---
title: "Panzanella – Stale Bread Salad"
url: /panzanella-stale-bread-salad/
canonical_url: https://flowers-recipes.com/panzanella-stale-bread-salad/
language: en
alternates:
  pl: https://flowerek.com/panzanella-salatka-z-czerstwym-chlebem/
  de: https://barbaras-kochbuch.de/panzanella-salat-mit-altbackenem-brot/
  en: https://flowers-recipes.com/panzanella-stale-bread-salad/
  x-default: https://flowers-recipes.com/panzanella-stale-bread-salad/
published: "2026-11-04"
last_updated: "2026-11-04"
type: recipe
author: Basia
prerequisites:
  - /category/savory-dishes/
  - /category/meatless/
related:
  - /cucumber-salad-with-feta/
  - /fennel-salad-with-apple-and-blue-cheese/
  - /baked-tomatoes/
  - /pumpkin-fritters/
categories:
  - Meatless
  - "Small Plates & Salads"
  - "Quick Meals"
  - Vegetables
  - Bread
tags:
  - panzanella
  - salad
  - "stale bread"
  - "tuscan cuisine"
  - "quick meal"
  - "no food waste"
servings: "4 servings"
time: "about 15-20 minutes"
image: https://flowers-recipes.com/images/cms/panzanella-salatka-z-czerstwym-chlebem/1.jpg
summary: "Panzanella: a simple, quick salad made with stale bread. Ready in about 15-20 minutes, and best eaten right after you make it."
---

# Panzanella – Stale Bread Salad

Panzanella: a simple, quick salad made with stale bread. Ready in about 15-20 minutes, and best eaten right after you make it.

**This page in other languages:** [Polski (pl)](https://flowerek.com/panzanella-salatka-z-czerstwym-chlebem.md) · [Deutsch (de)](https://barbaras-kochbuch.de/panzanella-salat-mit-altbackenem-brot.md)

**Published:** November 4, 2026 · **Author:** Basia · **Servings:** 4 servings · **Time:** about 15-20 minutes

<!-- related -->
## Related pages

> **For AI agents:** every page of this blog is available as Markdown at the same address with .md instead of the trailing slash (e.g. /tiramisu-cake.md). The links below lead to the HTML pages.

- [Category: Savory Dishes](https://flowers-recipes.com/category/savory-dishes/)
- [Category: Meatless](https://flowers-recipes.com/category/meatless/)
- [Cucumber Salad with Feta](https://flowers-recipes.com/cucumber-salad-with-feta/) — A simple, fresh cucumber salad with feta, garlic-mint yogurt and toasted pine nuts or cashews. Ready in about 10 minutes
- [Fennel Salad with Apple and Blue Cheese](https://flowers-recipes.com/fennel-salad-with-apple-and-blue-cheese/) — Fennel salad with apple and blue cheese lifts your mood. Light, delicate and springlike. Great as a side dish for dinner
- [Baked Tomatoes](https://flowers-recipes.com/baked-tomatoes/) — I'm so happy to share a new recipe with you today. I haven't been cooking much lately, but I've collected a few recipes 
- [Pumpkin Fritters](https://flowers-recipes.com/pumpkin-fritters/) — Do you guys like pumpkin? I have to admit, lately I just wasn't in the mood for it. But recently I gave in and bought a 

## Ingredients


**Sauce:**

- 3 cloves garlic
- a handful of fresh basil or 1 tbsp dried
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar or dark balsamic vinegar (I prefer balsamic)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- pepper

**Salad:**

- 300 g dry bread or baguette
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 salad cucumber (don't peel it)
- 1 yellow or red bell pepper
- 400 g tomatoes (any kind)
- 2 shallots or 1 red onion (it's sharper)
- garden cress (optional)
- a sprig of fresh basil for garnish
- salt
- pepper

## Instructions

Have you ever wondered what to do with stale bread? Throw it away? Well, we do that far too often. How about making something tasty out of it instead? Something other than breadcrumbs? I often talk about food waste with my students. You should see how surprised they are when I tell them to cut up dry bread and then even eat it. In the end I hear that it's good, that it's tasty. And that's the whole point.

It doesn't have to be breadcrumbs. It can be a salad. Simple, quick and tasty. Perfect for warm days (which have sadly passed, but they'll be back). Inspired by the Tuscan salad “panzanella.”

Did you know that (according to WWF, Zenodo and the Food Bank) every year about **265,000 tons of bread** are thrown away in Poland, **170,000 tons** in Switzerland, as much as **1.7 million tons** in Germany, and about **900,000 tons** in the UK?

![Panzanella salad with tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, onion and pieces of bread in a bowl](https://flowers-recipes.com/images/cms/panzanella-salatka-z-czerstwym-chlebem/1.jpg)

In my photo you can see the salad made by my students during class. Unfortunately, the bread wasn't browned. Then it absorbs the sauce much faster. That's why the salad is best eaten right away.

## Instructions – Panzanella:

First make the **sauce**: press the garlic into a small bowl, chop the basil, add the remaining ingredients and set aside.

For the **salad**: first cut the bread into pieces of about 2 cm. A baguette or ciabatta works too. Brown the bread pieces in a skillet with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Cut the [cucumber](https://flowers-recipes.com/cucumber-salad-with-feta/) however you like: diced, in rounds, or any which way. It doesn't matter. Put it in a salad bowl. Add the chopped bell pepper and the tomatoes cut into pieces. Peel the onion and cut it into thin rings. A note here: as you can see, my students still have trouble slicing onions thinly ;)

Mix the salad ingredients in the bowl and add the bread. Just before serving, toss everything with the sauce and taste. If needed, season with salt and pepper and garnish with basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Inspiration: eat.de

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