This roasted vegetable panzanella salad is a flavourful side salad combining fall vegetables, soaked bread and lots of herbs. A simple dish to make, and one that can be easily customised to your preferred fresh produce.
For more tasty side salads, check out my broccolini slaw and apple, fennel and radish salad. Both light and fresh, with so much flavour. My roasted beetroot and broccoli salad feels very 'fall' as well!
This recipe was updated on 10 January with minor amendments to the recipe, as well as new tips and photos.
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💭 What is panzanella?
I'll admit I hadn't heard of panzanella until I was lucky enough to go to Italy a few times on holiday years ago. Panzanella is a Tuscan dish, traditionally made with stale bread, soaked in water and vinegar, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and basil. All seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and salt (Recipes from Italy).
This roasted vegetable version is a twist on the traditional ingredients, but keeps the focus on soaked bread, olive oil and herbs. It uses fall vegetables that are roasted to enhance their natural sweetness.
For another version, you may like to see my panzanella without tomatoes, that uses fresh cucumber, onion and bell peppers. It's perfect for summer!
⭐ Why you'll love this recipe
- Fall flavours - roasted vegetables have a lovely sweetness and they go so well with the bread, olive oil and herbs.
- Versatile - you can use the vegetables you prefer, or have to hand.
- Easy to make - a simple recipe, with very little 'hands on' time.
🍠 Ingredients
Make sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list and their quantities!
The main ingredients you will need for this vegan panzanella are:
- Bell peppers, sweet potato and carrot - the roasted vegetables of the salad.
- Bread - use the type you prefer, and gluten free if required.
- Dried herbs and olive oil - to soak the bread in.
- Fresh herbs and pumpkin seeds - to garnish the salad.
- Olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic and maple syrup - for the dressing.
📖 Variations to the recipe
This is quite an adaptable recipe, and you can swap vegetables in and out for those you prefer or have to hand. Using squash or pumpkin during fall would be nice, or different types of bell pepper.
I tend to use coriander, but basil or parsley would also work well. Basil is of course more traditional for a panzanella salad.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Just a few steps to make this roasted vegetable panzanella salad:
Step 1
Arrange the vegetables on the baking tray and drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake until fork tender.
Step 2
Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a pan, and add your bread. Sprinkle over the dried herbs. Cook over a low heat, flipping the bread often. Add more oil if required. The bread should turn slightly crispy and light golden brown.
Step 3
Once cooled, combine the vegetables, pumpkin seeds and bread in a bowl, and drizzle over the dressing. Sprinkle over any extra salt and pepper to taste, and fresh herbs.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Cook the vegetables until fork tender and slightly browning at the edges for the best taste.
- Adjust the amount of herbs to taste preference.
- For those who love garlic, you may like to add more to the dressing.
- The bread will soak up the olive oil quite quickly, so add more to the pan if it feels too dry.
🥗 More fun salad recipes
Find exciting and flavourful salads, including my popular kale wild rice salad and quinoa arugula salad, amongst many others. Some recent recipes to try out:
I’m always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes. And please do leave a star rating if you tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Roasted Vegetable Panzanella Salad
Ingredients
- 2 small-medium sweet potato cut into 1 inch chunks
- ½ cups broccoli cut into small florets
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- ½ green bell peppers diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 1 slice of bread of your choice, or french baguette. Cut into 1 inch pieces.
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil divided
- pinch mixed herbs
- 1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds
- handful fresh herbs
For the dressing
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tsp. apple cider vinegar optional
- ½ garlic clove crushed, optional
- 1 Tsp. maple syrup
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 390F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Arrange the vegetables on the baking tray and drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake for 20-30 minutes until cooked through and fork tender.
- Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a pan, and add your bread. Sprinkle over the dried herbs. Cook over a low heat, flipping the bread often. Add more oil if required. The bread should turn slightly crispy and light golden brown.
- Once cooled, combine the vegetables and bread in a bowl, and drizzle over the dressing. Sprinkle over any extra salt and pepper to taste, and fresh herbs.
Notes
- Ensure the vegetables are fork tender after being roasted. Check on them after 20 minutes, as they can cook quite fast if cut into small pieces.
- Fry the bread on a fairly low heat. You may need to add extra oil as it soaks it up.
- If not vegan, then you can use honey rather than maple syrup in the dressing if you prefer.
- Please note that nutritional information is offered as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- bread (for the wheat), which scores 1.
- apple cider vinegar, which scores 1.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
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