Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Pan Bagnat
A round loaf soaked in olive oil and packed with a Niçoise salad of tuna, egg, and vegetables, a Riviera lunch.
Monégasque · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 10 min
~226 cal · 17g protein · 18g carbs · 10g fat · 5g fiber · 7g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Pan bagnat, bathed bread in the local Niçard tongue, is the classic sandwich of the Riviera coast shared by Monaco and neighbouring Nice. It is essentially a salade niçoise packed into a round crusty loaf and left to meld, the perfect portable lunch for the beach or the market.
The bread is rubbed with garlic and tomato and soaked generously with olive oil, then filled with tuna, hard-boiled egg, tomato, radish, olives, and anchovy, with never a cooked vegetable in sight. Pressed and left to sit so the bread drinks the oil and juices, it is rustic, briny, and gloriously messy.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 round crusty loaves
2 cans (5 oz each) tinned tuna, drained
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
3 tomatoes, sliced
1 cup radishes and olives
3 spring onions (cebettes), sliced
a handful fresh basil leaves
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Instructions
1
Split the loaves and rub the cut sides with garlic and a little tomato.
2
Drizzle generously with olive oil and a splash of vinegar.
✎ Chef’s note
Soak the bread well with oil, the pan bagnat needs to be bathed, and use no cooked vegetables; it is a raw salad in bread.
3
Pack in the tuna, egg, tomato, radish, spring onion, olives, and basil leaves.
4
Press the halves together, wrap tightly, and let sit at least 30 minutes before eating.
Monégasque and Niçard tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Monaco. Monaco is a rocky principality where barbagiuan, pastry parcels of chard and ricotta, are fried and sold as street food on the national holiday. Its cooking is Ligurian in character: olive oil, chickpea flour socca, basil, and Mediterranean fish.
🗺️
Monaco. Monaco's cuisine is Mediterranean Niçoise, socca chickpea pancakes, stuffed vegetables (barbagiuan), and stocafi salt-cod stew. Olive oil, herbs, and the Riviera coast define an elegant, sun-drenched table.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Monaco
StocafiMonaco's stockfish stew, simmered in tomato, wine, olives, and herbs until rich and tender.
SoccaA thin, crisp-edged chickpea-flour pancake baked hot and eaten in torn pieces with black pepper.
Fougasse MonégasqueA sweet anise-and-orange-blossom bread topped with nuts and tiny red-and-white sweets, Monaco's festive bake.
Browse all Monaco recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best made to order. Prep the fillings ahead and assemble just before eating so nothing turns soggy.
Make it a Monaco meal
Fougasse MonégasqueDessert
Soupe au PistouDinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Pan Bagnat?
A round loaf soaked in olive oil and packed with a Niçoise salad of tuna, egg, and vegetables, a Riviera lunch.
Where does Pan Bagnat come from?
Pan Bagnat is a Monégasque dish from Monaco, Monaco.
Can Pan Bagnat be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pan Bagnat recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Pan Bagnat safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Pan Bagnat take to make?
About 30 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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