Home » Popular » Bread

Soda Bread Recipe

Have you ever eaten a warm, crusty slice of Soda Bread, slathered with a shmear of creamy, melting butter? Pure, unadulterated, quick bread heaven!

loaf of Irish soda bread and buttered slices
Post may contain affiliate links. See my Affiliate Disclosure.

Until last week, I had never made a soda bread recipe. I’d never experienced the crisp crackle of slicing through the crunchy, golden brown crust into the soft, tender bread underneath. How had I never tried this drool-worthy quick bread recipe?

Well, needless to say, that mistake has been corrected. And friends, I will not be looking back. This delicious bread will forevermore have a prized spot at the front of my recipe collection.

Like biscuits, soda bread is classified as a quick bread. Both allow you to have homemade bread on your dinner table in a little over 30 minutes. Seriously! 30 minutes to make and bake homemade bread!

homemade biscuits on a white plate slathered with butter and dripping with honey

Quick breads are a simple, game-changing formula that makes you a respected baker to anyone who has the pleasure of eating a slice of one your freshly baked loaves.

You’re going to rock this quick, easy and delicious recipe. And, you won’t want to make it for only one holiday a year. It’s everyday great bread! You’re going to make it often and become an experienced expert. You’ll be known far and wide as an accomplished baker of bread. You’re kind of a hero. Ya know?

You’ve got this! Let’s make soda bread!

Irish soda bread with raisins on a cutting board - irish soda bread recipe

Soda Bread Recipes vs Irish Soda Bread Recipes?

My desire to learn to make Irish Soda Bread came from wanting to share it with you as a St. Patrick’s Day option. It’s a recipe that always pops up in blogs, this time of year, and I was going to jump on the holiday bandwagon. Plus, I was just plain curious, never having eaten it before.

I had to do a LOT of research to not only come up with a final recipe, but to also understand this simple quick bread’s origins. And, my mind was blown to find that the origin is not with the Irish.

Native Americans were actually the first to be documented as using pearl ash, (a naturally occurring form of baking soda), to leaven their bread. The credit for soda bread can be pointed directly to them.

When baking soda was introduced in the United Kingdom, in the late 1830’s, the first examples of soda bread were seen in Ireland. The recipe evolved out of necessity, after the potato famine.

Irish soda bread with raisins on a cooling rack - irish soda bread recipe

Hungry families needed cheap, hearty food that didn’t require expensive cooking resources. Even those in far-out and remote regions had access to the simple ingredients and tools to make this humble loaf.

So, in the end, I don’t really think it makes sense to argue about the name. Whether you call it Soda Bread or an Irish Soda Bread recipe, it is a long-standing tradition of both the Native American and Irish cultures. They seem to be essentially the same humble, peasant-style loaf that made it possible to feed hungry families, no matter who was making it or where it was made.

I know without a doubt, that whatever name you decide to call it, you will definitely define it as delicious.

Soda Bread or Tea Cake?

The most confusing thing I ran across in my quest to learn how to make soda bread is the WIDE variation in recipes. I found a few simple, 4-ingredient recipes. But, if I’m honest, I probably found more that were actually enriched doughs containing butter and/or eggs and sugar. I was puzzled at the wide use of these extra ingredients, since I understood Irish soda bread recipes to be for hearty, loaves that the poor could afford on a day-to-day basis.

After more reading, I’ve come to realize that those enriched doughs would be considered to be “tea cakes” to soda bread purists. Those traditionalists agree that actual soda bread is only 4 ingredients. Like all recipes over time, even soda bread has evolved to adapt to the available ingredients and personal tastes of those making it.

quick bread recipe - slices of Irish soda bread showing crispy, goden brown crust and soft, tender crumb
Swoon! Just look at that crisp, crackly golden brown crust! Can’t you just imagine crunching into it? And the soft, tender crumb of that scrumptious bread! Yes, it’s quick bread heaven, my friend!

So, even though I opted for the more traditional approach; my addition of raisins isn’t traditional. It leaves me squarely outside the traditional boundaries of soda bread recipes for those who are purists.

After all those decisions were made, I landed on my final recipe by reading many articles and tons of other people’s recipes. So, mine ends up being adapted from watching videos and reading recipes by Darina Allen and Paul Hollywood.

Darina’s was 100% traditional and Paul’s wasn’t too far off the mark. He did flavor his with cheese and caramelized onions, though. And, he combined white and whole meal flours.

I also preferred one baking temperature rather than changing it part way through.

The Ingredients

golden raisins added to dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

Flour: I use plain unbleached all-purpose flour. As with any baking recipe, measuring flour accurately will make or break the success of your finished product. Eventually, I’m going to get an entire post put together about how best to do that. But, in the meantime, always follow the recipe instructions and measure with care. It’s all about the chemistry and ratios.

Baking Soda

Salt

Buttermilk or Sour Milk: There’s really no other option. Plain milk will not work. You need the acid of the buttermilk to react with the alkali of the baking soda to achieve leavening in your loaf. Plus, buttermilk simply takes the bread’s flavor to scrumptious heights!

In the notes section of the recipe card, I give instructions for creating buttermilk/sour milk with apple cider vinegar and whole milk, in case you don’t keep buttermilk on hand.

Golden Raisins: These are 100% optional and definitely not traditional in soda bread. However, they are 100% delicious and add lovely pops of sweetness against the delicious bread. I haven’t tried it, but I think dried cranberries would also be a lovely addition. And, now that I’ve seen the Paul Hollywood video, I’m excited to try out a savory, cheese-flavored Irish soda bread recipe, too.

FAQs about Soda Bread Recipes

Should Soda Bread be Kneaded?

No. As with all quick bread recipes, overworking the dough will over-develop the gluten and make your soda bread tough. You’ll need plenty of flour on your counter and on your hands. To achieve the best soft, tender texture, place your mixed dough onto a heavily floured board and gently begin to use the palms of your hands to mold the sides of the dough into a round. Keep turning and gently molding the loaf until it is round, tucking the sides under as you go. Flour the top of the loaf and gently press it down until you have a flat disc about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4″ thick. That’s all the shaping the dough requires.

Can I use plain milk in soda bread instead of buttermilk or sour milk?

Actually, no. To rise properly, the bread needs the chemical reaction that is created when the alkali of the baking soda combines with the acid of the buttermilk (or sour milk). Without this reaction the bread will be flat and dense.

Can I make soda bread dough ahead of time and bake it later?

While that would be convenient, the truth is that quick bread recipes use the chemical reactions of combining ingredients to leaven and lighten the loaves. As soon as those ingredients combine, the chemical reaction begins. You have a narrow window of time to get your soda bread into the oven to take advantage of that reaction. Soda bread should be baked as soon as the loaf is shaped.

A Flour Measuring Pro Tip for Baking

weighing flour

Ideally, you will measure the flour for soda bread, and any other baked good, by weight to get results consistent with what a recipe author achieves. A good kitchen scale with a tare function is an essential kitchen tool for baking. It doesn’t have to be expensive. I think mine was under $25 and I have used it for more than a decade. There are very important reasons for doing this.

Use 450 grams (or 1 pound) of unbleached all purpose flour to make this bread recipe. That amounts to about 4 cups by American standard measurements.

The problem with measuring it by the cup is that your cup, my cup and our neighbor’s cup can all have wildly varying amounts of flour, depending on whether we scoop and swoop or spoon and level the flour into our measuring cups. Whether the flour was aerated or left packed in the bottom of the canister before we started measuring will also affect the amount of flour in the cup.

This is why we have very respected baking organizations that have very different views about the weight of 1 cup of flour. If you look around online, you will find weights that vary from 120 grams to 150 grams. At a difference of 30 grams per cup times 4 cups, you’re looking at a variance of about 1 full cup of flour. Now, do you see why how you measure can have such an impact on your baked goods?

The good news is that pro bakers (and now, you and I) measure out their ingredients by weight. The weight I measure will be the same as the weight you measure and the weight your neighbor measures. It doesn’t change. Weighing flour for baked goods is the surest way to a successful outcome.

adding buttermilk to dry ingredients in a clear glass mixing bowl

Other Delicious Add-In Possibilities for Soda Bread Recipes

I mention raisins, dried cranberries and grated cheese in the post and recipe card. But, there are many other delicious possibilities for getting creative with the flavors of your soda bread.

You can also add a couple Tablespoons of fresh herbs or 2 teaspoons of dried herbs to your dry ingredients to create completely new flavor profiles for the bread. I especially love caraway seeds. DELISH!

Rosemary is a nice complement to bread, too. Try 3/4 teaspoon of dried crushed rosemary leaves in your dry ingredients.

For savory loaves, chopped sun dried tomatoes or black olives would be tasty add-ins. Paul Hollywood even chopped up caramelized onions in his loaf.

I’ve seen several recipes for chocolate soda bread popping up in my searches. I’m not sure how they do theirs, but I would start by replacing 1/2 cup of the flour (56.25 grams) with an equal amount of baking cocoa and see how the dough feels from there.

The other idea that I thought sounded scrumptious was to do some sort of a brown sugar & cinnamon swirl through a loaf. But, that is definitely still in the planning stages. Even if I can’t get a swirl to work, I may still try adding some cinnamon to the dry ingredients of a loaf. I’ll let you know what I figure out.

Get creative. Make the recipe your own and create some homemade bread your family will get excited about.

Meatball Stew in an ivory stonware bowl. There's a spoon in the bowl and it's all sitting on a barn board table.

What to Serve With Soda Bread

Nothing. And, everything. lol If you want to bake a loaf, sit down near a sunny window and eat almost half of it with nothing but creamy butter, you go for it! ( Not that I would know anything about that. 🙂 )

But seriously, soda bread is fabulous for dunking in soups, gravies and sauces. That makes it a beautiful accompaniment to almost any main dish you prepare.

I especially love it with Beef Stew or Meatball Stew and it’s delicious for zobbling up leftover gravy on the plate when we have Meatballs in Brown Gravy or a scrumptious Pot Roast dinner.

And then, to go a completely different direction you could add slices to charcuterie boards, serve pieces on a meat and cheese platter or enjoy it with cheese and fruit at an afternoon picnic.

The possibilities are endless!

How to Make this Irish Soda Bread Recipe

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F and add parchment paper to the bottom of a 10″ cast iron skillet or to a baking sheet.
  2. Measure your flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the baking soda and salt and stir to evenly distribute them throughout the flour.
  3. If you are using add-ins like golden raisins or grated cheese, stir them into the flour, now. This will help to distribute them evenly throughout the final dough. The coating of flour keeps them from clumping together and helps to suspend them in the dough, so they don’t all end up sinking to the bottom of the loaf.
  4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in all but about 2 Tablespoons of the the buttermilk.

  1. With your hands or a wooden spoon stir just enough to combine all the ingredients. The mixture should come into the shape of a shaggy, sticky ball with no flour left in the bottom of your bowl. If the dough seems too dry or you can’t incorporate all the flour, add the rest of the buttermilk and stir. Don’t over mix, though. The whole process of measuring ingredients, mixing the bread and shaping the loaf should take only about 5 to 10 minutes, once you have the recipe down.

Shaping the Loaf and Baking

For a visual tutorial of shaping the dough, watch the video in the recipe card, below.

  1. Turn the shaggy dough out onto a heavily floured board or counter top.Be sure you’ve floured your hands, too.
  1. Begin shaping the loaf into a round by using the palms of your hands to gently press and turn the loaf. Scoop flour against the sides as you do, to keep it from sticking to your hands. Gently tuck the sides under the loaf as you turn and round it, to start creating a smoother surface. This is still a very soft and rough dough, but the surface will become much smoother than when it started.
  2. Gently shape the dough into a round disc that is 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.
  3. Dust the top of the loaf with flour and use a bench scraper or sharp knife to cut a cross into the full diameter of the top of the loaf. Cut deeply. You don’t need to cut all the way through, but at least an inch deep. Spread the cuts open slightly to help with even baking.
  1. Place the loaf of bread into your prepared skillet or onto the prepared baking sheet.
  2. Bake at 425 for 25 to 35 minutes. To tell if the loaf is done check to see that the loaf has risen (will be domed in the center, where it was once flat) and it will be golden brown. The loaf will also sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. The center of the cross will be dry and show no signs of moisture. And a tester inserted into the center should come out clean.
  3. Transfer the bread to a wire rack and allow it to cool for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.

THE RECIPE

Want to Save This Recipe?

Enter your email & I’ll send you the link so you always have it at your fingertips.  Plus, I’ll send a collection of easy recipes to your inbox every Friday!

Save Recipe

By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Glenda Embree.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
cut soda bread loaf and buttered slices

Soda Bread


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Description

Easy and delicious quick bread recipe that gets hot, home baked bread on the table in around 30 minutes.  This should be as much of an everyday go-to bread recipe as my easy biscuits


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (450 g /1 lb.)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
  • 1 3/4 cups full fat buttermilk (about 400 ml / 13 – 14 fluid oz.), (*See Notes for substitution)
  • optional add-ins, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup dried cranberries, or 1 cup grated Parmesan or Cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F and add parchment paper to the bottom of a 10″ cast iron skillet or to a baking sheet.
  2. Measure your flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the baking soda and salt and stir to evenly distribute them throughout the flour.
  3. If you are using add-ins like golden raisins or grated cheese, stir them into the flour, now. This will help to distribute them evenly throughout the final dough. The coating of flour keeps them from clumping together and helps to suspend them in the dough, so they don’t all end up sinking to the bottom of the loaf.
  4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in all but about 2 Tablespoons of the the buttermilk.
  5. With your hands or a wooden spoon stir just enough to combine all the ingredients. The mixture should come into the shape of a shaggy, sticky ball with no flour left in the bottom of your bowl. If the dough seems too dry or you can’t incorporate all the flour, add the rest of the buttermilk and stir. Don’t over mix, though. (The whole process of measuring ingredients, mixing and shaping the bread should take only about 5 to 10 minutes, once you have this recipe down.)
  6. Turn the shaggy dough out onto a heavily floured board or counter top.Be sure you’ve floured your hands, too.
  7. Begin shaping the loaf into a round by using the palms of your hands to gently press and turn the loaf. Scoop flour against the sides as you do, to keep it from sticking to your hands. Gently tuck the sides under the loaf as you turn and round it, to start creating a smoother surface. This is still a very soft and rough dough, but the surface will become much smoother than when it started.
  8. Gently shape the dough into a round disc that is 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches thick.
  9. Dust the top of the loaf with flour and use a bench scraper or sharp knife to cut a cross into the full diameter of the top of the loaf. Cut deeply. You don’t need to cut all the way through, but at least an inch deep. Spread the cuts open slightly to help with even baking.
  10. Place the loaf of bread into your prepared skillet or onto the prepared baking sheet.
  11. Bake at 400° for 25 to 35 minutes. To tell if the loaf is done check to see that the loaf has risen (will be domed in the center, where it was once flat) and it will be golden brown. The loaf will also sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. The center of the cross will be dry and show no signs of moisture. And a tester inserted into the center should come out clean.
  12. Transfer the bread to a wire rack and allow it to cool for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.
 

Notes

* BUTTERMILK SUBSTITUTION: If you don’t have access to buttermilk, put 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar in the bottom of your measuring cup and add whole milk to make 1 3/4 cups of liquid.

**STORING SODA BREAD: Toss a clean tea towel over the loaf on your counter.  Soda bread is best eaten the day it is baked.  My guess is you will never have an issue making that happen.   But, if you do have a slice or two left the next day, I have had the best luck with toasting the slices in the oven.

  • Prep Time: 8 min
  • Cook Time: 30 min
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Irish American

More Delicious Quick Bread Recipes

Biscuits

biscuits on a plate with butter and honey
Easy 30-minute quick bread recipe!

Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

chocolate swirl banana bread
Sweet delicious chocolate and banana are the stars of this quick bread recipe.

Cornbread

favorite sweet cornbread
Our dressed up cornbread recipe is one of the tastiest quick bread recipes you’ll ever get to eat.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Easy Sweet Potato Biscuits with Cinnamon Butter. Delicious!

Alabama Pecanbread

A delicious quick bread loaf from Paula at Call Me PMc.

Protein Zucchini Bread

A high protein quick bread from Shelby at Fit as a Mama Bear.

glenda embree

About Glenda

I believe cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated and that YOU can do it. My simple recipes, tutorials, and cooking tips will help you get weeknight dinners on the table with less stress. Forget takeout or the drive-thru. Let me show you how to make homemade easy. Read more...

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

SEEN ON

as seen on promo graphic

SEEN ON

as seen on promo graphic