This asiago cheese & sun-dried tomato bread is a savory quick bread made without yeast. You’ll cut cold butter into dry ingredients, which is the same technique utilized in scones, pie crust, and biscuits—this helps promise a deliciously flaky exterior. We usually make it with asiago cheese and fresh basil or parsley, but you can use your favorite cheeses, herbs, and even swap out the sun-dried tomatoes for corn, olives, chopped cooked bacon, and more. See flavor options below.
Savory Quick Bread Details
- Flavor: Though the recipe calls for asiago cheese, fresh basil, and sun-dried tomatoes, the flavor can really be whatever you make it. This bread batter is very forgiving and we’ve tried it with plenty of add-ins including bacon, olives, feta cheese, and more. The base flavor is buttery and savory, with a hint of fresh pepper and garlic (feel free to add more!). Creamy nutty asiago cheese fits right in if you want to try that first!
- Texture: It may be difficult to wrap your head around a savory quick bread, especially when you’re used to banana bread and orange cranberry bread. But despite its loaf shape, this quick bread isn’t really like either. The bread’s crumb is more similar to cornbread—though there’s no cornmeal in the batter—and its exterior reminds me of biscuits or scones. It’s soft, moist, and slightly dense.
- Ease: This is a quick and easy recipe, but the butter step could be new to some beginner bakers. A pastry cutter or food processor makes this step quicker and more manageable, but you could certainly use a fork if needed. You’ll appreciate that this recipe delivers big as a bread and that there’s no dough rising or large time commitment required.(And if you need a suggestion, we enjoyed it with lemon herb salmon and a side salad!)
Plus, it’s wonderful as a side dish for most dinners including soup, chili, salad, meatballs, and more.
Recipe Testing This Savory Quick Bread
When I began working on this recipe, I started by using olive oil as the fat in the batter. The resulting texture was too cake-like—honestly, it was just a confusing piece of bread/cake because the texture screamed “sweet!” but the flavor was savory and salty. It didn’t go over well with many taste testers! I tried melted butter, but the results were mediocre at best—still a lot of that contradicting flavor and texture.
*Cut in Cold Butter: Using the same amount of butter but adding it in a different way was the fix the bread (and all of us!) craved. The texture had an instant improvement. Oh, the magic of butter. Make sure it’s extra cold and work the butter into the dry ingredients until coarse crumbs form, just like we do with pie crust:
After you cut the butter into the dry ingredients, mix in the cheese and add-in (sun-dried tomatoes, if using), then mix in your wet ingredients. The batter is thick, chunky, and sticky. You cannot bake this batter on a baking sheet because it’s quite loose. For other pan options, see the recipe notes below.
Flavor Options
Think of this bread as having 3 add-ins including (1) cheese, (2) herbs, and (3) extras like sun-dried tomatoes. You can swap and substitute your favorites as long as you stick with the base recipe including buttermilk, eggs, flour, baking powder & soda, sugar, salt & pepper, and cold butter. Here are some variations:
- Herbs: I recommend 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil and parsley here, but feel free to substitute your favorite herb. If you’re using a fresh herb that isn’t leafy such as rosemary or thyme, reduce the amount down to 1 Tablespoon. If using dried herbs, reduce down to 1 teaspoon.
- Shredded Cheese: Asiago cheese is a favorite, but I’ve tested this batter with parmesan cheese, crumbled feta cheese (I reduced down to 1 cup feta, but feel free to use the full amount), sharp cheddar, white cheddar, gouda, and pepper jack. Avoid super soft cheeses. You can leave out the cheese if you’d like, but you’ll lose some flavor. If skipping the cheese, add extras like another few Tablespoons of chopped sun-dried tomatoes or any of the other options described in Extras next.
- Extras: I stick with 1/3 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes because this amount adds enough flavor without overpowering the bread. If you want to use other extras, you could definitely increase that amount to about 3/4 – 1 cup and use chopped or sliced olives, corn (cooked or canned, and if using frozen, thaw first), finely chopped pepperoni, or chopped cooked bacon. 1 finely diced jalapeño is another great option and would pair wonderfully with cheddar cheese and 1 Tablespoon of fresh oregano as the herb. I haven’t tested this with wetter additions like roasted red peppers, but if you do, use about 1/2 cup chopped and pat it dry with a towel before adding to the batter.
Any of these extras would be great in these savory cheese scones, too!
For a yeasted bread using similar flavors, try this rosemary garlic pull apart bread or this homemade cheese bread. Both have been extremely popular.
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Asiago & Sun-Dried Tomato Quick Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This asiago cheese & sun-dried tomato bread is a savory quick bread made without yeast. We usually make it as written, but you can use your favorite cheeses, herbs, and even swap out the sun-dried tomatoes for corn, olives, chopped cooked bacon, and more. See flavor options described above.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) cold buttermilk*
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup (6g) chopped fresh basil or parsley*
- 5 Tablespoons (72g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) shredded asiago cheese*
- 1/3 cup (50g) chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray.
- Whisk the buttermilk and eggs together until combined.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, garlic powder, sugar, salt, pepper, and basil/parsley together in a large bowl or pulse together in a large food processor. Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or by pulsing several times in the processor. Cut/pulse until coarse crumbs form. If you used a food processor, pour the mixture into a large bowl.
- Stir in the cheese and sun-dried tomatoes until combined, then pour in the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine. Batter is thick, chunky, and sticky.
- Pour/spread batter into prepared pan. Feel free to lightly sprinkle with additional fresh pepper and/or cheese. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Start checking at about 47 minutes. Halfway through bake time, if you notice the top is quickly browning, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the loaf pan to help the bread bake more evenly.
- Cool bread in the pan set on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving or cool completely in the pan.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store bread at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Baked and cooled bread freezes well up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY version of buttermilk by measuring 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a measuring glass. Add enough milk (whole milk is best– lower fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich) in the same measuring glass to reach 1 cup. Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The soured milk will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in your recipe.
- Garlic: Feel free to skip the garlic powder and replace with 3 cloves of minced garlic. Add it when you add the garlic powder.
- Do not leave out the sugar. You really need it to balance out the robust salty and savory flavors– the flavor is quite flat without it.
- Cheese & Herbs: For other flavor options such as a replacement for the asiago cheese or if you want to use dried herbs or other fresh herbs, see details above.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Use sun-dried tomatoes that are packed in oil. No need to pat dry, but try to avoid getting a lot of excess oil in the batter. We found dry sun-dried tomatoes dried out the texture of the bread.
- Muffins or Other Size Pans: Feel free to bake this batter in a greased or lined muffin pan to yield about 12 muffins. Prepare batter as directed, then use the same baking instructions as banana muffins. (Steps 1 and 3.) You can also bake this batter in a greased 9-inch square baking pan or a seasoned 9-inch or 10-inch cast iron skillet. Bake time at 350°F (177°C) is at least 25 minutes, but use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Keywords: savory quick bread, asiago cheese sun-dried tomato bread
I’m so glad I found this recipe! It was very simple and quick to pull together and the whole loaf barely lasted two days in my house. It’s so delicious. It’s packed with flavor and the crumb was very tender. I was looking for something savory to make with the leftover buttermilk from Sally’s triple chocolate cake that I made last week when I randomly signed up for the baking challenge emails and this came into my mailbox that same day! It was meant to be. I used parsley and fresh rosemary, and a mix of gruyere, white cheddar, and Asiago because my grocery store was out of plain Asiago. I also froze the butter and then grated it instead of cubing it. I still cut it in with a pastry blender and it worked out great! I would highly recommend!
I managed to forget the sugar in mine because I couldn’t find it in the steps. At which step do I add in the sugar for next time?
★★★★★
You add it in with the flour and herbs, before cutting in the butter. See step 3.
This recipe was so easy to make! Another delicious recipe that didn’t last long in my house!
So much easier to make than I expected!
My family really enjoyed this bread!! It was absolutely delicious, and went perfect with lasagna! The recipe was very easy to follow! I cannot wait to make it again!
★★★★★
Easy to follow recipe, smells amazing in the oven and tastes savory! Plus I impressed my in laws!
★★★★★
I haven’t even gotten this out of the oven, but the smell has me drooling! So easy too! This recipe will surely be on repeat!
★★★★★
This was so easy to make and absolutely delicious – I made individual muffins and handed them around to my friends and I had rave reviews from everyone. I used parmesan and grana padano cheese since I couldn’t get asiago but it was so savoury and delicious
★★★★★
I love a savory snack, and these are great! I had an excess of mint so I used that and thought feta would pair best. The mint gave these a unique coolness without overpowering them. I also used quartered fresh cherry tomatoes since I love them but somehow just don’t care for sundried tomatoes (I added twice the mass as the sundried tomatoes). Will definitely do again and play around with different herbs and cheeses!
★★★★★
I still can’t get over how good this smelled while baking! And the flavours were excellent! Definitely making again in the fall with a nice soup!!! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone in my family would like this, but I made it anyway. They ended up loving it, especially my husband. Such a warm, savory flavor. Extremely easy and quick to make!!
★★★★★
My family loves soda breads and this recipe just overtook my other “tried and true” loaves! I used basil, Asiago and sun-dried tomatoes and that made for a wonderfully flavorful loaf. I liked that despite the fillings, the bread was light and fluffy. Definitely a make again! Thanks, Sally!
★★★★★
Wonderful and savory quick bread. We paired this with our spaghetti dinner and the combo was a match made in heaven. I followed the recipe to a t and it turned out fabulous. Will make again and again.
★★★★★
My family absolutely loved this recipe. It was so quick and easy, and the aroma was incredible.
Such a great savoury treat – we enjoyed it with Muffuletta and some deli meats!! Next time I think I will try adding some olives into it as well.
★★★★★
Hey Sally! I’m so excited to try this recipe for Father’s Day. Question – I couldn’t find any sun dried tomatoes at my grocery store and so bought stewed tomatoes in oil and garlic instead. Do you think this would work?
Hi Sheryce, those should work, just bet sure to pat them dry as best you can so that they’re not adding too much moisture to the bread. Let us know how it goes!
Thanks for the help! They came out perfect. This might have been the best bread I’ve ever eaten. I used jalopeno cheddar cheese and they tasted like the Red Lobster cheese biscuits, but better!
★★★★★
So yummy! Quick and easy to make. Thinking about trying bacon, corn, and cheddar. Or feta and olives. #thepossibiltiesareendless
★★★★★
This is a great quick bread recipe. Comes together easily and is so versatile! I made it with cheddar cheese, jalapeño and fresh garlic. Love the texture! Will definitely make again!
★★★★★
The aroma of this quick bread filled the house with wonderful smells! I anxiously waited to taste it, and it did not disappoint. It definitely reminds me of a savory scone that I like to bake, but it is so much quicker to combine these ingredients. I look forward to enjoying alongside some pasta with a quick sugo. Yum!
Great bread recipe. Made it in less than 10 minutes and enjoyed it with Lentil soup! Delicious! :):)
I made this twice! The first time we left it out on the picnic table to cool and our tenacious puggle was caught red handed eating the cheese off the top! Epic fail! Made it again and it was a huge hit in our household! Made it with gluten free flour because my celiac friend was over and still it did not disappoint! Will have to share this recipe around!
We’re so happy to hear that this bread has been enjoyed by all (even your puggle!).
Best way to make your house smell amazing quickly!
★★★★★
This bread was super easy to make and fun to do! Bread came out in perfect form with great savory taste and smells in the kitchen. Looking forward to making it again and many more recipes from your site, Sally!
★★★★★
This bread was so nice an easy to make. The bread is delicious. I also like how it a cross between a biscuit and bread. I am thinking that is why mine was a little crumbly as well. I purposely made this with minestrone soup, and I think the combination of the bread and soup was fabulous.
I am relatively new to baking, so this was a great challenge for me.
Thanks, Sally!
★★★★★
Really delicious. Made it as written only substituting shredded parm for the asiago. Love the sun dried tomato flavor.
Really great bread… made it for the first time exactly as written, and my only complaint was that I was too impatient for it to cool enough to make it easy to cut LOL. I think it would make great muffins too; something about the savory says “muffin” to me more than bread. Regardless, we really liked it.
★★★★★
This was such a fun recipe to make. I can’t wait to try different flavor combinations!
★★★★★
I was blown away how easy it was. Well… that was until I tasted it. Delicious!! I served it with a glass of red wine and it complimented it well. Ill be storing this recipe in my box.
★★★★★
If you are intimidated by bread, this is where to start! What a great easy recipe! I am excited to try it with other flavors, my kids loved it too!
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious and comes together so easily! Used the directions to make in muffin tins for family picnic and they were a hit! Love how customizable this recipe is.
★★★★★
I made this bread as written. Great flavor! I shared some with a friend who also loved it. My bread turned out a little crumbly and fell apart easily, but other than that, it was yummy! Thanks Sally!
★★★★★