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
Delicious and a great consistency to this bread.
★★★★★
As someone who’d never thought to attempt a savory bread before, I loved this recipe! It was fun and easy to make, and a great side dish to multiple meals. I went with a Cheddar, Bacon, and Chive variation, and it got high reviews from my family. (And it smelled absolutely wonderful while baking!)
★★★★★
What a delicious surprise this bread was! Thank you for the recipe.
I am curious about the “cold” buttermilk. You have trained me to be sure all my ingredients (except butter, from time to time) is at room temperature. Does buttermilk do something less desirable if not kept cold?
Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Hi John! Great question. In this case, we want to keep the butter and buttermilk cold before getting in the oven to ensure a fluffy texture – like when making buttermilk biscuits or scones. If the buttermilk is warm, it could melt or soften the butter which would take away the flaky and fluffy structure of this bread.
I learn so much from this website! Thank you!
★★★★★
The recipe was so easy to follow and the bread smells and taste amazing
★★★★★
I’ve never made a savory quick bread before…will definitely be making this again!!! We had it with chili, and between my boyfriend and me, we ate nearly half the loaf in one night!
Made this for dinner last night, and everyone was raving about how good it was! It is a heavy bread, so one loaf goes a long way. Love that you can mix and match the flavours. Next time I’d like to try substituting jalapeño and cheddar for the add ins.
★★★★★
I wasn’t sure if I’d like this bread, but gave it a shot anyway as part of the June Baking Challenge. It was so yummy (similar to a Cheddar Bay Biscuit, but with more of an Italian flavor) and so quick and easy to bake. Makes a lovely accompaniment to any dinner!
★★★★
I was so happy to see an easy bread recipe. I made this bread for Father’s Day dinner and it was a hit.
When I was mixing the batter, the smell was amazing. The smell gets even better while baking. If you love fresh basil and garlic, you will love this recipe. I added some kalamata olives because it could only make the bread better and it did. There is a nice crumb to the bread. I couldn’t wait for the bread to cool, I had to slice a piece when it came out of the oven and sample it. Delicious. I immediately made a second loaf to put in the freezer.
Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
This bread reminds me of the bread you get at Italian restaurants to dip in the oil. So good and made my house smell amazing while baking. Perfect bread recipe for a beginner like myself
★★★★★
Great recipe! Very easy to make and the house smelled wonderful!! This quick bread goes well with soup. I like the ability to change up the add-ins, making it very versatile for even the pickiest of my eaters:-)
★★★★★
Quick bread, savory, YES. You cannot eat just one bite. Easy to put together and perfect crumb. My family loves these more than cheddar bay biscuits. It’s a must bake!
★★★★★
I love how easy this recipe was! I didn’t even need a KitchenAid or hand mixer. It was quick to whip up. This bread is so flavorful.
★★★★★
Wow! So much tastier than I anticipated! I was a bit hesitant as these are not flavors I usually go for, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was super easy to make, so my toddlers helped out. The smell is also amazing!
★★★★★
Easy recipe and had a nice golden crust on the top! I think next time, I will add some more cheese to get a stronger flavor, but I loved the Asiago, sun dried tomatoes, and basil!
★★★★★
So yummy! I left out the sun dried tomatoes to please my family, so we just had cheesy herb bread which was still wonderful. Easy and delicious!
★★★★★
Sally, you hit this one out of the park! So easy and delicious. I used a four cheese blend …Asiago,provolone,fontina,and Parmesan. I added crumbled bacon, fresh basil, and some kernels off some corn on the cob. Yummy yum yum. I shared some at happy hour with new neighbors.They more than loved it and suggested they might like more at next get together.
★★★★★
This turned out so good. I was a bit nervous when I read “cornbread texture” since my boyfriend doesn’t like cornbread but that’s more because of flavor rather than texture. Anyways, its basically a biscuit in bread form in my opinion. Found out I’m not a huge fan of sun dried tomatoes but there’s enough going on within the bread that it’s not overpowering. I added a diced jalapeno and the hint of heat pairs quite nicely. I think I will try making a garlic cheesy bread slices out of some of the leftovers. overall, a win and I can see myself trying many different combos in the future.
★★★★★
I made the recipe as written with only one substitution for the buttermilk – dairy-free milk (soy) combined with vinegar per the notes. Delicious with a very tender crumb. My family loved it!
★★★★★
This recipe was great! Super easy to make and bursting with rich flavor. My family loved having it with pasta for our Father’s Day dinner.
★★★★★
I wasn’t sure about this because breads make me nervous – even without yeast! But these directions were precise and so helpful and made me feel like I could pull it off. I added a little bit of oregano to my mix because I love oregano, haha. The smell from the oven was divine and the mix of the cheese, herbs + sugar completed each other nicely! This ended up being easy to make and I can’t wait to make it again! My cousin has now requested her own loaf! 🙂 thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
Made this bread in to rolls and they turned out wonderful. Going to made more to keep in the freezer. Also going to try making them with jalapeños and sharp cheddar cheese.
Sally thanks for the great recipes!
★★★★★
This recipe is so versatile and easy. I can’t wait to try it with other herbs and fruit! Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
I have to admit, I was a little wary with this recipe. I’ve tried another quick bread recipe from a different blogger before that came out dense as a log. It kinda tasted like a log, too. But it was a challenge, and I’ve always had better luck with Sally’s recipes, so I gave it a try!
I couldn’t find Asiago cheese while shopping, so I used a half and half mix of feta and Parmesan instead. The basil came directly from my garden, so that was exciting for me. I baked it up and took it to my book club to share.
It was amazing! The texture was soft and delightful enough to eat on its own or dip into a soup. The flavor was incredible. I can only imagine how much better it must be with the preferred cheese, but my combo substitution was so delicious, I know I’ll do it the same again. The sun-dried tomatoes offered a tangy little bite throughout. I will definitely be making this bread again. I even already have plans for using it to fry up some croutons!
★★★★★
Wasn’t sure about it in the first place…then I swapped the Asiago for Pizza cheese and the basil for parsley and gave it a try.
What can I say? Everybody loved it. Thanks for the great and easy recipe!
★★★★★
This quick bread was moist and tasted good. I made mine with mozzarella cheese and corn. It was a little salty. Next time I would reduce the salt.
★★★★
This was a super easy and delicious bread to make..had it for a tea party and with a little butter everyone loved it
★★★★★
Decided to make the quick bread on our pellet grill. Used a 10 1/2 in cast iron skillet. It took about 40 minutes but it was well worth the wait. It came out perfect! Looking forward to making it again real soon!
★★★★★
The texture and flavor of the bread with the addition of fresh basil and chives was great. I substituted crispy prosciutto for the sun dried tomatoes and used a combo of mozzarella and Parmesan. I did find the bread too salty with the prosciutto or if I had used bacon, so I would decrease the amount of salt when I make it again.
★★★★
This was easy to make and turned out so well. I used sharp cheddar, bacon, and some diced jalapeño instead of the asiago and sun-dried tomatoes. I also seasoned it with some oregano as suggested and it smelled heavenly while baking. I will definitely be making this again!
★★★★★
I made this with no changes! It is absolutely delicious! Paired it with split pea soup and already thinking about all the salads and soups it will be wonderful with!