leaves torn or left whole depending on their size
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Dressing
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon shallot minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200ºC.
- Toast bread. Add the cubed bread to a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper then spread into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden brown.
- Salt tomatoes. Add the halved or chopped tomatoes to a small bowl. Season with a generous pinch of salt and stir to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to release their juices, then remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
- Make dressing. In the same bowl that has the tomato juice, add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and minced shallot and garlic. Whisk well to combine and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Combine. In the large bowl with the tomatoes, add the toasted bread, cucumber, peach, and fresh basil. Pour the dressing over top and toss to combine. Allow the panzanella to sit for at least 30 minutes so the flavors have time to meld and the bread can soak up some of the dressing.