The Best Soda Bread Recipe

Quick and easy, this Irish soda bread recipe is a classic. Our version is made with flour, baking soda, buttermilk, raisins, egg, and a touch of sugar and salt. Don’t let the simplicity fool you — it’s a real keeper and takes less than 45 minutes.

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

Grandma's

It appears everyone has their favorite Irish soda bread recipe. Some with caraway seeds, some with raisins, some with both, some with neither.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe

The essential ingredients in traditional Irish soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the base of the baking soda to provide the bread's leavening. This leavening from buttermilk and baking soda is what gives the bread its name: soda bread.

This soda bread is a slightly fancied up Americanized version of the Irish classic, with a little butter, sugar, an egg, and some currants or raisins added to the base. You can bake it in a cast iron frying pan (now that's traditional!) or on a regular baking sheet.

You can also make a simpler version without eggs or currants, with some caraway seeds, or you could turn your soda bread dough into biscuits.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread (and 10 Delicious Varieties To Try Too!)

Soda bread dries out quickly so it really is only good for a day or two. It is best eaten freshly baked and warm or toasted. Keep it wrapped in plastic wrap or foil.

That said, you can make it ahead and freeze it (let it cool to room temperature first). Wrap it tightly first in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. It will last up to 2 months frozen.

Traditionally, bread in Ireland was made in a skillet because the wheat that grew there was what's called soft wheat, which contained less gluten than its counterparts in America. The domestic Irish wheat didn't interact well with yeast and did not rise very well.

Soda Bread Recipe Without Buttermilk

Hence, the introduction of baking soda as a leavening agent, which reacts with the buttermilk to form small carbon dioxide bubbles, approximating the chemical reaction of yeast.

What we consider traditional Irish bread came about because of the Native Americans, who used a sort of wood ash as a leavening agent to make bread without yeast. This method of making bread was introduced to Ireland in the 1830s.

Different types of soda bread are popular throughout Ireland, but all of them are pretty simple, everyday breads. They were found in every household to mop up stews or to enjoy with a cup of tea. The Northern Irish divide their dough into 4 triangles, while the Southerners made theirs round with a cross shape on top. Here in America, we like to put in add-ins like caraway seeds, currants, raisins, or honey. Modern Irish soda breads might contain nuts, orange zest, or even Guinness.

The Best Irish Soda Bread

There are only a few ingredients in this soda bread recipe, so it's best if made with real buttermilk. However, there are a few buttermilk substitutions that work well and will still react with the baking soda to make the bread rise. Kefir works especially well, or you can thin yogurt to the consistency of buttermilk using plain milk.

You can also acidify milk with lemon juice or white vinegar. Add 2 scant tablespoons to a measuring cup and top with whole milk to make 1 3/4 cups total. Stir and let sit for a few minutes until the mixture curdles, then proceed with the recipe as written.

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2, 000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Grandma's Sweet Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

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Welcome to my favorite Irish Soda Bread recipe. I shared this no yeast bread recipe on my blog a few years ago and decided to revisit with fresh new pictures and a video tutorial. This recipe is my grandmother’s. She passed away in 2011, 2 weeks before I started this food blog. I dedicated my 1st cookbook to her. Full of energy and the creator of the best homemade pie crust on earth, she would be in her 90s today. St. Patrick’s Day is her birthday.

Easy Irish Soda Bread Recipe + Tips For The Perfect Loaf!

Does the thought of homemade bread send you running for the hills? Sometimes homemade bread feels daunting, but you’re in luck today. Irish soda bread is a quick bread made with baking soda, not yeast. Like my easy no yeast bread, this is a shortcut bread that doesn’t skimp on flavor. (If you want a yeast bread, I recommend my sandwich bread recipe!)

My grandmother’s Irish soda bread contains some sugar, but it’s not overly sweet. It’s a wonderful companion for savory dinners like hearty stew or you can serve it with butter, jam, and/or cheese. The raisins are optional, but Grandma would never let you skip them.

The full printable recipe is below. Irish soda bread dough comes together in about 10 minutes. You need buttermilk, egg, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and butter.

How To Make Bread Without Yeast

Irish soda bread only requires a few ingredients, including buttermilk. Buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to provide the bread’s leavening. It also adds wonderful flavor! We use buttermilk for the same reasons in my regular no yeast bread, too.

Irish soda bread can be made with or without an egg. 1 egg adds richness and density. Feel free to skip it to make a slightly lighter loaf. No other changes necessary, simply leave out the egg.

Traditional

If you’re baking for St. Patrick’s Day, you’ll love my Guinness Brownies, Baileys and Coffee Cupcakes, Guinness Chocolate Cake, Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes, and shamrock St. Patrick’s Day Cookies, too.

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that does not require any yeast. Instead, all of its leavening comes from baking soda and buttermilk. This Irish Soda Bread recipe is my grandmother’s and has been cherished in my family for years. It’s dense, yet soft and has the most incredible crusty exterior.

Sally McKenney is a professional food photographer, cookbook author, and baker. Her kitchen-tested recipes and thorough step-by-step tutorials give readers the knowledge and confidence to bake from scratch. Sally has been featured onTRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD — This Traditional Irish soda bread is made with just a few simple ingredients but bakes up into a beautiful, bakery quality loaf.

I’ve tried several recipes for Irish soda bread, and this Traditional Irish Soda Bread is by far my favorite. It bakes up into such a beautiful loaf that I can hardly believe it isn’t a yeast bread.

Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread

Even better, it’s so incredibly easy to make, especially if you’re impatient like me and don’t want to wait around forthe dough to rise.

I was totally shocked at how good this was. Made this yesterday for St. Patrick’s day and was a little nervous by the short ingredient list. No butter? But it was amazing & everyone had more than one piece! ~ Lindsey

The trick (or at least I’m assuming it’s the trick) is baking the bread with an inverted cake pan on top. I don’t know what kind of scientific baking magic that inverted pan creates.

Traditional

Irish Soda Bread With Chocolate

I just know this recipe never fails me and I get a beautiful, bakery quality loaf of Irish soda bread every time.

Like so many delicious breads, Irish Soda Bread is theproduct of a time when fancy ingredients weren’t available or affordable, so it’s made with only the most basic ingredients.

I have made this recipe three times. I have made it for our card group for a St. Patrick’s Day potluck with and without raisins. It was a big hit. Love the crispy crust. ~ Olivia

Best Irish Soda Bread Recipe

For some reason, I tend to only make this breadaround St. Patrick’s Day, but it’s so simple and deliciousI reallyought to make it more often.

I made this bread this evening and it did not disappoint!! It makes a beautiful bread and tastes great!! I will be making this quite a bit! ~ Lori

Gorgeous

The Best Classic Irish Soda Bread