Easy Irish Soda Bread with raisins and all purpose flour. This amazingly tasty quick bread recipe takes minutes to throw together – no yeast and no proving! Delicious served toasted for breakfast, dunked into soup or as a snack.
This recipe can be baked as a traditional Irish Soda Bread, a Vegan Soda Bread or a Gluten-Free variation of either! Bake a batch this Saint Patrick’s Day.
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Soda bread is the world’s easiest and tastiest quick bread! Traditional Irish soda bread is made with all purpose flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. It has a rustic exterior with a thick crust and dense yet tender crumb.
The baking soda reacts with the buttermilk to give the bread its rise – there’s no yeast involved or much kneading.
This is good news for novice bakers or if you need bread in a hurry as it doesn’t require proving. If you ever wondered if you can make bread with plain flour the answer is yes – soda bread.
The basic recipe has evolved over the years and these days there are countless soda bread variations, each Irish family adding their own personal touch.
Irish soda bread tastes a little like scones – subtly sweet with a slight sour tang. It’s best eaten slightly warm slathered with butter, honey or jam but can also be eaten with stews or soup. I love it with my Sweet Potato soup!
SODA BREAD INGREDIENTS
I didn’t set out to make vegan soda bread… but as I was making the recipe I realised I didn’t have buttermilk or any milk (my husband having made one too many lattes that day). Soda bread without buttermilk? You bet!
I used almond milk, lemon juice, all purpose flour, salt, baking soda and vegan block (Stork). I also added raisins and a little sugar because that’s how my Irish-Canadian husband remembers it.
The raisins and sugar are of course entirely optional. But don’t expect the bread to taste sweet even if you add them – it’s got a little sweetness but can still be eaten with hearty stews or soup.
You can use buttermilk (or soured milk) and real butter and replace the sugar with honey if you like – the bread will no longer be vegan, of course.
How to Make Irish Soda Bread
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
STEP 1 Combine your choice of milk and lemon juice in a measuring jug and leave to stand while you get on with the recipe. The milk will likely curdle a little, that’s what we are after – we are making soured milk (you can also use buttermilk of course).
STEP 2 Add the 3/4 of the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl and stir together to aerate the dry ingredients. Hold some of the flour back and only add it if the dough is too sticky to work with.
STEP 3 Rub in the COLD butter / vegan block until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. You can use your hands, a pastry cutter or a knife to do this.
STEP 4 Pour the soured milk into the bowl and stir so that the flour is moistened. The dough is very sticky so I used my Danish dough hook to stir the ingredients.
STEP 5 Add the raisins, if using, and just enough flour so that the bread is not too sticky when mixing with your hands. We want the dough to be on the wet side though.
STEP 6 Sprinkle flour on your worktop and flour you hands too. Gently knead the dough, adding more flour gradually if it is still very sticky, until comes together. Don’t overwork the dough – use a very light touch otherwise the bread will tough.
STEP 7 Quickly shape the dough into a round loaf and score a deep cross using a sharp knife. This helps the bread rise and also “let’s the fairies out” according to Irish lore.
STEP 8 Place the loaf on a skillet or baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, until the bread is well risen with a golden crust. The bread should sound hollow if you tap the underside. Leave the bread to cool on a wire rack before slicing or simply splitting and tucking in!
TIPS FOR BEST EVER SODA BREAD!
- Don’t get hung up on the amount of flour specified in the recipe. Different types of flour have various rates of absorbency and humidity can also play a factor. It’s best to work with a wet sticky dough and only add as much flour as needed.
- Light touch is the secret behind making the BEST Irish Soda Bread or an inedible hard brick. Handle the dough as little as possible – same as you would when baking scones or making muffins.
- Make sure your baking soda is FRESH. The reaction between the soda and acidity in the soured milk or buttermilk forms tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide in the dough which makes the bread rise. Since the reaction happens as soon as the wet ingredients are mixed in, aim to get your soda bread into the oven quickly.
- Use cold milk and vegan block / unsalted butter. You can even cube and freeze this for 30 minutes if you like, especially if it’s a really warm day.
SODA BREAD VARIATIONS
- Caraway seeds would be a fabulous addition in this slightly sweet raisin soda bread. Try adding other seeds or spices to mix things up.
- You can use a mix of all purpose flour and wholemeal flour if you like. Bread flour is not ideal as it can make your soda bread the bread a bit a tough.
- Hate raisins? Leave them out or replace them with dried cranberries, chopped dates or mixed citrus peel.
- Make gluten-free Irish soda bread: use your favourite GF flour and one teaspoon of Xanthan Gum (leave out if the flour is already enriched with it) in addition to the remaining ingredients.
- Make soda bread rolls: divide the dough into 8-9 small rolls, score and space apart on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, depending on size. Eat immediately!
HOW LONG DOES SODA BREAD KEEP?
Soda bread goes stale more quickly than yeasted bread. Wrap the bread in a clean linen towel or place in a bread bag and eat within a three days. I usually slice the loaf and freeze it then toast it from frozen.
This is such a great emergency bread – quick to throw together so you can bake it every few days or as needed.
MORE EASY BREAD RECIPES
- Are you a beginner? Try my super easy two hour No-Knead Bread.
- Bake my cheesy Slow Cooker Bread – another no yeast soda bread variation.
- Want to try your hand at sourdough? My Overnight Sourdough Bread recipe is a reader fave with lots of five star reviews.
- Sourdough Focaccia is another incredibly easy recipe – no shaping required!
HAVE YOU MADE MY SODA BREAD RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Easy Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (360ml) whole milk (or almond milk)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
- 4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour or as needed
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp (70g) cold unsalted butter (or vegan block)
- ¾ cup (120g) raisins or other dried fruit, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Combine your choice milk and lemon juice in a measuring jug and leave to stand while you get on with the recipe. The milk will likely curdle a little, that’s totally what we are after!
- Add the 3/4 of the flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and stir together to aerate the dry ingredients. Hold some of the flour back and add it gradually if the dough is too sticky to work with.
- Rub in cold butter or vegan block, until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
- Add the soured milk and stir so that flour is moistened. The dough will be shaggy and very sticky.
- Add the raisins, if using, and gradually add enough flour until that the bread is not too sticky when mixing with your hands. We want the dough to be on the wet side though.
- Sprinkle flour on your worktop and flour your hands. Gently knead the dough, adding more flour if it is still very sticky. Don’t overwork it – use a very light touch otherwise the bread will tough.
- Quickly shape the dough into a round loaf and score a deep cross using a sharp knife. This helps the bread rise and also “let’s the fairies out” according to Irish lore.
- Place the loaf on a skillet or baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, until the bread is well risen with a golden crust. The bread should sound hollow if you tap the underside.
- Leave the bread to cool on a wire rack before slicing or simply splitting and tucking in!
Video
Notes
- Spice it up: Add a pinch of ground cinnamon or mixed spice. Caraway seeds would be a fabulous addition in this slightly sweet raisin soda bread.
- Get creative with the flours! You can use a mix of all purpose flour and wholemeal flour if you like. Bread flour is not ideal as it can make the bread a bit tough.
- Hate raisins? Leave them out or replace them with dried cranberries, chopped dates or mixed citrus peel.
- Make gluten-free Irish soda bread: use your favourite GF flour and one teaspoon of Xanthan Gum (leave out if the flour is already enriched with it) in addition to the remaining ingredients.
CT says
great recipe loved it
krisato says
This recipe is great. I substituted car berries for raisins and it worked great.
The steps of the recipe doesn’t tell you when to put the baking soda in. It is self explanatory but still might want to update the text to include it.
Suzanne McElligott says
Hi Lucy: I like that you don t need yeast and the demonstration is very helpful > I wrote down the recipe shall be doing 2morrow for St Patrick s day. I also subscribe to get your latest tasty recipes.
Lucy Parissi says
Lovely to hear Suzanne let me know how you like this recipe (ps I just posted a Baileys Cheesecake!)