This Panzanella salad with bursting ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, crispy ciabatta croutons, and homemade basil pesto chicken screams summertime. It’s light, vibrant, refreshing, and makes for the perfect entrée or side dish.
Summertime Flavors
Summer might be my favorite season. For as long as I can remember I’ve been spending my summers in Mallorca, Spain visiting family and relishing in the beauty and tranquility of the Mediterranean sea. Growing up in Spain allowed me to appreciate the importance of food and cooking, not just for my own health, but for the ability to bring people together and create something worth celebrating, not matter how simple.
One of the fondest memories I have in Mallorca is the trip we take every year to visit “Catalina’s Farm” where we would stop to get pounds of ripe tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cucumbers from an elderly couple to make the best gazpacho.
Having lived in the U.S. and experienced the high cost of organic produce, we were shocked the first time we went to Catalina’s little farm and got pounds and pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for a fraction of the price.
Some of my favorite summer foods to eat and cook with are tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, basil, parsley, lemon, garlic, onion, and peaches, and cherries. I love experimenting with these flavors to make healthy summer dishes that everyone will love, and I am excited to share one of my all time favorite dishes I’ve ever made!
Homemade Vegan Pesto Chicken
There’s nothing like the taste of homemade basil pesto. It’s super simple to make and with just a few ingredients you can make a pesto to slather on toast, over pasta, or to marinate with!
For this Panzanella salad recipe, I marinated cubed chicken breasts in my homemade vegan basil pesto and sautéed them in a pan for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crispy.
Vegan Parmesan
I wanted to experiment making a vegan pesto for this salad and mimic the flavors of my favorite store bought brands, so I made a vegan parmesan cheese out of raw cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, and salt. Trust me on this one and make a double batch because this vegan parmesan cheese is my new best friend. I put it on pasta, avocado toast, or sprinkled over a salad for a tangy and cheesy addition to any dish! You’ll be thanking me later.
To make vegan parmesan, simply place the raw cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, and salt in a food processor and blend it until it creates a sandy and slightly moist consistency.
If you don’t have the ingredients to make a vegan parmesan, feel free to substitute regular parm.
Ingredients
To make this vegan basil pesto, you will need just a few ingredients including this homemade vegan parmesan and a food processor!
Let’s break down what you need to make this tasty vegan pesto in just 10 minutes.
- Basil
- Pine Nuts
- Parsley
- *Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Garlic
- Lemon Juice
- Olive Oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Salt
- Pepper
To make the pesto, combine all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until mostly smooth, keeping some texture in from the pine nuts.
To make the crispy pesto chicken breasts, cut a chicken breast into bite sized chunks and place them in a large bowl. Toss the pesto in with the chicken, cover, and place in the fridge for 20 minutes to marinate.
To cook the chicken, heat a frying pan with 1 tsp of olive oil over medium heat and add the chicken, cooking for about 4-5 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature is around 165 degrees F.
Panzanella Salad
To make the croutons, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the cubed ciabatta bread and garlic cloves, stirring until toasted throughout (about 5 minutes). Set aside.
To assemble this Panzanella salad, add the romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, ciabatta croutons, red onion and toss with the caesar salad dressing. Add the mozzarella cheese and fresh herbs like basil and parsley on top! Serve the pesto chicken over the salad.
One of my go-to recipes for a caesar dressing is halfbakedharvest’s Parmesan Tahini Dressing. I love it so much I made no changes to it and I am sharing her recipe for the dressing here! This dressing makes the perfect addition to my pesto chicken Panzanella salad!
PARMESAN TAHINI DRESSING
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 cloves garlic, grated
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
My Favorite Summer Salad
This summer Panzanella salad is packed with bright and vibrant flavors from the tart cherry tomatoes to the crunchy croutons and juicy chunks of basil pesto chicken. I hope you give this a try!
This recipe is perfect for a summer barbecue with friends and family! If you’re looking around for inspiration to make an amazing 4th of July recipe, save this for later!
As always, If you liked this recipe, check out some of my other recipes and let me know if you give this one a try in the comments!
- Butternut Squash Carrot Soup with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Sausage, Kale, Butternut Squash Pasta
- Lemony Eggplant Orzo Salad
- Lemony Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
Summer Panzanella Salad with Basil Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
Panzanella Salad
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups torn ciabatta bread
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks
- 1/2 cup *vegan basil pesto see recipe below
- 6 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 cup red onion sliced thinly
- 6 oz sliced mozzarella cheese or burrata
- 1 tbsp fresh basil for serving
- 1/2 cup *parmesan tahini dressing see recipe below
Vegan Basil Pesto
- 1 cup basil
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1/3 cup *vegan parmesan cheese see recipe below or substitute regular parmesan
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Vegan Parmesan Cheese (for vegan pesto recipe)
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Parmesan Tahini Dressing (from Half Baked Harvest)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Basil Pesto Chicken
- To make the vegan basil pesto, you will need to first make vegan parmesan cheese (skip this step if using regular parm). Combine the cashews, nutritional yeast, and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse until moist and crumbly. Set aside to use for the basil pesto.
- In a food processor combine 1/3 cup vegan parmesan cheese and the rest of the vegan basil pesto ingredients and pulse until smooth.
- Chop up the chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks and add them to a medium sized bowl. Add in the homemade vegan pesto and mix it together with a spoon. Cover and let sit in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- After the chicken has marinated, heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a frying pan on medium to high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add in the marinated chicken and cook for about 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Remove from heat and set aside.
Panzanella Salad
- To make the croutons, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the croutons and garlic, stirring occasionally or until golden brown (about 5 min). Remove from heat and set aside.
- To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a blender if you prefer a smoother dressing. (whisking works just as well).
- To assemble the salad, add the romaine lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, red onion and toss with the dressing. Top it with pesto chicken, basil, and mozzarella cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
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