Oh hi, we’re back with bread salad again.
But this time, we’re leaning on the flavors from summer’s best sandwich: the BLT.
Now, we’ve done the BLT thing here before. And it’s great. I make that recipe all the time, and it’s perfect as-is.
But…
You can only fit so much summer veg between two slices of bread. And when you eat dinner on the couch (as I often do), eating a sandwich is risky and downright messy.
So I threw everything in a bowl, and now we’re here.
I kid you not, I have made this recipe almost every day for a week. I’ve swapped ingredients in and out, I honed in on a smoky-sweet dressing, and I have loved every single dining experience that has involved this here salad.
It. Is. Delightful. And just a really great way to celebrate allllll the in-season summer produce.
The core ingredients for this salad are, of course, the same as in your traditional BLT:
- Bread, toasted. Preferably a nice sourdough.
- Tomatoes, marinated. Any kind you want.
- Lettuce, shredded iceberg. No fancy lettuces here.
- Bacon, vegan. Of the coconut variety.
If you’ve never had coconut bacon before, it’s just unsweetened marinated coconut, pan-fried until crisp. It sounds weird, it is a little weird, but it is so, so good. Just trust me.
It’s best if you can find that thick flaked coconut (it is just so wonderfully crisp and chewy this way!), but shredded coconut (like I used in the pictures here) works too.
Then to make the most of our bowl and all that summery goodness, we’ll just load up the salad with anything that tickles our fancy. I went with corn, cucumber, green onion, and avocado, but you do you.
I really think you’ll love this salad just as much as I do. It has become a full-blown obsession in my house at this point, and I cannot wait for you to try it, too.
Three cheers for summer veg!
PrintBLT Panzanella
A smoky-sweet BLT-inspired panzanella salad made vegan! Load it up with your favorite summer veg and dive on in.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 servings
- Category: Salad
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
COCONUT BACON:
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (like grapeseed)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut chips/flakes*
DRESSING:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- pinch salt
- fresh-cracked black pepper
BREAD:
- 1 large slice of good sourdough bread, torn into bite-sized chunks
- 1/2 tablespoon oil
- pinch salt
- freshly-cracked black pepper
SALAD**:
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1–2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
- 1/4 cup corn kernels (I used thawed frozen)
- 1/4 english cucumber, sliced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/2 can chickpeas, rinsed
Instructions
- MIX UP THE COCONUT BACON: In a medium bowl, combine your soy sauce, oil, maple syrup, tomato paste, and smoked paprika. Whisk to combine.
- Add your coconut chips and toss to coat completely. Allow to marinade for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line a large plate or cookie sheet with paper towels.
- MAKE THE DRESSING: Whisk your dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Add your diced tomatoes into it to quickly marinate. Set aside.
- COOK THE COCONUT BACON: Heat a large pan over medium-low heat. Working in two batches, scoop out some of the coconut bacon and add it to your pan, leaving any additional liquid in the bowl to discard.
- Cook your bacon, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until golden. If certain pieces start to get darker than others, you can use tongs to remove them and place them on your paper towel-lined plate. Try to keep the pieces of coconut separated as they cook. They’ll crisp further as they cool. Set aside.
- TOAST YOUR BREAD: Toss your bread, oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Toast in a toaster oven or air fryer until golden. I used a toaster oven at 335 degrees F for about 5 minutes. Add to your dressing/tomato mixture and toss.
- ASSEMBLE: Add your other salad ingredients to the bowl with your tomatoes and bread, and toss again. Top with a nice handful or two of your coconut bacon (leftovers store well in an air-tight container in the fridge). Dive in, and enjoy!
Notes
*I used shredded coconut because I couldn’t find the big flaked coconut anywhere (I went to multiple stores!). Shredded worked, but the big flaked coconut is better.
**These are the ingredients I used the day I shot this recipe, but feel free to swap in your favorite summer veg!
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Thank you for letting me know about such a delicious and simple dish.Thank you for letting me know about such a delicious and simple dish. PolyTrack
dThis is a fun twist on a classic—keeping the core BLT elements but giving them a fresh, modern spin. The marinated tomatoes and sourdough already sound great, and coconut bacon is such an interesting alternative with that crispy texture. I like how it stays simple but still creative. After reading recipes like this, I sometimes take a short break with SoFlo Wheelie Life just a light game I play now and then to relax.elicious dish
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Turning it into a panzanella sounds perfect for summer, especially with juicy tomatoes, crispy bread, and coconut bacon. The smoky-sweet Crossy Road dressing sounds like the perfect finishing touch too.
It reminds me of summer picnics where we’d mix fresh ingredients. I’m curious—have you tried adding avocado for creaminess? I think it could be a game changer!
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Love that this solves the couch-dinner mess problem—croutons soak up all the BLT goodness without the structural failure of a soggy sandwich. Also, I’ve been using Revid AI to turn my recipe videos into faceless clips for social, and this would be perfect for that.
The couch-eating struggle is real — that’s exactly why I started looking for ways to deconstruct my favorite sandwiches, and this resource gave me a whole new angle on it. A BLT panzanella sounds like the perfect way to get all that flavor without the bread-toppling mess.
The move from sandwich to panzanella is genius—all those tomato juices finally have somewhere to go besides your lap. I’ve been using this tool to tweak the crouton-to-veggie ratio, and it’s made couch-dinner cleanup a whole lot less risky.
Couch-dinner mess is real, so this panzanella is basically my summer survival mode—love that you swapped the bread for crispy cubes to catch all the BLT goodness. Also, if you’ve got old food photos of past garden harvests, check it out to bring them back to life.
The “risky and downright messy” couch sandwich struggle is so real — this panzanella is the perfect fix, especially with those crispy bread cubes soaking up all that BLT dressing. I’m already planning to film a quick version of this for my channel using https://crayo-ai.net to speed up the editing.
I love that you turned the BLT into a panzanella — the bread soaking up all that tomato and vegan bacon fat is genius. And since I’m also a couch eater, I might need to check out Arcadeai for some washable linens before I dive in.
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honestly, the struggle of eating a BLT on the couch without making a total mess is so real, I feel like you personally called me out on that. I finally tried the coconut bacon trick last night and I’m actually obsessed, it’s lowkey weird how much it satisfies that craving when you add it to the sourdough chunks. I went a bit overboard and threw in some extra corn and chickpeas like you mentioned, and it turned into the perfect summer dinner. saved me so much stress tonight since I didn’t have to worry about sandwich crumbs everywhere.
I’ve been making BLTs with fancy mixed greens for years, honestly thinking that was the only way to do it right. Reading your take on using shredded iceberg lettuce was such a lightbulb moment for me. I always wondered why my salads felt a bit too heavy or lost the crunch when mixed with the bread, but the classic iceberg texture is clearly the missing piece of the puzzle. It’s lowkey genius to keep it simple like that. My bowl always looked a bit “off” compared to the classics, but now I finally get why. This is so real, sometimes the most basic ingredients just work better than the stuff we overthink. Edit text in screenshot Definitely changing up my routine for the next batch.
Eating a sandwich on the couch without making a total mess is basically impossible, so this panzanella idea is genuinely a lifesaver. I was skeptical about the coconut bacon at first because it sounds so random, but tbh it adds such a nice crunch that regular veggies just don’t have. replace text in images I ended up tossing in some extra avocado because I’m obsessed with it, and it turned out perfect. Honestly, this is the only way I want to eat my summer tomatoes from now on. My kitchen counter is still a bit of a mess from all the shredding, but it was worth it.
I honestly had the same realization last week while trying to eat a BLT on my couch—it was a total disaster with crumbs and tomato juice ending up everywhere. I love the idea of turning those flavors into a panzanella instead, especially since it makes it so much easier to eat without needing a pile of napkins. I was super skeptical about the coconut bacon at first, but I tried making a batch last Tuesday and it’s lowkey addictive once you get the crispiness right. My sourdough was a bit too crusty, but it soaked up that smoky-sweet dressing perfectly. stunning ai photo editor This is so real, I think I’ve found my go-to summer dinner for the rest of the season.
Honestly, this is so real. I had the exact same realization last week when I tried to tackle a massive BLT sandwich while catching up on a show on the couch. It ended up being a total disaster, with crumbs and lettuce everywhere. The idea of turning those flavors into a panzanella is genius because it’s just so much easier to handle. Seedance2 api I was a bit skeptical about the coconut bacon at first, ngl, but I gave it a shot with some flaked coconut I had in the pantry and the smokiness is surprisingly spot on. It’s definitely going into my regular rotation since I’m already obsessing over how well the marinated tomatoes soak into the sourdough chunks.
I honestly thought I was the only person who ends up eating dinner on the couch every night. The struggle of trying to eat a sandwich without half of the fillings falling out on my lap is too real, so this bowl version is such a lifesaver. cheapst minimax h3 API I was super skeptical about the coconut bacon at first, but honestly, it’s lowkey genius once you get that smoky-sweet crunch going. I’m definitely grabbing some sourdough this weekend to recreate this, the whole thing sounds like the ultimate summer comfort food situation.
I’ve honestly been skipping the iceberg lettuce for years because I thought it was just boring filler, but reading your point about using it for that specific crunch in this panzanella totally changed my perspective. I’ve always leaned into arugula or kale for “fancy” points, but now I realize why my bread salads felt like they were missing that classic sandwich texture. Ngl, it’s lowkey genius to keep the components so simple and just let the smoky coconut bacon do the heavy lifting. editar fecha en imagen I feel like I’ve been overcomplicating my summer bowls this whole time when I could’ve just been leaning into these classic flavors.