Irish Soda Bread Recipe Cast Iron

This Irish soda bread is a light and tender loaf studded with plenty of raisins and baked to golden brown perfection. A super easy quick bread recipe that pairs well with so many different main course options!

When I’m looking for a hearty bread to go alongside a chicken stew or a prime rib roast, I often turn to this simple yet satisfying Irish soda bread. It has the perfect blend of sweet and savory flavors.

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Whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day or just any old weeknight during the cold weather months, you can often find me whipping up a loaf of Irish soda bread. I love when it bakes up with that perfect texture that just calls out for butter and jam! There’s no kneading, no yeast, no rising, and you can have fresh, hot bread on your table in no time!

Irish Brown Bread

This recipe starts with flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, which are stirred together with a spoon or a whisk in a large bowl. Cubes of cold butter are cut into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form. The next step is to stir in a healthy amount of raisins for a touch of sweetness. Finally, add buttermilk and egg and stir until a stiff dough forms. The dough gets shaped into a round, then goes into a pan or cast iron skillet. Score the top of the bread with a sharp knife, then bake it until it has a golden brown crust. Serve it with butter and jam or enjoy it with hearty soups or stews.

Soda bread is best the same day you bake it, but it stays fresh for up to 3 days at room temperature in an airtight container. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Freeze the bread in individual slices or as a whole loaf. Let the bread thaw at room temperature, then serve. You can also reheat it in a toaster, an oven or with a few seconds in a microwave to get that fresh baked taste!

Soda bread is a quick bread that always contains four basic ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. Other ingredients are often added to enhance the flavor of the bread, such as sugar, butter, eggs, raisins and citrus. The bread is shaped into a loaf, then scored with an X pattern and baked until golden brown.

Sweet Irish Soda Bread

Soda bread originally became popular back in the days when baking soda became available for use in home kitchens. Baking soda was relatively inexpensive and had a long shelf life, so many households kept it on hand so that they could make their own bread. Furthermore, buttermilk was a very common ingredient at the time, which is why it is featured in soda bread recipes from today and from years ago.

I prefer Irish soda bread served warm. It is fantastic hot out of the oven, but you can also reheat in a toaster, an oven or in a microwave.

Irish soda bread is a good option for a bread with simple, wholesome ingredients. While it does contain butter and sugar, it is lower fat than some breads and is yeast free.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Whether you’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or simply looking for an easy homemade bread recipe, this soda bread is sure to be a hit!

I was all set to complicate Irish soda bread by making a yeasted version when I started looking into its history and discovered that the soda —

Seeded Soda Bread With Chili Butter

— is perhaps the most traditional part of the bread, much more so than butter, sugar, eggs and raisins, in fact, which likely entered the equation when the bread crossed the pond.

Inspired by that article, I made a traditional loaf of soda bread with flour, salt, buttermilk, and baking soda, leaving out the yeast. And while it was perfectly edible, I found myself missing the richness of eggs and sugar —missing the scone-like texture created by the addition of butter…what can I say, I’m American!

And so here, I’ve added a bit of the riches back in: one egg, one tablespoon of sugar, and a couple of tablespoons of melted butter, which produces a loaf that resembles a giant biscuit, especially delicious toasted and slathered with softened butter and marmalade.

Apple, Beer, And Cheddar Soda Bread

There are two recipes below, one that calls for 100% all-purpose flour and one that calls for a mix of whole wheat, all-purpose, and wheat germ, the latter of which produces a slightly denser but no less delicious, chewy, tangy loaf. Each dough takes about 5 minutes to mix together and each will be ready about an hour later.

Yes! To do so, replace 50 grams of the flour and 50 grams of the buttermilk with 100 grams of discarded sourdough starter. See notes in the recipe box for precise proportions. I made a video of how use sourdough discard in this Irish Soda Bread recipe here:

No. Any oven-safe, 8- to 9-inch baking dish (such as a pie plate) will work here. A shallow dish is best to allow air to circulate. You could even use a rimmed sheet pan.

Easy Irish Soda Bread Recipe Without Buttermilk

In quick bread recipes (and others) that call for baking soda, some sort of acid is required to react with the baking soda to allow it to leaven the bread — this is why the buttermilk is essential. Can’t find buttermilk or don’t have it on hand? Make it yourself! Here’s how to make 1.75 cups of buttermilk for this recipe:

If you want to use sourdough discard in place of some of the flour/liquid, you can use 100 grams of sourdough discard, 460 grams of flour, 12 grams salt, 13 grams sugar, 5 grams baking soda, 1 egg, 360 grams buttermilk, 2 tablespoons melted butter. Follow the same method outlined in the directions. Watch the video here for guidance.Even though my last name is DiSomma, I discovered that I have some Irish in my heritage mix as well. So a few years back, I was off to Ireland to immerse myself in everything Irish. I spent a week getting acquainted with the culture and customs… and the food, of course! It was a deep dive—and one of the goodies I discovered was Irish soda bread. I fell in love and have been making it ever since.

Soda bread is the perfect bread for folks who suffer from FOY (also known as “fear of yeast”). I get it! Working with yeast can be overwhelming, even for a seasoned baker. Good news: soda breads don’t contain any yeast at all. In fact, they are so easy to make that they’re also called “quick breads”. These little loaves are leavened with baking soda, which means you don’t even “knead” to wait for it to rise. Ha!

Dylan Dreyer's Irish Soda Bread Recipe

This humble delicacy is known for its smooth surface with deep, cross-cut lines (which, by the way, are thought to be a blessing on the bread). Make sure not to put the knife away—you’ll need to poke a hole in each quadrant of the bread to get the fairies out of the dough.

Irish

Not sold yet? Soda bread tastes good, too. My recipe has a twinge of tangy flavor—that’s from the buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, don’t fret! Here’s a quick substitute: Add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes. You want it to curdle a bit, so don’t worry if it’s not perfectly smooth. Voila! Instant buttermilk! Some recipes call for raisins, but I prefer raisins’ itty bitty cousin: currants. To mix things up even more, I’ll sometimes go for a spoonful of caraway seeds instead.

Personally, I like to make my soda bread in a cast-iron skillet. It helps to heat and cook the bread evenly (not to mention the cute, country-style presentation).

Cast Iron Skillet Irish Soda Bread

I love using my Staub baking dish to make this bread. This French-based company makes beautiful enameled cast-iron bakeware. They are super durable and beautiful to look at, making them my “go-to” bakeware for oven to table cooking. Another great choice is the more familiar cast-iron skillet made by Tennessee-based Lodge Cast Iron. Either will work to make this delicious bread.

I’m always finding new reasons and ways to celebrate, but in my house, this Irish soda bread is tried and true. We always make it all March long, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Because it’s crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, it’s super versatile—enjoy it with butter or jam or on the side

BREAD RECIPES

Irish Soda Bread Recipe Cast Iron