This easy Irish soda bread recipe requires minimum prep time and no yeast! Buttermilk and baking soda give the soda bread flavor and ensure a perfect rise with a moist and tender crumb.
Some other easy bread recipes are my 3-ingredient artisan bread, this scones recipe and homemade French bread.
Table of Contents
Easy Soda Bread Recipe
A Irish soda bread recipe requires no yeast and no rise time, making it super quick. The outside texture reminds me of an Irish scone, while the inside is tender and sweet. It’s a unique texture compared to my easy homemade bread recipe, but so yummy.
This soda bread uses baking soda as it’s leavening agent which gives it its namesake! Butter enriches the dough, similar to a homemade biscuit. Serve alongside corned beef and cabbage for a traditional St. Patrick’s Day feast!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to make: Ready in only one hour, this quick bread recipe requires minimal kneading and no rise time.
- Hearty and rustic: Irish soda bread relies on baking soda instead of yeast. It’s more dense than a yeasted bread but still has a great crumb and the crust is to-die-for!
- Minimal ingredients: No special items are needed to make a soda bread meaning you can make this quick recipe any night!
Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Baking staples: Flour, sugar baking powder, baking soda, salt and an egg.
- Kerrygold Irish butter: This is a specialty butter that is a MUST for a classic Irish bread recipe. Slightly softened butter will work great in this recipe.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk tenderizes the loaf. Make your own homemade buttermilk with lemon juice or white vinegar or use store-bought buttermilk.
Sweet Version with Raisins
For a sweeter version , try making this classic Irish soda bread recipe with raisins.
Just mix in 1 cup of raisins (or 1/2 cup into half of the loaf). Next, sprinkle with sugar after brushing the butter on top before baking. Then slice it and top it with a little more butter and honey. DELISH!!
How to Make Irish Soda Bread
Traditional soda bread is a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick’s day or enjoy it as a side for crockpot beef stew. Mix together, perform a quick knead, slice the top, and bake!
- Mix. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients including flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or fork. Stir in the buttermilk and egg.
- Knead. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with your hands until the bread forms a ball.
- Cut. At this point, you can cut the dough in half to make 2 smaller loaves or 1 large loaf. Press it down and round the edges and then use a sharp knife to cut an ‘X’ in the top.
- Bake. Combine the melted butter and buttermilk in a small bowl and then brush half of it on top of the loaf. Bake at 350°F for 45 to 55 minutes, brushing the remaining buttermilk mixture on top halfway through.
Expert Tips
- Avoid dense bread: While soda bread is more dense than bread with yeast, over-kneading the bread will make it too dense. Handle the dough gently!
- Sticky dough: If you find that the dough is overly sticking, add more flour a small amount at a time until the right consistency is reached.
- Fresh baking soda: Active baking soda is needed to create a proper light and airy loaf. Check yours by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to a bowl of vinegar, if it bubbles quickly, it’s good to use.
- Cold buttermilk: Using cold buttermilk creates the best reaction with buttermilk.
5 star review
“Love this recipe! Even better than Kneader’s Irish Soda Bread. We look forward to it all year long…although I’ve been known to make this as the perfect side to any soup. It’s so moist, light and buttery…like a big biscuit. Anyone who tries it, loves it, and it’s easy to make and even give away!”
– Mollie
Irish Soda Bread Serving Suggestions
Here are a few delicious ways to enjoy a soda bread for breakfast, snack or at dinner. Don’t forget to include a slice as part of your St. Patrick’s Day feast, too!
- Plain: The flavor is so great that you don’t need to top this Irish bread with much when serving. Try enjoying a slice with a little bit of butter and a drizzle of honey.
- Jams or spreads: Strawberry jam, apple butter, and cinnamon butter are all great compliments.
- Soups and stews: Serve with comforting and hearty soups or stews like beef bourguignon, vegetable beef soup, or cabbage soup.
Recipe FAQs
Soda bread is a reaction between the buttermilk and baking soda and forms bubbles of carbon dioxide in the dough. The shape of the bread is also a tradition for it.
In the United States, soda bread is known as a sweet white bread that has raisins and often caraway seeds. The word “soda” in the name comes from baking soda instead of using yeast.
My top recommendations are a parchment paper lined cast iron skillet, pizza stone or baking sheet.
A baking sheet is great as it distributes heat evenly. A cast-iron skillet is the traditional method as it retains heat and gives the crust of the bread a slight crisp. A pizza stone is also great to retain heat. For a softer crust, you could even bake this in a Dutch oven with the lid on.
If your soda bread is too hard and dense or crumbly, the bread may have been over-kneading. Because there is no yeast in this bread, less kneading. This will give the bread a softer crumb.
It’s best if served the first day, however, the bread should keep for about 2 to 3 days. It has a tendency to dry out pretty quickly, so just make sure to wrap it tightly with foil or plastic wrap and store it at room temperature.
Do you love to celebrate with Irish recipes?! Try this shamrock shake, rainbow fruit platter and pistachio chocolate chip cookies.
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Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Bread:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 8 Tablespoons Kerrygold Irish Butter (can substitute for butter or margarine, slightly softened)
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
For Brushing on Top:
- ¼ cup butter , melted and slightly cooled
- ¼ cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a skillet, pizza stone or baking sheet. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or fork. Stir in the buttermilk and egg.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead with your hands until the bread forms a ball. At this point you can cut the dough in half to make 2 smaller loaves or 1 large loaf. Press it down and round the edges and then cut an 'X' in the top of the loaf.
- For the brushing on top, combine the melted butter and buttermilk in a small bowl and then brush half of it on top of the loaf. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick comes clean, about 45-55 minutes. Brush remaining butter onto the soda bread half way during baking.
- Cool on baking rack and serve warm. This Irish soda bread is best served the first day.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: Bread, Nut-Free, Quick Bread, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
This Irish soda bread recipe is great! It is so easy to make and delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Matt!
Great recipe, I like the no egg and the addition to baking powder, unlike other recipes, everyone loved this so I made more today! hardest part is getting the sticky dough off my fingers.. I didn’t have buttermilk so I made my own.
I made this recipe and followed it closely. After adding all of the ingredients I turned the dough onto a lightly floured surface. The dough was very crumbly and I had a hard time forming a ball. It finally came together. I brushed it with the butter and buttermilk and sprinkled the top with sugar. Slicing into the baked bread it didn’t want to hold its shape it was partially falling apart. The taste was good but I was disappointed with the finished texture of the bread. Can you tell me where I went wrong?
Hi Mary, I’m sorry it didn’t hold for you. :( My guess would be that too much flour was added and that it was over-mixed. soda bread is naturally a little more crumbly than a traditional bread, but it should still hold up it’s shape.
Thanks for your response! I am going to give it another try.
Couldn’t find my recipe that I’ve used for years, so I searched my many sites for one that sounded yummy! This was a wonderful choice! Easy to prepare, simple ingredients, and beautiful outcome! I made two nice rounds, added raisins for “spotted dog”, cut cross into top, and sprinkled sugar over brushed glaze! This is my new go to recipe 💚
Yay, this makes me so happy to hear! I hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day :)
Made it yesterday. Big success with my wife. We both loved it hot out of the oven and out of the toaster today.
I’m so glad to hear you both loved it! :)
This soda bread had a great flavor and texture! Delicious!
This recipe was super easy and my first ever having this bread we loved it!
I couldn’t beleive how delicious this bread was for being so easy and having so little ingredients. Will totally make this again- even after all of this nonsense is over!
I made this without the raisins and it was so good. I also just made the one large loaf. Its yummy with cinnamon butter on it.
This looks really yummy but I am a little confused. On step 4 it says: For the brushing on top, combine the melted butter and buttermilk in a small bowl and then brush half of it on top of the loaf. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick comes clean, about 45-55 minutes. Brush remaining butter onto the soda bread while it bakes. When do you brush on the remaining butter, as it says do it while it bakes, so do you put all of the butter on first then bake it?
Hi Kelle! You will brush the remaining butter on halfway through baking.
Love this recipe! Even better than Kneader’s Irish Soda Bread. We look forward to it all year long…although I’ve been known to make this as the perfect side to any soup. It’s so moist, light and buttery…like a big biscuit. Anyone who tries it, loves it, and it’s easy to make and even give away!
I’m so happy to hear that you love it! Thanks for leaving a comment and review Mollie! :)
Great recipe. Loved it! Just a note, if you add caraway seeds for the traditional recipe – hydrate raisins and caraway seeds in a small cup with boiling water for about 20 minutes before adding them into mixture!
Thanks for the tip!
Hi there! Such a good post, thank you!
I need to make this for St Paddy’s day! Such a yummy way to celebrate.
Hope you enjoy!!
Yum! Love easy Irish soda bread!
Love that I can have this prepared in no time!
Love this recipe for St. Patrick’s Day!
What a perfect dish for st. patty;s day. My kids will love helping with this one!
Hope you enjoy! :)