Grilled Peach Panzanella Salad with Jalapeño Vinaigrette

Keeping it healthyish today with my grilled peach panzanella salad with jalapeño vinaigrette. Grilled summer peaches tossed together with toasted ciabatta, fresh tomatoes, sliced onions, and an incredibly addicting tangy dressing. The toasted ciabatta soaks up all the flavors from the peach juices, juicy summer tomatoes and that jalapeno dressing. SO good. This colourful, bright and healthyish salad is the perfect salad to serve any night of the week all summer long.

This grilled peach panzanella salad recipe is…

• addicting
• super easy side dish or main dish!
• a great way to use up any day-old bread you have at home

Ingredients for grilled peach panzanella salad with jalapeno vinaigrette…

• Peaches: Duh. You’ll need sweet peaches, that are still a little firm.
• Bread: For this recipe, I like to use ciabatta, a french baguette will also work well. The toasted ciabatta cubes get a little crispier, and once tossed with everything they soak up the tangy vinegarette perfectly.
• Tomatoes: Just a handful of fresh, ripe tomatoes – baby cherry or baby plum tomatoes.
• Onion: Red onion or white onion, use whatever you have at home!
• Garlic: A few garlic cloves, grated to add a little kick to the vinegarette.
• Olive oil: A generous amount to drizzle over the cubed bread before baking, and it’s also the base of the salad dressing.
• Fresh herbs: A handful of fresh basil leaves, for tossing with the salad and a little more for garnish.
• Jalapeños: Pickled jalapeños from a jar. The combination of a few diced-up jalapeños and a little of that brine will give this salad the perfect tang. The brine is also added to the sliced peaches before grilling!
• Spices: Dried oregano, salt and black pepper. And if desired, chilli flakes!

All about the toasted bread chunks

Panzanella is a classic Italian salad made with day-old, stale bread but because I like the bread chunks to still hold up, and have a little bite to it, I toast it in the oven until golden! You can use any crusty bread of your choice, I tested this recipe with ciabatta and french baguette but found that the ciabatta had a little crispier result once tossed with the salad dressing. Use whatever you have at home, but if you can, buy ciabatta as it is the best bread for this salad.

Toasting the bread cubes is a super simple process, just cut the ciabatta bread into 1-inch pieces, and if they’re not even, don’t worry!

Transfer the bread chunks to a baking sheet, and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil, salt and black pepper. Give it a quick massage so every inch of that bread is covered in everything.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toasted, crispy, and golden brown. Once baked, allow the bread to cool down. If you like, you could do this step a day before using it. Just pop the toasted bread in an air-tight container at room temp.

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Grilling the fresh peaches

The key to this peach panzanella salad is grilling the peaches. Grab your yellow flesh peaches, and cut them into quarters. I like to keep them a little chunky, so once they’re tossed with the salad they don’t become mush and are able to hold their shape a little better.

In a small bowl, toss the summer peaches with a little olive oil and a little brine from a jar of jalapeños. Heat a grill pan over medium heat, and once it’s hot add the peaches, and allow them to char. The secret to perfectly charred peaches is not to check them too soon. Allow them to char for 2-3 minutes before checking, if you check any sooner, there’s a chance that they’ll stick to the pan. And once one side is charred, flip, and char the other side. I like to char the skin side for a few seconds too, but this is optional!

Set aside the grilled peaches until they’ve cooled down! While they cool, I like to slice the baby cherry tomatoes in half and slice the onions into thin slices.

The simple jalapeño vinaigrette

This jalapeño vinaigrette is what makes this peach panzanella stand out from others out there. Most panzanella recipes are made with balsamic vinaigrette, but when I tested this recipe with that kind of dressing I found it made everything look dull. By using brine from a jar of jalapeños we are reducing the waste in our kitchen, and we are gifted with a pretty addicting and colourful salad. It’s a WIN WIN.

To make the jalapeño vinaigrette, add olive oil, jalapeño brine, dried oregano, salt, black pepper, grated garlic, a few chopped pickled jalapeños, and chili flakes into a jar. Give it a good shake to combine. And just like that – you have the perfect vinaigrette for this peach panzanella recipe.

The final touches

To assemble the perfect summer peach panzanella salad, just add the crusty toasted bread, juicy tomatoes, sliced onions, perfectly grilled juicy peaches and lots of fresh basil leaves in a large bowl. Pour over that jalapeño vinaigrette, and toss it together until everything is well combined. Transfer to the fridge for a couple of hours, or even overnight.

To serve, you can leave it as is in the large bowl, or transfer it onto a serving plate. Finally, add a few basil leaves to this Italian bread salad. Enjoy at room temp!

After you try this great summer salad, please leave a star rating and review below! I try my best to respond to you all. Oh, and don’t forget to tag me over on Instagram – I can’t wait to see your images!!

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