Easy Panzanella Salad with Crispy Capers and Tinned Fish

This easy Panzanella Salad recipe features crispy fried capers and your choice of tinned fish. It’s a great way to turn bread into a filling, satisfying salad full of fresh flavor before it goes stale. But the tomatoes are the real star of the show, so grab the freshest tomatoes you can find and let’s get started!

There was a time when I didn’t like tomatoes. I wouldn’t touch the things! Not on a sandwich, not on a burger, and certainly not in a salad. But that changed when I interned with a non-profit organization that supported local farmers and urban agriculture. With so much exposure to different varieties at farmers markets and the range of flavors, sizes, colors, and textures, I fell in love with juicy summer tomatoes!

Flash forward to today, and I’m attempting to grow some of my own. Now that we finally have a yard with the sun and space to do it, I’m hoping the yield is enough to make at least a few batches of this Panzanella Salad recipe! 

It’s currently my favorite summer salad with the crisp cucumbers, tangy vinaigrette, red onion, fresh basil…and it’s filling enough to be a meal! What’s not to love about it? It’s amazing to me that such a simple salad can be so packed with tons of flavor!

What is Panzanella?

Most panzanella salad recipes are written as if the tomatoes are the main attraction. And don’t get it twisted, the tomatoes are an essential component. But it’s known as “Italian bread salad” because authentic panzanella originated in the Tuscan region of Italy in the 16th century. It combined old bread with a few simple ingredients. It served as a way to reduce food waste and revive bread that was otherwise too stale to eat. 

The earliest versions used water and relied heavily on onions (not tomatoes). Nowadays, most traditional panzanella salad recipes prominently feature all types of tomatoes. And I’m so glad because soggy bread soaked in tomato juice > soggy bread soaked in water. 

So really, panzanella is not a tomato salad that happens to have bread. It’s a bread salad that’s richly flavored with tomatoes and other ingredients. This opens up a whole new world for unique flavor combinations. You can truly customize it to whatever your taste buds desire, so long as you don’t leave out the bread! 

Check out a few other versions I’ve featured:

• Summer Panzanella Salad with Cantaloupe and Prosciutto  
• Spring Greens Panzanella Salad

Panzanella Salad Ingredients

• ​Your favorite crusty bread. I usually use sourdough bread because I love the flavor. But you can also make panzanella salad with any other type of hearty bread like focaccia bread or French bread. 
• Ripe tomatoes
• Fresh cucumber
• Red onion
• Capers
• Fresh basil
• Neutral oil, for frying. Canola or vegetable oil works well. 
• Your favorite tinned or canned fish. I used tinned salmon for the version you see in these photos. But see the next section for some other suggestions. This is what takes it from a side dish to a light meal, as each tin can add 14 to 20 grams of protein to help you feel more full and satisfied. 

I think the fried capers are really key. They’re briny and salty and crispy – as if this salad didn’t have enough crunch already! Full instructions are listed below, but it only takes a few minutes to fry them up.

If you prefer to skip, you can! Just drain and toss them in, totally bypassing the frying step.

And for the dressing, make sure you have:

• Olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Garlic
• Salt + black pepper

Swaps and Substitutions

This basic panzanella recipe is a great starter to make it your own. I really encourage you to customize it based on what you like or what you have! It’s very forgiving, so even if you don’t use exact measurements, you’re sure to end up with something delicious. 

Here are a few of my top recommendations:

• Add a little bit of feta cheese, parmesan, or fresh mozzarella cheese or burrata. Note that this means the panzanella salad is no longer dairy free, but you can also use a non-dairy cheese if needed. 
• Sweeten the dressing by adding a little bit of honey or maple syrup. 
• Toss in extra tomatoes, or add extra veggies like chopped bell pepper, olives, or sweet corn if you’re making this in late summer. 
• Speaking of late summer, sweet peaches and melon (especially cantaloupe) is a surprisingly tasty complement to tomatoes and the tangy vinaigrette.
• Swap the white wine vinegar for red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar. You can even experiment with an infused or flavored vinegar if you want to. 
• Test out different tinned or canned fish until you find your favorite. Personally, I really like any kind of salmon packed in olive oil. But try tuna, trout, mackerel, and even sardines or anchovies in this recipe. All of them provide some of the heart-healthy fats we should be eating more of!

How to Make Panzanella Salad

Although this panzanella salad recipe is simple, it doesn’t need to flow in a certain order of steps for best results. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through the whole thing!

How to Toast Bread for Panzanella

I’ve tried a few different techniques for achieving the perfect chunks of bread for a panzanella salad. With a little TLC, I think you’ll find this gets you better results than just tearing up some stale bread!

1. Start with fresh bread. “Fresh” in this case means anything from baked the day before to store-bought and still fluffy. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. 
2. Cut or tear the bread into 1-inch cubes, give or take. It doesn’t need to be perfectly uniform but the pieces should be bite sized. 
3. Spread the bread on a baking sheet. You can drizzle it with a little bit of olive oil or spritz it with some non-stick cooking spray. Pop the baking sheet into the heated oven and toast for 15 minutes. 
4. After 15 minutes, you have the option to move it under the broiler. This helps the bread get even more golden brown, but keep a close watch on it. Two, maybe three, minutes is all it needs. 

And while the bread is toasting, you have just the right amount of time to prepare everything else! I love it when it works out that way. 

Next Steps and Serving Suggestions

1. Once the bread goes into the oven, slice or chop your tomatoes into similar sized pieces. I slice cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes in half and chop full-size tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. 
2. Place the tomatoes in a colander or strainer, then place the strainer over a large bowl. Add a hearty pinch of salt and toss so it mixes into the tomatoes. This draws out the moisture and the tomato juices will collect in the bowl. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes, shifting every once in a while to drain. 
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small, shallow pan over medium heat. Drain the capers, and once heated, add them to the hot oil. Let them fry for 2-3 minutes until the pod burst open. They should appear dark green and crispy, so don’t let them fry for too long otherwise you’ll taste some burnt flavors. Drain from the oil on a paper towel (like you might do when cooking bacon).
4. While the capers are cooling, chop the red onion, cucumber, and basil. Everything will come together very quickly in the final steps so have everything ready to go before you start mixing. 
5. Remove the strainer or colander from the mixing bowl it was draining into. You should have a couple of tablespoons of liquid from the juicy tomatoes. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and whisk together to make a simple vinaigrette-style dressing for your panzanella salad. 
6. Toss in the toasted bread and coat with the dressing, then mix in the tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, and half of the basil and capers. The other half can be used as a garnish when you serve the finished recipe.

All that’s left to do is peel open your tin or can of salmon, mackerel, tuna, or trout and add it in! You can mix it in if you want to. But I prefer to use a fork to place it on top. This helps the delicate chunks stay intact without flaking apart too much. 

You can serve this salad at room temperature. No need to chill since you’re serving and eating it right away!

Street Smart Nutrition Tip: The method of making a salad dressing with the tomato juices is totally optional! It’s a nice way to infuse every bit of tomato flavor you can. But if you want to keep it simple or don’t have the equipment needed, you can use a combo of olive oil and vinegar. Start with three parts oil to one part vinegar, then adjust according to taste. Add dried or fresh herbs or seasonings like garlic powder if you want to for added flavor.

Tips for Meal Prep or Leftovers

This panzanella salad recipe is best served as soon as possible. While other salad recipes are fine to make ahead of time, this is not one of them!

Plate it up right away and add the remaining basil and capers. You can sprinkle on some cracked black pepper if you like, or season with salt to taste. The combination of ripe tomatoes (which are rich in the amino acid glutamate) and salt (sodium) is the basic formula for savory umami flavor…also known as, MSG! 

Add any of your other toppings or additions and enjoy! This recipe isn’t a good candidate for leftovers, so my best serving suggestion is to do you best to estimate the portions you need so you don’t end up with too little or too much. The bread will soften as it soaks in the salad dressing and moisture from the tomatoes and veggies, and by the time the next day rolls around, it probably won’t be too appetizing to eat again. 

​Save this recipe to take full advantage of seasonal produce this summer! I plan to hit the farmers market weekly (especially if our little tomato plants don’t thrive the way I hope they do). And if you make any swaps or changes to the recipe, I’d love to hear about them! Leave me a comment or a rating to let me know what you think, as feedback is always welcomed!

Thanks for stopping by the Street Smart Nutrition blog. Cheers to more fearlessly nourishing meals!