Sun-Dried Tomato Panzanella Salad

There’s a certain kind of joy that comes with a bread salad, and when I say bread salad, you know I mean panzanella. But not just any panzanella, this one is a Sun-Dried Tomato Panzanella! A summertime vegetarian panzanella that harnesses a full jar (you heard me!) of sun-dried tomatoes. The vinaigrette for the vegetables uses some of the oil the sun-dried tomatoes are stored in. Half of the jarred tomatoes show up in a super quick sun-dried tomato pesto, while the other half are sliced and thrown directly in with the panzanella salad. By using sun-dried tomatoes two ways, this panzanella not only cuts down on waste, but it packs in punchy, tomatoey flavor that only these peak-summer tomatoes can provide.

Vegetarian panzanella is simple to make, I just use vegetarian salami in place of salami or mortadella that you might find in other panzanellas. But don’t worry, this recipe still has a bright and tangy vinaigrette, a million vegetables to swoon over, and pockets of rich, creamy buffalo mozzarella. This is my ideal salad in the summer months, and it uses the best the farmers’ market has to offer.

First, what is panzanella?

Panzanella is a bread salad from Italy, more specifically, Umbria and Tuscany. It is a salad that was designed to use up stale bread by soaking it in a vinaigrette and combining it with other juicy, watery vegetables. The result was bread that soaked up all the surrounding salad ingredients, making something pretty delicious while salvaging older ingredients at the same time.

Panzanella is usually a simple salad using tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and basil, however, there are many variations out there. The salad is usually tossed in a simple vinaigrette or just a combination of vinegar and olive oil.

Whenever I make panzanella, I try to make it with day-old bread, or bread that has been in my freezer for a decent amount of time. Crisping it up in the oven returns its natural crunch, and then it is ready to be the perfect addition to a panzanella salad.

Why doesn’t this sun-dried tomato pesto have parmesan?

While pestos typically have parmesan in them, I opted to keep this sun-dried tomato pesto plant-based. I did this for a few reasons:

1. I couldn’t see much difference in flavor or texture with the addition of parmesan, since sun-dried tomatoes are already so salty and concentrated in flavor.
2. This recipe already uses buffalo mozzarella, and I didn’t want the ingredients list to require you to use (and buy!) two kinds of fancy cheeses — Inflation is tough out there!
3. The amount of sun-dried tomato pesto you get in this recipe is just under 1 cup. That means (depending on your parties enthusiasm for pesto) you may have some left over. I kept it plant-based so that if you have other plant-based eaters in your home the leftovers would be fair game.
4. If you want to remove the mozzarella from this recipe, then the pesto makes this recipe easily vegan!

How to properly toast your croutons

I typically am making this recipe with frozen or day-old bread, meaning that bread needs a little love to get back to its former glory!

While there are many ways to toast croutons, I find the simplest way is in the oven.

First, tear or slice the bread into bite-sized pieces. Add these to a baking sheet before drizzling them with olive oil. I add my flaky salt during this step because of what I call the “cling factor.” As the croutons bake, the salt will cling to them. This makes it much more effective than if you were to salt them when they are done toasting.

Toast the croutons in the center rack of the oven at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until golden, but not brown.

The best way to maximize your jar of sun-dried tomatoes

In most of my sun-dried tomato recipes, I call for a full jar. That’s because I absolutely HATE having jars of half-used condiments lying around my fridge (do not get me started on leftover tomato paste…a necessary evil).

The best way to maximize your jar of sun-dried tomatoes is to use the oil that they are stored in. I call this liquid gold since it has had so much time to soak up all the umami flavor from the dried tomatoes and all the herbs and spices that these tomatoes are usually stored with.

If you are making a recipe with a salad dressing, use the sun-dried tomato oil instead of olive oil. If you are cooking with them, use the oil to sauté your ingredients and coat your pan. Think of it as bonus oil and make sure you get the most out of it!

How to prep and store this Sun-Dried Tomato Panzanella Salad

This salad is a delicious meal-prep salad to have on hand. You just want to store it properly for peak freshness.

To store this recipe, I’d actually suggest making the sun-dried tomato pesto and storing it in a small air-tight container. Then, make the vinaigrette and store that in another container as well.

Chop up all the vegetables and the salami, and toss that together with the croutons into a big air-tight container or bowl. This will help soften the croutons, but not make them soggy.

When it is time to eat the salad, I would scoop out however much of the salad you would like to have, add the vinaigrette, mix and dot with the mozzarella and pesto to finish.

This will keep everything as fresh as possible so you can enjoy this salad throughout the week!

Looking for other tomato recipes?

Here are a few of my favorites, perfect for tomato season!

And that’s it for this Sun-Dried Tomato Panzanella Salad!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3

Watch the recipe here

The video may not fully represent the recipe. For best results, follow the instructions as written.

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