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!
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 Soda Bread With Raisins And Caraway
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).
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.
Breadfruit Soda Bread Recipe
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 of a savory winter or spring stew. Perhaps alongside my Guinness beef stew pot pie or my stick-to-your-bones beef bourguignon? Once you get the hang of it, don’t be afraid to experiment with your own add-ins! Yum!
Crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, this skillet-style soda quick bread is the perfect pair for all your favorite dishes this spring. This recipe calls for buttermilk, but if you don’t have any on hand, don’t fret: just mix 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice and let sit for 15 minutes before using.This easy Irish soda bread requires only 5 minutes of hands-on time to stir together flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, one egg, buttermilk, and butter. It emerges from the oven with the perfect crumb. No yeast used! Ready in 1-hour. Video guidance below! ☘️☘️☘️☘️
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 —
What Is Irish Soda Bread?
— 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.
Easy Skillet Irish 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.
Classic Irish Soda Bread With Whiskey Raisins
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.
— 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.
Easy Skillet Irish 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.
Classic Irish Soda Bread With Whiskey Raisins
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.
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