French in a Flash: Niçoise Panzanella Bread Salad Recipe

Updated March 25, 2025

20111030NiçoisePanzanella.jpg — Kerry Saretsky

Some people say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Don't reinvent a classic. It's a classic because it's perfect as is. Which, is true. But even though this panzanella is something of a reinvented Salade Niçoise or Pan Bagnat, I'm not reinventing it to improve it, but to find more ways to eat it because I love it.

Salade Niçoise is iconic, as is the Pan Bagnat which is just a Salade Niçoise sandwich. This is somewhere in the middle: a bread salad full of all the flavors that make a Salade Niçoise a Salade Niçoise: cherry tomatoes, tender blanched haricots verts, anchovies, garlic, lemon, olive oil, thyme, basil, and the best part, albacore in olive oil. All tossed with toasted, crusted cubes of bread that soak up all the flavor and make it a meal. It's salty, fresh, crisp, and bright.

So like I said, this is just one more way to eat your Salade Niçoise, and who doesn't want that?

Recipe Details

French in a Flash: Niçoise Panzanella Bread Salad Recipe

Prep 5 mins

Cook 10 mins

Active 20 mins

Resting Time 20 mins

Total 35 mins

Serves 4 servings

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

6 cups day-old bread, cut in 1-inch cubes
The juice and zest of 1 lemon
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
7 ounces haricots verts, halved and blanched until tender crisp
45 cherry tomatoes, halved
30 kalamata olives, pitted and halved
12 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained and roughly chopped
1 cup baby arugula, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
1 (5-ounce) can of albacore in olive oil, drained

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the bread in a single layer on a baking sheet, and toast until just golden brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together the lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, toss together the haricots verts, cherry tomatoes, olives, anchovies, arugula, basil, parsley, and the lemon-thyme vinaigrette. Then, add the tuna and bread croutons to the bowl, and gently toss until everything is combined. Let sit on the counter for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
497	Calories
25g	Fat
51g	Carbs
20g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	497
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 25g	32%
Saturated Fat 4g	19%
Cholesterol 26mg	9%
Sodium 1201mg	52%
Total Carbohydrate 51g	19%
Dietary Fiber 7g	24%
Total Sugars 17g
Protein 20g
Vitamin C 19mg	93%
Calcium 202mg	16%
Iron 5mg	29%
Potassium 568mg	12%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.