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!!
Hi Nagi I have made this Soda bread before and loved it except for Soda taste and smell (very sensitive to Soda)would it be possible to substitute with yeast and if so what amount would you recommend
Thank you
Hi Robyn, so you’d be essentially making a standard yeast bread – have you tried this one? https://promotown.info/easy-yeast-bread-recipe-no-knead/%3C/a%3E N x
Yes and loved it so I’ll stick to that
Hi there…if we follow your note about adding 1 cup raisins, would it be fine to add a teaspoon or two of cinnamon? Was thinking of using this to make our Bailey’s French Toast for our hunnyversary.
Yes 100% Darrin! It’s going to smell amazing! N x
I only discovered your website recently but it’s become my go-to! Your recipes are great, and your variations, explanations and options are so thorough. I really appreciate it 🙂 And Dozer of course!
I find when I make Soda Bread I have trouble bringing the dough together, it is super dry and crumbly. Any advice on improving this?
I have just tried now and it is amazing! Turn a quarter of it into croutons to serve over your pumpkin soup! Whatever I want to make now, your blog is the first thing to look into. Thanks Nagi!
Hi Nagi, Do you have any bread recipes with spelt flour??
I just made this on Spelt & it was divine. I wouldn’t know what to feed my family without Nagi & her amazing food blog!
I made this using all organic spelt flour. I did have to add extra flour , and added dried cranberries and WOW it is so delicious!
I don’t just yet Tina – feel free to pop a request on my recipe request page though! N x
Hi Nagi! Love your recipes! If I halve the ingredients for this bread to make a smaller loaf, do I need to alter the baking temperature or time?
Hi Shannon, not the temperature but the time will be less – I’d start with baking for 15 minutes then turn down the oven and follow with another 10 or so. N x
Hi the temperature instructions are ambiguous. Do I turn down the temperature immediately when I put it into the oven, or turn is down 20 min after I put in the bread?
Thanks! I went ahead and tried the recipe as is. It was fantastic! Had it with your Guinness Stew. Great combo! My husband and I both loved it. Since we’ll probably have to freeze the leftover bread, I’ll definitely try a smaller loaf next time.
Until I found your recipe Nagi, I could only find one bakery in Sydney to buy soda bread, now I can make my own which tastes exactly like the soda bread I first had in Ireland 40 years ago! Delicious!! My Irish friend would be so proud! We love it…thank you!
Best of all the many Soda breads I’ve baked. Used lemon juice for sub.buttermilk. Cut down salt to 1 tsp, still a bit salty for me so cut down again to 3/4 tsp next bake. Added 1 tsp fennel seeds-lovely flavour. Family loved it.
Sounds amazing Anne! N x
Hi Nagi,
Can I substitute the 1-3/4 whole wheat flour with gluten free or buckwheat flour? Have you tried this?
Hi Manya, It may not work as well unfortunately! N x
you are a great find. I am Irish and miss our food badly so I tries making sausages with some success but still learning.
With bread a total failure with it ending up like a brick but now your recipes I will try. The soda bread is a bonus but why so much salt? Am I reading it correctly that you use 11 . 2 tablespoons and same with baking soda? I must be wrong on this can you explain. And Thank you.
Ger, it is 1.5tsp of salt and baking powder 😉 I had to look at it carefully as well… Happy baking 💕
Hi Ger, yes as Dorothy mentioned – its 1 1/2 – one and one half. N x
Ger, I think you misread it, it’s not 11.2, it’s one and a half!
Really nice bread/damper
I love this recipe! I’m not much of a baker, but this is SO simple. It tasty yummy too 🙂
Hi Nagi – loved this recipe !
Unfortunately did not have buttermilk in the fridge but substituted 1/2 Keffir and 1/2 milk and turned out just great.
Also, cooked for 30 mins at 180C and then flipped it over and cooked for 10 mins at 180C.
That’s great to know Niall! N x
If I refrigerated the dough, once I taken it out from the fridge, can I shape it right away or I need to wait?
I love this recipe! It has never failed me. I’ve added 3 tsp fresh oregano and it came out lovely. The mix was a little wet and I worried but it was just lovely and moist.
Also tried it with oats mixed in and had great results.
For buttermilk I’ve usually had to compromise, and mixed oatley (barista version), 1 tbsp semi skimmed milk and apple cider vinegar. It always works out fine.
I’m so happy whenever I bake this! Thank you for such a brilliant recipe. The variations and tips have been very helpful.
Hi Nagi,
Another amazing recipe! Thank you!!! If I wanted to add seeds 1. Do you think this would work? 2. If so when would you add them? With the dry ingredients? 😊
Hi Nagy, I made this bread in a convection/fan oven. I followed ur instructions @220. Didnt turn out as well as i thought. Since then, I’ve made it a number of times but @450 and it turned out really good. I must say 220 with a fan is incorrect. Thank you for great recipes.😋
You probably used 220F when she meant 220C. The 450F that worked for you is close to the 430F that Nagi also mentions. 220C=430F
I like to cook for my husband who has a hearty appetite. I made the Irish Stew and decided to try the Soda Bread. It looked, shall we say, more rustic than the lovely photos, but it was delicious. We gobbled it up.
It says 200 fan then down to 180
Preheat oven to 220C/430F (200C/390F fan).
Hi Danielle, all my recipes are tested many, many times so I know the temperature is correct here. But in saying that, all ovens run slightly different – your obviously runs cool. I’m so glad you found a temperature that works though! – Nagi x
Thanks for a great recipe, Nagi! Tasted great with caraway seeds. It also turned out suprisingly well in a rice cooker!
Sounds great Isha! N x
I just wanted to say thank you so much for the beautiful recipe! I made it this morning for the very first time and it was so tasty! Since wholemeal flour is incredibly difficult to find and I just finished all my wholemeal flour in my pantry, do you think if I substitute 265 g of wholemeal spelt flour next time I make this bread it would be okay and work out fine?
Hi Nancy, I haven’t tried with spelt flour so unsure how it will react here. I would love to know if you try it!
Is there a way I can make it non-dairy?
I tried to 1/2 the recipe & use almond milk/lemon juice, but the dough was way too sticky. Any suggestions?