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, Lucky Charms Treats, and shamrock St. Patrick’s Day Cookies, too.
PrintGrandma’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 (71g) 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 | Bread Lame | 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).
I made this today. I followed the recipe exactly as written, but it was so wet I couldn’t knead it at all. I kept adding more flour and it just stuck all over my hands. Should I maybe just add the buttermilk till it’s just slightly tacky and not necessarily add all the milk? I baked it and it looks just like yours but haven’t tried it yet… what am I doing wrong? Sally, help!!!!
Hi Geri, this is a very sticky dough. It will stick to your hands no matter what. Feel free to reduce the buttermilk to 1 and 1/2 cups for next time. How did it taste?
Hi Sally,
Thank you for your response. It was very helpful going forward. The bread was SUPERB! Both my husband and I Loved it! Next time I will start with 1 cup of buttermilk and add more until it is the right consistency. It just seemed that no one else had the same problem so I thought I was doing something wrong… I’m not a novice baker and have made Irish Soda Bread before so I thought maybe I did something wrong. How do you deal with the wetness of the batter? Add more flour? I’m afraid to add too much for fear of it making the bread overly heavy… I also want to thank you for all the emails you send regarding measuring ingredients, etc. you make baking so accessible to everyone. You are such a pro! I have 2 of your books and love your recipes… Thanks again for the help..
Can you make this a savory soad bread? For example with Cheese.
Hi Carmen! Absolutely- I recommend using my no yeast soda bread recipe. I include lots of flavor ideas in that post- see recipe note.
I tried 2 recipes and this was by far the best. Very easy. The bread was very tender and delicious.
The best yet!
I would like to make it in a loaf pan for easier slicing. Are there any tips on how to do this and get the same crunchy outer and soft inner bread?
Hi Audrey, glad you love it! I don’t recommend a loaf pan because the loaf may not bake evenly inside. This dough is best as a flatter loaf.
My husband enjoyed this! Curious, any tricks for incorporating the cold butter? I struggled without a pastry knife, but I’m thinking maybe it was too cold? (straight from the fridge).
Hi Marissa, You can use two forks or even just your hands if you don’t have a pastry cutter. I use it straight from the refrigerator or even the freezer. Cut it into cubes and toss in your flour mixture until the butter cubes are coated and then begin to use forks or your hands.
Delicious and beautiful!
This was delicious! Thank you. It’s very similar to our damper that we make here in Australia!
This recipe was so easy and the flavour balance was perfect! Not too sweet or plain, can have with soup or on it’s own with condiments thank you for posting the recipe
I made this bread today, and it was amazing. Will be making it again real soon. Just wondering if you could make this into two loaf pans. Would be easier to slice for toasting…Any comments would be helpful. A top 5 stars, I would give more if I could.
I made this bread today, and it was amazing. Will be making it again real soon. Just wondering if you could make this into two loaf pans. Would be easier to slice for toasting…Any comments would be helpful. A top 5 stars, I would give more if I could.
What a lovely recipe! It is reminiscent of a rock cake, which is no bad thing, but with all that Irish soda bread offers. A true delight and one for the archives. Will definitely be making this again… and again…
Hi Sally,
Followed your recipe precisely except I used salted butter. The bread was amazingly wonderful. Heavenly. Used a 12” perfectly seasoned cast iron skillet middle rack of oven 410 degrees. Had to add 10 minutes bake time because knife test was a bit wet after 40 minutes but no big deal. The bread was the best part of our Corona isolation. Blessings to you and your grandmother.
Tried your grandma’s recipe today…was excellent and tasty. Substituted dried cranberries for raisins (raisins are not good for dogs and our poodle has to try everything) and it still came out 100%.
Thank you and thank your grandma wherever she may be!
Not so sweet just I wanted. It is my first time I have ever tried. Very nice…. It took very long time baking 1 hour and 15 Min. I did with strong white bread flour. Last 30 mins I decrease the heat to 160 (fan)
this was delicious!!!!!!! and so quick and easy. i’ve been having the baking itch quite a bit these days (like all of us) and I made this on a Friday night at 9pm. I think I ate half the loaf by midnight. Used golden raisins and some dried cherries (cause that’s what I had). I love using my cast iron skillet to bake. Sally…you are literally the BEST baking teacher!!!!!!!
I forgot to add — yes it was a bit hard in the morning but nothing that 5 min in the oven didn’t fix. Froze slices and been heating the slices up in the oven daily…divine.
Absolutely love soda bread! This is the first recipe that we tried, but despite leaving the loaf in the oven for about an hour, it was still very raw in the middle. Tried to give it a little benefit, but even the more-cooked end pieces didn’t have much flavor. I think my irish heritage is failing me on this one
🙁
Sally
Love your recipe! Is it possible to make “dinner rolls” using this recipe – how should I adjust baking time / temperature?
Hi Mike! You can certainly try it. The bake time will be shorter. I would use the same oven temperature.
This is fantastic! My partner is from Ireland and he misses his Granny’s soda bread. So I gave this a go and he said it tastes very similar to his Granny’s. The recipe is very easy to follow.
Hi Sally
I’m going to try your recipe tomorrow but I have a question and I’m very curious what the answer might be. I’ve made soda bread twice in the last week with a different recipe that I had which was with just, 500g of plain flour, a tsp of salt, sugar and bread soda and 500ml of natural yogurt instead of buttermilk. It was a very tasty bread with a lovely crust but no matter how long I cooked it for it was still doughy in the middle even though the knife test came out not sticky and the bottom had a hollow sound when knocked on. I’m in East Africa.
Hi Brian! I can’t speak for other recipes, but when this Irish soda bread recipe isn’t cooking in the center, it could be because the score wasn’t deep enough. That’s crucial to help the center cook evenly. You can always tent the loaf with foil to prevent the exterior from browning too quickly before the center cooks.
Poke four holes on top at the top of each point on the cross to let the fairies out !
I’ve made this quite a few times now and never have raisins on hand so I always just spread some warm honey butter on top of each slice. Very, very good. Nice to have for breakfast with some fruit and coffee!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I was wondering if I can halve this recipe as is? With the times now, flour is quite hard to find so wouldn’t want to use up all I have. Too excited to make this tomorrow for breakfast!
Sally, I’m such a fan! I made this on St.Patrick’s Day and it was SO YUMMY! I froze my leftover corned beef (I didn’t have leftover soda bread) and am bringing it out for round 2… which wouldn’t be complete without another loaf of this wonderful bread! I have a concern, my AP flour is gone and of course there is none to be had, I do have bread flour still and cake flour . Can I use my bread flour without changing anything?
Hi Connie! Bread flour is OK to use. The bread may taste chewier and even a bit denser.
This recipe was great. Quick, easy and delicious. I’ve never made or eaten Irish Soda Bread, so nothing to compare it to but it was so easy to put together and tastes great. Just a hint of sweet. I used currants but otherwise followed the recipe. (I didn’t have buttermilk so made my own with 2% milk plus white vinegar.) Unfortunately the bread does harden a bit after the first day so we just slice and lightly toast it – it’s just as good as right out of the oven. Thanks for the easy to follow and delicious recipe.
Hi Sally,
Can I make this with bread flour? Thank you For this great recipe!
Hi Laurie, You can. Your bread will be slightly chewier.
Hello Sally, thank you for this delicious-looking recipe, I would try it, but I neither have buttermilk, nor lemon (juice); Do you think Kefir would work instead? Thank you for your reply in advance 🙂
Hi Kata! You can try mixing half kefir and half regular milk together to use as a replacement for buttermilk. (I wouldn’t use ALL kefir.)
Awesome!My first ever soda bread attempt and it came out amazing!
Next time I will reduce the amount of sugar though,I would have liked it a bit more savory,but this recipe is cool and easy!Thank you Sally!Amazing as always!
Nom! I made this for St. Patrick’s Day, and it was delicious. The dough was very wet, and I didn’t add much extra flour, but tried to deal with it in its wet state. The loaf came out a little rough (porcupine-y) but the flavor was delicious. I added blueberry-infused craisins instead of raisins. Next time, I’ll add more flour during the kneading, just to make the loaf prettier and the dough easier to handle. I’ll definitely make this again!
Here is a toast to your grandmother and to her wonderful recipe !!!
First time making Irish soda bread and I’m so happy it turned out so well! I’m used to the crust being a little sweeter so I might add some more sugar next time.
Hi Sally,
I followed exactly this recipe but somehow the dough was too wet and sticky to even hold a shape. What could be the problem?
Hi Alice! The dough is supposed to be a little sticky, but if it seems stickier than what you see in the photos and video tutorial, feel free to add a bit more flour.
I followed your recipe just as written and baked it in my pure convention oven at 400 degrees farenheit for 45 mins to find a delicious looking crust, but raw interior. Ive since cooked it for an additional 25 minutes and its still not cooked. Did I do something wrong? Any suggestions are welcome! I cant wait untill it is finally cooked so I can eat it! It smells delicious!!
Hi Kaitlyn! Usually when Irish soda bread loaves are taking much longer, I recommend looking at the scoring step– was your scoring deep enough to properly cook the center of the loaf? Also, your loaf could be taller, so longer oven time is expected. The bake time suggested is only a guideline since many variables go into play with baking such a large loaf. Feel free to tent the bread with aluminum foil to prevent the top from burning. You can also lower the oven rack, too.