Pan Bagnat
A salade niçoise pressed into a round loaf until the bread soaks up the dressing. Bagnat means bathed, and the pressing is not optional.
Photograph credit: Pan-bagnat002 by Arnaud 25 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
What Goes With It
- A glass of Provence rosé
- A beach
- Cornichons
How to Cook Pan Bagnat
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Cut the loaf in half horizontally and pull out some of the soft crumb from each half to make room.
-
Rub the cut faces hard with the garlic and then with the cut tomato, pressing so the juice soaks in.
-
Whisk the oil and vinegar and brush both faces generously with it.
-
Layer the filling into the bottom half in this order: tomatoes first and salted, then pepper, onion, beans, tuna, egg, olives, anchovies and basil.
-
Season between the layers and put the lid on.
-
Wrap the whole loaf tightly in cling film, put it on a plate, and weight it with something heavy.
-
Press at least 120 minutes, refrigerated, before cutting it into wedges.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
Notes From the Method
Press it. Two hours minimum, and longer is better.
Rub the bread with garlic and tomato before anything else.
No lettuce. It turns to slime.
If You're Missing Something
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Leftovers
Refrigerated and pressed for up to a day; it improves for the first six hours.
Common Questions
How long does Pan Bagnat take to make?
25 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 2 hours of pressing under a weight, so allow 2 hours 25 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
Pan Bagnat Nutrition Facts
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More French cooking and lunch ideas from Weekly Delight.
Frisée aux Lardons
Curly endive with hot bacon, a vinegar-deglazed dressing and a poached egg on top. The dressing is made in the bacon…
Salade Lyonnaise
Bitter leaves, a hot bacon dressing poured over so they half-wilt, croutons fried in the same fat, and a poached egg…
Tarte Fine aux Tomates
A thin puff pastry tart spread with mustard and topped with overlapping tomato slices, thyme and olive oil, baked…
Pipérade
Peppers, tomatoes and onions cooked down to a jam with Espelette, then eggs stirred through. Basque, and often eaten…
Ratatouille Tart
A buttery shortcrust tart filled with thin spirals of aubergine, courgette and tomato over a layer of mustard and…
Roasted Vegetable Tart
A puff pastry tart spread with pesto and topped with courgette, pepper, red onion, tomatoes and goat cheese.