Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that does not require any yeast. Instead, all of its leavening comes from baking soda and buttermilk. This Irish soda bread recipe is my grandmother’s and has been cherished in my family for years. It’s dense, yet soft and has the most incredible crusty exterior. Buttermilk and cold butter are the secret to its delicious success!
Welcome to my favorite Irish Soda Bread recipe. I shared this no yeast bread recipe on my blog a few years ago and decided to revisit with fresh new pictures and a video tutorial. This recipe is my grandmother’s. She passed away in 2011, 2 weeks before I started this food blog. I dedicated my 1st cookbook to her. Full of energy and the creator of the best homemade pie crust on earth, she would be in her 90s today. St. Patrick’s Day is her birthday.
Irish Soda Bread is a Quick Bread
Does the thought of homemade bread send you running for the hills? Sometimes homemade bread feels daunting, but you’re in luck today. Irish soda bread is a quick bread made with baking soda, not yeast. Like my easy no yeast bread, this is a shortcut bread that doesn’t skimp on flavor. (If you want a yeast bread, I recommend my sandwich bread recipe!)
- What’s the texture like? The best Irish soda bread, like this recipe, has a golden brown crust with a dense, tight crumb. The bread isn’t heavy, it’s actually quite tender and soft inside. The crust is nice and crisp when it comes out of the oven and becomes a little chewy on day 2 and 3. It’s so good.
My grandmother’s Irish soda bread contains some sugar, but it’s not overly sweet. It’s a wonderful companion for savory dinners like hearty stew or you can serve it with butter, jam, and/or cheese. The raisins are optional, but Grandma would never let you skip them.
Video Tutorial: Homemade Irish Soda Bread
Overview: How to Make Irish Soda Bread
The full printable recipe is below. Irish soda bread dough comes together in about 10 minutes. You need buttermilk, egg, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and butter.
- Whisk buttermilk and 1 egg together. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in another bowl.
- Cut cold butter into the flour mixture. Like scones and pie crust, cutting cold butter into the flour is a key step. Coating the flour in cold butter guarantees a lovely flaky texture. You can use a fork, your hands, or a pastry cutter. Add the wet ingredients.
- Bring the dough together with your hands. Using a very sharp knife, score the dough. This allows the center to bake.
- Bake until golden brown.
Buttermilk is the Secret
Irish soda bread only requires a few ingredients, including buttermilk. Buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to provide the bread’s leavening. It also adds wonderful flavor! We use buttermilk for the same reasons in my regular no yeast bread, too.
Feel free to Skip the Egg
Irish soda bread can be made with or without an egg. 1 egg adds richness and density. Feel free to skip it to make a slightly lighter loaf. No other changes necessary, simply leave out the egg.
3 Success Tips
- Don’t over-work the dough. It’s supposed to look a little shaggy.
- Score the top of the dough with an “X” before baking. This helps the center bake through.
- You can bake Irish soda bread on a baking sheet, in a baking pan, or in a cast iron skillet. I recommend a cast iron skillet because it helps guarantee a super crispy crust. Here’s how to keep your cast iron cookware seasoned.
If you’re baking for St. Patrick’s Day, you’ll love my Guinness Brownies, Baileys and Coffee Cupcakes, Guinness Chocolate Cake, Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes, and Shamrock Cookies too.
Print
Grandma’s Irish Soda Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Irish
Description
Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that does not require any yeast. Instead, all of its leavening comes from baking soda and buttermilk. This Irish Soda Bread recipe is my grandmother’s and has been cherished in my family for years. It’s dense, yet soft and has the most incredible crusty exterior.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (420ml) buttermilk*
- 1 large egg (optional, see note)
- 4 and 1/4 cups (531g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for your hands and counter
- 3 Tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed*
- optional: 1 cup (150g) raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven & pan options: Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). There are options for the baking pan. Use a regular baking sheet and line with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (bread spreads a bit more on a baking sheet), or use a seasoned 10-12 inch cast iron skillet (no need to preheat the cast iron unless you want to), or grease a 9-10 inch cake pan or pie dish. You can also use a 5 quart (or higher) dutch oven. Grease or line with parchment paper. If using a dutch oven, bake the bread with the lid off.
- Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Set aside. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers. Mixture is very heavy on the flour, but do your best to cut in the butter until the butter is pea-sized crumbs. Stir in the raisins. Pour in the buttermilk/egg mixture. Gently fold the dough together until dough it is too stiff to stir. Pour crumbly dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as best you can, then knead for about 30 seconds or until all the flour is moistened. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared skillet/pan. Using a very sharp knife or bread lame, score the dough with a slash or X about 1/2 inch deep. (“Score” = shallow cut.)
- Bake until the bread is golden brown and center appears cooked through, about 45-55 minutes. Loosely tent the bread with aluminum foil if you notice heavy browning on top. For a more accurate test, the bread is done when an instant read thermometer reads the center of the loaf as 195°F (90°C).
- Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm, at room temperature, or toasted with desired toppings/spreads.
- Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. We usually wrap it tightly in aluminum foil for storing.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Baked and cooled bread freezes well up to 3 months. Freeze the whole loaf or individual slices. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then reheat as desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Cast Iron Skillet, 9-Inch Round Cake Pan, 9-Inch Pie Dish, Dutch Oven, or Baking Sheet with Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Pastry Cutter | Instant Read Thermometer
- Baking Pan: There are options for the baking pan (see Special Tools Note above). You can use a lined large baking sheet (with or without a rim), a seasoned 10-12 inch cast iron skillet, or a greased or lined 9-10 inch cake pan or pie dish. I don’t recommend a loaf pan because the loaf may not bake evenly inside. This dough is best as a flatter loaf.
- Buttermilk: Using cold buttermilk is best. Buttermilk is key to the bread’s flavor, texture, and rise. The bread will not rise without it. If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make a homemade “DIY” version. Whole milk or 2% milk is best, though lower fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch. Add 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough cold milk to make 1 and 3/4 cups. Whisk together, then let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.
- Egg: 1 egg adds richness and density. Feel free to skip it to make a slightly lighter loaf. No other changes necessary, simply leave out the egg.
- Cold Butter: The colder the butter, the less sticky the dough will be. Make sure it’s very cold, even frozen cubed butter is great.
- Smaller Loaves: You can divide this dough up to make smaller loaves. The bake time will be shorter, depending how large the loaves are. An instant read thermometer will be especially helpful. Bake the loaves until an instant read thermometer reads the center of the loaf as 195°F (90°C).
Keywords: Irish soda bread
BEST SODA BREAD RECIPE I HAVE EVER FOUND! It is a wonderful dense crusty bread that is so easy to make. Great for St Patrick’s Day and anytime you need a crusty bread. Soups especially! Thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
This is my favorite recipe!
Would it be bad to make ahead of time and store in fridge until ready to bake?
★★★★★
Hi Amanda, the baking soda is activated once mixed with the wet ingredients, so it’s best to make the bread right after. So glad this is a favorite for you!
Excellent!
★★★★★
This recipe makes lovely soda bread! I’ve made some that are more rustic and others that are more fancy (although nothing’s wrong with Guinness and dark brown sugar in bread) but this is a perfect balance. Made almost exactly as stated — I was a bit short on the raisins — and the whole loaf got eaten on St. Patrick’s Day. I am not a novice baker by any means, and I appreciate the thorough instructions in your recipe — clearly you want everyone to bake successfully! Thank you for a lovely recipe!
★★★★★
I loved this Irish Soda Bread! I made it in a cast iron skillet, a Dutch oven, and a glass pie pan. The bread is so good! Honey, butter, or plain; all good.
My only issue is the bottom of the bread gets too hard/ dark. I ended cutting it off, but love the bread. Is there any thing I can do to avoid the overdone bottom? I will continue to make it; I can’t or won’t stop making it! Any ideas? I even tried lowering the temp to 380. Degrees. The mix up is a breeze. Always weigh your ingredients. It never is to dry, and I don’t have to add additional flour. Love everything I try from you Sally! Thank you!
Hi Sheila, we’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Do you happen to have a darker colored pan? Those can often cause baked goods to bake faster on the bottom and can give you a darker crust. You can also try decreasing the temperature as you mention, or moving the pan away from the heating element. Thank you again for making this Irish Soda Bread!
Hi Sheila. Put a baking pan on the bottom rack just below your bread. It stops so much direct heat from hitting the bottom of the pan your bread is on. I believe it is the little chunks of the cold butter that melts and runs to the bottom so it like makes the bottom cook faster
Delicious, and I will make it again. I loved the raisins in it and it made great toast. It was just sweet enough. I’m eager to try it with berries and dried fruits. To me the texture is very much like a scone. I used a cast iron frying pan, and it took about 47 minutes.
★★★★★
Do you ever use caraway seeds?
Caraway seeds are great in this bread!
Your Grandma’s recipe is by far the best Irish Soda Bread I have ever made. I have Irish blood from both sides of my family. Therefore, many recipes handed down from generation to generation. Your Grandma’s is the best tasting soda bread I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
★★★★★
I made this today. Dough was sticky so I added some more flour and buttered my hands to mold it. Oh my gosh! It is delicious. Family enjoyed it as an accompaniment to a fish dinner with salad. Thank you for this delicious recipe.
I had to temporarily remove dairy from my diet, so I substituted the buttermilk with oat milk and the butter with margarine. I was very worried it would ruin the whole thing, but it actually came out great! I followed all other instructions to the T. Hopefully next year I can try it with all the real ingredients and love it just as much!
★★★★★
Sally, you hit it out of the park with this one! We made it for ST. Patrick’s Day and it was wonderful. Everyone loved it and we got rave reviews. It is a definite keeper.
All the measurements were perfect. We used a thermometer to cook it as specified. Thank you for the detailed instructions and the wonderful recipe. I gain weight just thinking about it.
★★★★★
Great taste and texture, our favorite part of St Pat’s day! Stayed fresh for a couple days in a breadbox. Thanks!
★★★★★
Made it! Love it! Easy! Added green food coloring, and caraway seeds for Saint Pats day.
★★★★★
The perfect soda bread recipe! I followed the recipe exactly as written. It was awsome!
★★★★★
I haven’t made soda bread in many years as it always came out like a brick. I volunteered to bring it to a potluck last week and found your grandma’s recipe and decided to try again. Unfortunately the butter was frozen so I tried to thaw it in the microwave and melted it instead. Oh well… proceed as best I could. Once it was in the oven I found your other soda bread recipe and read that you found it made no difference whether the butter was melted or cut in, so that made me happy, and I was even happier when I shared this gorgeous warm big loaf of soda bread later that day. Thank you for a great recipe.
★★★★★
BTW, I used 1 1/4 cups of rye flour and the rest organic unbleached white, the egg, and a cast iron pan. Next iteration will include caraway seeds.
I’m happy with the recipe – I never understand the mini-video’s that play on their own. They don’t offer a label for what you are making or provide a way to go back to find it. I
The hardest part about this recipe was waiting the 10 minutes before I could slice into it! This is my go to Irish soda bread recipe!
★★★★★
I made this yesterday and my whole family loved it! My eife had homemade jelly on it for breakfast.
The hardest part of this recipe is waiting the 10 minutes after baking to slice and enjoy. This is my favorite Irish Sodabread recipe!
★★★★★
I followed this recipe (using the lemon juice/buttermilk method) to the letter, baked in a 12” cast-iron skillet, and it was reliably delicious and texture-heaven! Thanks once again (and to your dear Grandma) for another home run, Sally!
First time making Irish Soda Bread. Absolutely delicious and so easy to make. I used the cast iron skillet and it worked beautifully, didn’t stick at all. I used the buttermilk alternative and the egg but left the raisins out as my son doesn’t like them. I could have made myself sick eating too much, that crusty crust and soft middle – perfect!
★★★★★
What did I do wrong? The bread was in the oven for an hour and half and the inside is still uncooked. It’s not totally raw but everything outside was starting to char (covered it in foil at around 40 min). Middle got to aaaaalmost 190 but I had to take it out cause the outside was dying. As far as I know our oven hasn’t been misbehaving.
Hi Fernando, are you cutting the slit into the bread deep enough? See if you can cut it deeper so the center bakes properly. Bread bakes taller in smaller pans, which means it could require more time. If the bread begins to brown before the top center appears cooked, tent it with foil so it can bake a little more evenly.
Note: not sweet. If you want a sweeter bread, find another recipe. Also, Would not bake in the middle so I had to cut it in half
★★★
Great Soda Bread Recipe
I made this recipe on St Patty’s Day for a friend’s dinner party of 16 guests. I made two loaves, one with currants and one plain. I followed the recipe exactly and baked them in a cast iron skillet. The loaves were crusty on the outside and moist inside. They were a big hit. This will definitely be my go to recipe in the future.
★★★★★
This recipe hit all the right notes-easy to follow, great video for clear visuals, quick & delicious! I used half n half with vinegar in place of buttermilk and followed the rest adding the egg and raisins. Turned out beautifully-lots of compliments and happy tummys!
★★★★★
This is the best Irish soda bread recipe ever! I make this every year and I’m certain I’d be in trouble if I didn’t. I soak the raisins in whiskey overnight. Otherwise, I follow the recipe exactly and I do include the egg. I find that I always have to toss in a little extra flour once I turn it out because the dough is sticky for me. I made 2 this year and we’re already down to only half of a loaf. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
This one is a keeper! I lost my old recipe, so searched for a new one. Grandma’s recipes are usually the best so I tried this one. I left out the egg based on the comment about the bread being denser with it. Soda bread is dense even without an egg. I had one cup of buttermilk, so filled in with 2% an some lemon juice. My butter was frozen and cut into slivers. I mistakenly used an 8″ greased cake pan, but no problem. The temp never reached the 195 but after 60 minutes I decided “enough”! The crust was wonderfully crisp and the crumb was moist. It was sweeter than expected, but we had some warmed up at breakfast this morning and it was just plain wonderful! When I make it again, I will make the same “mistakes” and choices. It came out perfect for us. Many thanks to your Grandma. P.S. I used the raisins…
★★★★★
Made on Thursday for Friday St. Paddy’s gathering. It was perfect; everyone loved it! I followed directions exactly and did have to toss extra flour in because it was way too sticky to work with at all. Honestly, the dough was so incredibly sticky I doubted it would make a decent loaf. But it was exactly perfect. After cubing the butter, I stuck it in the freezer until it was time to mix it in. Baked it probably about 5-10 minutes beyond the outside recommendation, keeping an eye on the top. When completely cool, I wrapped it in foil until the next day’s dinner. It was nice and crusty on the outside and just the right combo of dense yet delicate on the inside. I did use an egg.
I’m a simple man, I see Sally, I click.
This recipe far exceeded my expectations. I used a cast iron pan, and followed the steps exactly, and was rewarded with a great crispy loaf with a nice rise. If you want to stay on the safe side, set your timer for 45 mins, and check the inside with a thermometer a couple of minutes before the timer goes off.
★★★★★
Hi Daniel, We’re so glad you enjoyed this!
this was a pretty easy recipe to follow i used currants instead of raisins and after it came out of the oven and sat on the wire rack i added some melted buttter lightly spread on top.after wards i sprinkled powdered sugar on top the butter i sprinkled powered sugar on top. most people complimenteded
I made this today and loved it! I did the buttermilk alternative which worked well for the recipe. Next time I will add more raisins, maybe a touch more sugar, and buttermilk. Highly recommend and can’t wait to make again.
★★★★★