This incredibly easy camping salad is perfect for high summer when you’ll find an abundance of veggies at your local market. It’s a one-pot meal that can even be adapted to require zero cooking when you get to camp. It’s also a great recipe for using up the rest of the stale bread in your pantry.
Fresh tomatoes, cukes, peppers, and red onion are combined with crunchy sauteed bread, and a tangy dressing to provide the perfect summer camping salad. Throws some sausages on your grill and crack open a beer. You’ve got the perfect summer camping meal!

The only thing you need to cook for this Panzanella is the bread itself. Saute it over medium-low heat in a camping pan – over a fire or your camp stove. Everything else just needs to be chopped and added to a bowl. It’s easy enough for kids with some knife skills to tackle on their own.
Why We Love this Easy Camping Salad

This bread salad is so easy to make, it practically makes itself. It’s a one-pot meal that is packed with fresh veggies. Here are a few more reasons to love this Panzanella:
- It all comes together super quick. Even if you have to cook the bread cubes, you can have this on the table in less than 20 minutes.
- The veggies that you need are sturdy and can live outside the cooler for a few days.
- Have extra? Save it for the next day’s lunch. The flavors will meld overnight and the bread will soften, but it will still be delicous!
Special Equipment for this Recipe

You don’t need much to create this easy camping salad. Here are the essentials:
- A cutting board and a sharp knife – Worth its weight in gold, we use this campfire cutting set from Primus. We bring it with us on picnics and day trips, and wouldn’t go camping without it. The chef’s knife is incredibly sharp, even after four years, and the board is a light bamboo that’s easy to clean. It all wraps up in its own carrying case, making it very portable.
- A small fry pan – We use this 12-inch camping skillet from MSR. The handle is removeable and the pan is durable and easy to clean. It’s also great for camping pancakes!
- A 2-burner camp stove – Technically you can make this over a campfire, but we wouldn’t go camping without our trusty Coleman stove.
Want to know what we keep in our camping kitchen? Read this next: Your Amazing Car-Camping Kitchen

Easy Panzanella Salad for Camping
This panzanella recipe is the perfect low-cook salad recipe for a busy day. It's perfect during late summer wh yenou can easily score fresh veggies from your local famers' market.
Ingredients
- 4 cups stale french bread, cut into cubes
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large tomato, chopped, or 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 cucumber, chopped
- 1 yellow,green, or orange sweet pepper, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 3 oz. fresh mozzarella or feta cheese, cubed
- For the vinaigrette
- 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
At home:
Add the vinaigrette ingredients to a jar. This doesn't have to be refrigerated.
At camp:
1. Heat 1 tablespoons of oil over medium-low heat on a camp stove or over a fire. Add cubes of bread and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring periodically, until the bread is nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.
2. Chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, and red onion and add to a large bowl.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the bread cubes to the bowl of veggies.
5. Shake the vinaigrette and pour it over your salad and season with more salt and pepper to taste.
6. Stir everything until it is well combined.
7. Serve immediately, or allow the salad to sit at room temperature for about half an hour while you grill some sausages. This will let the flavors blend a bit.
Notes
If you want a 100% no-cook camping meal, you can saute the bread cubes at home and store them in an airtight bag. When you get to camp, you just have to chop your veggies and mix everything together.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 388Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 714mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 4gSugar: 10gProtein: 10g
*Nutrition is an estimate based on information provided by a third-party nutrition calculator.
More Easy Camping Recipes
These are the recipes that we make again and again. Give them a try and let us know what you think!
- Easy Quinoa Patties for Camping
- White Bean Tomato Soup for Camping
- Our Favorite Hot Drink Recipes for Camping
- 7 Camping Pancake Recipes with One Basic Mix
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