The world’s best No Yeast Bread – Irish Soda Bread! Irish bread is unique because it’s a 4 ingredient, 5 minute recipe made without yeast but still has a proper crumb just like “real” bread.
You don’t need to be Irish to make this.😉 You just need to be a fellow Carb Monster! Rustic flavour, great crust, keeps well for days. Slather with butter, mop your plate clean, dunk into soups – or Irish Beef and Guinness Stew!
World’s BEST No Yeast Bread!
People say that the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven is one of the best things in the world.
Forget the smell. What about the moment when you cut yourself a thick slice of warm homemade bread, slather it with butter then take a big fat, satisfying bite of it??
I’ll take THAT over the smell any day ……. 😂
“Irish Soda Bread takes just 5 minutes to get in the oven. So you can have fresh bread any night!”
What it tastes like
It’s called Irish Soda Bread because it’s made with baking soda instead of yeast. Because of this, it’s more dense than your everyday white sandwich bread. Hearty and rustic are the words that come to mind, and it tastes kind of nutty from the wholemeal flour.
While dense, it still has an aerated crumb like “normal” bread. And it’s got a great crust which I love!
What goes in Irish Soda Bread
Here’s what you need:
Flour – white flour makes a slightly more tender crumb whereas wholewheat/wholemeal adds flavour. So using both is best – but it can be made with just either flour.
Baking Soda – This is baking powder on steroids, with almost 3 times as much rising power. Because this is a formidable ball of dough we’re working with here, we need the super strength of baking soda instead of baking powder!
Buttermilk – The vinegar in buttermilk activates the baking soda, giving it a kickstart which you need for a loaf of bread this size. Easy sub: Just mix milk and lemon juice or vinegar, leave to curdle and use per recipe. It’s a near perfect sub.
Salt – the only seasoning required! See below for more flavouring options
Don’t worry if you don’t have buttermilk. Make your own with milk and vinegar – it’s a near perfect substitute.
No egg? No butter? No sugar??
That’s right! This is a traditional Irish Soda Bread we’re making here. For one thing, this bread is better without egg and butter. Egg makes the bread less moist, and the butter made the crumb less tender (I made side by side versions just to be sure).
And this bread has enough flavour to eat plain with just lashings of butter so you don’t need extra flavourings like sugar and spices – though you can if you want.
To avoid your Soda Bread coming out as hard as a canon ball, don’t knead more than 10 times!
Irish Soda Bread Tips
Irish Soda bread is a mix / 10 second knead / shape / bake job. It’s very simple and quite forgiving but I do have a few tips to ensure yours is a success even if you’re a bread first timer.
3 minutes into oven – Once you add the buttermilk, aim to get it into the oven within 3 minutes. This is because buttermilk activates the baking soda. So the second it is added, the baking soda is fizzing away, getting ready to do its thing. If you leave it lying around, it loses its firepower = dense dough.
10 Knead Rule – Like all no yeast bread / muffin type recipes like Blueberry Muffins and Herb Garlic Quick Bread Loaf, the less you handle the dough, the softer the crumb. So don’t knead more than 10 times!
The wetter the dough, the more moist the crumb – Just use enough flour to be able to shape and move the dough.
As with every dough recipe, even simple No Yeast flatbreads, the exact amount of flour required will differ for everyone, even from day to day. Different flour brands, humidity, warmth, coldness of your work surface – all these impact the exact amount of flour required.
It’s better to have a stickier dough and add more flour as required, rather than a dry dough which is hard to salvage. So I start with 1.75 cups, then measure out another 1/4 cup for dusting/kneading and just use what’s required.
Variations
This version I’m sharing today is a plain traditional Irish bread. I say it’s “plain” but it’s certainly not flavourless. You’ll find yourself devouring it with nothing more than butter! But it’s also a terrific to add flavourings, some common variations include:
Oats – inside and sprinkled on top
Raisins, caraway seeds
Seeds – sesame, sunflower, linseed and pumpkin seeds is a combination I tried at my local markets today!
Eat it plain, toast it, or serve it with….
This is such a great last minute emergency bread. It’s so quick to make, but you won’t feel like you’re “just making do” just because it’s a no yeast bread. It is a great bread as it is.
Make it to dunk into one of these soups or stews:
OR use it for toast in the morning. Make Cheesy Garlic Bread, or big Jewish deli-style Pastrami sandwiches. Just use this as you would any other bread – except you have the added bonus of smug satisfaction knowing you made it yourself!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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World’s Best No Yeast Bread – Irish Soda Bread!
Ingredients
- 2 cups white flour (plain / all purpose)
- 1 3/4 cups wholemeal flour (wholewheat, Note 1)
- 2 – 3 tbsp Extra Flour (either flour, for dusting)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda (bi-carb, Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups buttermilk , fridge cold (Note 3)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
- Line tray with baking paper.
- Whisk both flours (not Extra Flour), baking soda and salt in a bowl.
- Add buttermilk, stir until it’s too hard to stir anymore.
- Sprinkle 2 tbsp Extra Flour onto work surface, scrape out dough, sprinkle with more flour.
- Gently knead no more than 8 times, bring together into a ball. (Note 4)
- Transfer to tray, pat into 2.5cm/1″ thick disc.
- Cut cross on surface 1cm / 0.3″ deep using serrated knife.
- Bake 20 minutes. Turn oven down to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Bake further 20 minutes, or until the base sounds hollow when tapped in the middle.
- Transfer to rack and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Recipe Notes:
- 1.75 cups (435ml) + 1 tbsp of full fat milk
- 1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice (or other clear vinegar)
- Mix the milk and lemon juice together, set aside for 15 minutes. It will congeal on surface. Then use in place of buttermilk in recipe.
- Volume is just shy of 2 cups of buttermilk (per recipe) because this substitute is thinner so you need to use a touch less otherwise dough gets too wet.
- Oats – brush surface with extra buttermilk and sprinkle with oats. Can also mix in oats (up to 1 cup), but reduce flour in dough by 1/2 cup;
- Raisins! Stir in 1 cup
- Seeds! Pumpkin, linseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, poppyseed. Stir through and sprinkle on top, about 1/2 cup.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
When he spotted a duck under the jetty. It took much effort to drag him back up the stairs – and he very nearly pulled me into the water!!
Allan Henneberry says
Hi Nagi,
Great soda bread recipe. It turned out perfect!
Charlotte, Oliver, and Lulu (our amstaff mix and two chihuahuas) say hi to Dozer!
Leoda says
Can this recipe be used to make rolls? If so, how long would you bake them for?
Dianne says
if i reduce the flour than required and if the dough turns out a bit sticky but airy, would the bread be softer?
michelle glanzer says
Is it possible to use all-purpose sorghum flour in place of the wholemeal flour?
Nagi says
Hi Michelle, I haven’t tried to be honest, would love to know if it works or if it affects the texture – N x
Nicki says
Another favourite recipe. This bread was so easy to make and turned out delicious. Halving the recipe worked a treat although it did get eaten in one go. No leftovers so I’ll just have to make it again 😀
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great Nicki!! N x
Lynda says
Hi Nagi,
Can this recipe be doubled to make a longer loaf?
Made your recipe before as written (with caraway seeds), and family couldn’t get enough of it. Great instructions,
thank you
Nagi says
Hi Lynda, yes it can 🙂 N x
Lynda says
Doubled recipe for a longer loaf and it came out perfect! Took about 20 minutes longer to bake but I had also raised the oven rack up a notch.
Thank you Nagi
Yvonne says
I tried this recipe and subbed the wholemeal with one cup almond flour 3/4 plain flour. I didn’t even put in all the buttermilk (4 tbs to almost 500ml milk) but the whole thing was so sticky it stuck to my fingers/table and I could hardly get it off! I ended up struggling with it for more than the three mins and used a lot more flour to get it a little more solid. It didn’t look like yours and was breaking apart everywhere. Did I do something wrong? I left about half cup of butter milk in the end
Nagi says
Hi Yvonne! Unfortunately you can’t do direct subs of almond flour with flour in breads! It behaves completely different in recipes. Sorry to say 🙁 N x
Yvonne says
No wonder! It still turned out nice though quite dense but the stickiness just felt quite wrong. I might try it just with full plain flour next time 🙂
Jen says
Thank you for such a simple yet delicious recipe. Turned out perfect.
Amber Newton says
Hi! I am wondering whether buckwheat flour could be used in this recipe in replacement of the white/wholemeal combo? Has anyone tried?
Lana says
We had this last week with soup. It was great. I also toasted some. Do you think I could ad cheese and garlic to the dough before baking??
Nagi says
Hi Lana, I imagine you could although I haven’t tested to see how it affects the rise. N x
neil roberts says
First attempt at bread,piece of cake (sorry) Really nice and easy,Thank you
Nagi says
I’m so glad you gave it a shot Neil 🙂 N x
Raishma says
Hi, Can this recipe be halved? And made in a loaf pan
Nagi says
Hi Raishma, yes it can be halved, I haven’t made in a loaf pan though. N x
Mashy says
Hmm I halved it but the dough was really sticky and I couldn’t knead or ball it up properly. I’m sure my measurements were right.
An says
I halved it and have the same problem too. Just add flour gradually while kneeding and the problem will be solved. I also find adding around 15-20ml less buttermilk than the recipe helps with the stickiness 😀
Jane says
I make Soda bread all the time and I highly recommend using all whole meal flour. (And some oats.) I’ve also used milk that’s turned instead of buttermilk. It’s nice not to have to throw it down the sink.
Lauren says
This was way better than i thought it would be
Julie says
I tried this with buttermilk substitute and it was good. I finally got a jug of buttermilk. LOVE. Easy and tasty…cant beat that. Thank you!
Diane H says
This looks like a great recipe. I don’t usually make bread but with the current public health situation, I can’t just run to the store to get bread for dinner! and I don’t have yeast! However what sealed the deal for me to make this recipe was…..Dozer! I love my dogs and any other dogs I meet. I like the inclusion of Dozer. Does he steal food if he gets the opportunity? Also the recipes I looked at, all look delicious. I can’t wait to try more.:-)
Nagi says
I hope you give this recipe a try and love it! Dozer doesn’t steal food – he knows that he will eventually get some in the end 😉 N x
J-Mom says
Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve made Irish soda bread before but in this time of ingredients crunch, simple, basic recipe is really appreciated.
I’ve also looked at your video couple of times because mine is turning out rather flat. I’ll get the flour, water ratio correct one of these days.
Shobhana says
Can this bread be made in a countertop oven
Nagi says
I haven’t tried to be honest Shobhana! Would love to know if it works!! N x
Rowena says
If I don’t have wholemeal flour would i just substitute the measurements for that flour with the plain flour that I have
Nagi says
Sure can Rowena, I talk about this in the recipe notes 🙂 N x
Al says
Hi, I’m wondering if oat flour would work as a substitute for the whole meal flour.
Thanks 🙂
Nagi says
Hi Al, I haven’t tried – would love to know if it works though!! N x
Ruth Geddis says
Just made this – its fabulous! Couldn’t keep my greedy hands off it. I veganised it by substituting cashew/oat milk & adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to make the buttermilk and it worked a treat. Thank you. It’ll be one of my regular recipes from now on
Nagi says
Love this!!! N x