How To Make Soda Bread: 5 Best & Easy Recipes

A quick bread for that heart-clenching appetite. The soda bread recipe is your perfect getaway for your stomach and your time with different toppings for that same slice of soda bread and a nice crunchy salad. This easy Irish soda bread recipe is really good for your time and taste.

You wake up and you have guests arriving in an hour, friends and you need the perfect food well this soda bread might just fit in. This is a tasty bread and will serve all a good base for that gravy or sauce or wherever you feel the need for bread. the overall texture is balanced and makes you crave this bread even more. It is not yeast bread and it is delicious, perfect for Patrick’s day.

1. How To Make Irish Soda Bread(Without Egg)

The recipe for making this soda bread is easy and exceptionally quick in comparison with other bread recipes. The texture is amazing and, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Tastes amazing. This recipe for the soda bread is a simple one, we’ll see more recipes for the same later on but let us see how this one is made.

1.1 Ingredients

• Wholemeal flour of about 150 – 170 grams
• Plain flour of about 150 – 170 grams
• Half a teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda or baking soda
• 280 – 300 ml of buttermilk

1.2 Steps

• The preheated oven is an important part of making this or any kind of bread.
• Preheat the oven to 200c/180c/gas 6.
• Lightly grease the baking pan or baking sheet for your soda bread.
• You need to make a soft dough for preparing this soda bread.
• Take a bowl and add bicarbonate of soda and salt in it.
• Then add flour to create a nice flour mixture.
• Now as you have to prepare a soft dough, make space in the centre of the mixture and add buttermilk to it and mix it at a high pace to create a soft dough.
• Now if by any chance your dough is not soft enough, you can control the amount of buttermilk which you are adding to the mixture to control the softness of the dough.
• Once the dough is prepared for this Irish soda bread recipe, turn to a lightly floured surface and knead for just a short time.
• Using a sharp knife cut a cross not too deep cross but shallow and then bake for about 30 minutes or bake it until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
• And cool on a wire rack.

2. Irish soda bread recipe with Egg

Irish soda bread can be made without egg as well which we just saw, now there are only slight changes for this traditional Irish soda bread recipe and there is not much difference in the taste of the soda bread. The recipe follows the same course for the ingredients and everything except the part where the egg is needed so let us see how it is done with some more changes.

2.1 Ingredients

• About 400 ml of buttermilk
• A large egg
• A large bowl
• 520 grams of all-purpose flour
• A teaspoon of baking soda or bicarbonate of soda
• A Teaspoon of salt
• Cold unsalted butter of about 60 – 70 grams
• About 40 grams of sugar

2.2 Steps

• Preheat oven to around 200-degree Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Use a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper for laying off the dough you are about to make or a cast iron pan where you won’t need the pre-heating for your oven.
• Lightly grease the pan you are gonna use.
• Take a bowl and add buttermilk and eggs. Give them a vigorous stir. Put them aside.
• Use that large bowl and put granulated sugar, bicarbonate of soda, salt and flour in it and whisk it.
• Really small cubical pieces of butter(try to get them really small) and make a nice blend of buttermilk and egg.
• Combine everything to make a dough.
• Try to make the dough for the soda bread with nice consistency. Sticky dough is not good, try to add some flour to it and to get the right consistency, you can use buttermilk as well.
• The dough gets a nice and a little stiff texture.
• Prepare a lightly floured work surface for the dough.
• Make bowl-shaped dough with your hands for your soda bread and transfer it to the baking pan.
• And here goes the soda bread in the oven for about 40 to 50 minutes.
• Let the bread cool on a wire rack.
• Golden brown bread is also an indicator that the bread is ready.

3. Important Tricks & Tips for the best Irish Soda Bread

• When choosing a bowl for putting that dough and all other basic ingredients, have a considerable size of that bowl so that over-mixing can be avoided.
• For a great crust try not to open that baking door of yours when baking cause that might cause the crust to lose that crisp that you are looking for.
• You can try adding milk instead of buttermilk to get your mixture together. It might be sticky so manage it out using flour.
• You can use a cast iron pan for more durability to avoid a preheated oven.
• You can keep your wholemeal flour or whole wheat flour fresh by refrigerating it. Flour may turn bad if left in open for longer durations.
• Be attentive to the amount of baking soda you are adding to your mixture. The best soda bread doesn’t have more or less baking soda.
• If the amount of baking soda in your soda bread is really high, the taste will be acidic and you do not want an acidic flavour in your soda bread.

4. Different types of soda bread Recipes

There can be different types of soda bread as well. With different ingredients and different making procedures, we can have a really delicious soda bread and some of these amazing recipes are just off the roof of how easy they are and yet so comforting and delicious in every possible way. Let us see some of these recipes of soda bread for your amazing kitchen and appetite.

4.1 Fruit and spice Irish soda Bread

The dish has fruits and oats and follows the classic Irish soda bread recipe with a twist.

4.1.1 Ingredients

• About 100 grams of porridge oats
• 25-30 grams of butter
• 200 grams of plain flour
• 250 grams of wholemeal flour
• About 100 grams of caster sugar
• A teaspoon of baking soda
• About 2 teaspoons of mixed spice
• 60 grams of Sultana
• 60 grams of raisins
• 50 grams of stoned date
• 500 ml buttermilk
• 3 Tablespoons mixed peel
• About 4 Tablespoons of raw sugar

4.1.2 Steps

• Preheat the oven to 200c/180c/gas 6.
• Take the porridge oats and butter and mix them together really well. You can give them a swish in the food processor or just use your hands and mix them well.
• Cover all of the oats with butter.
• In this step, we mix the rest of the ingredients caster sugar along with baking soda, mixed spice, and one teaspoon of salt.
• Add the raisins, mixed peel, Sultanas and dates in that very same bowl and mix them.
• Add the buttermilk to the mixture and create a nice dough of it.
• Get that dough in round shapes.
• Get a surface which is floured(lightly) for our dough.
• Get the baking tray get those nice small round doughs onto the tray and sprinkle that raw sugar onto them.
• Get a cross of half an inch on the top of those doughs.
• Bake them for around 35 minutes.
• And you have your soda bread ready, nice and golden brown ready to serve.

4.2 Seeded wholemeal Irish Soda Bread

This one has a variety of seeds inside of it, the nutrition facts for this go way up for bread and it tastes really nice so let us see how this quick bread is made.

4.2.1 Ingredients

• 500 grams of wholemeal flour
• 80 grams of four-seed mix(sunflower,pumpkin, golden linseed and sesame)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon black treacle(a thick sweet mix)
• Natural yoghurt of about 150 ml, made up to 450 ml with water

4.2.2 Steps

• Get that oven ready at 200c/180c fan/ gas 6.
• Get a baking sheet with baking parchment.
• Get the flour and the seeds along with baking soda and a pinch of salt in a container.
• Get that treacle and the yoghurt and mix them and get them to settle until the treacle dissolves in the yoghurt.
• Combine the dry ingredients and the yoghurt mixture and make a dough out of it which will be sticky but manageable.
• Let it settle for about 5 minutes and then shape the dough in a round shape with a diameter of about 17 cm.
• Bake it for about 25 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped.
• And you have your soda bread ready, a loaf of quick bread and an easy recipe.

4.3 Rustic oat and Treacle Irish soda Bread

This is a nice Irish soda bread and is delicious and everything. It goes amazing with some cheese so let us see how it is made and the steps you need to follow:

4.3.3 Ingredients

• Oil For greasing
• 250 grams of plain flour and some more flour for dusting
• 200 grams of wholemeal flour
• 50 grams of porridge oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda or baking powder(baking soda stronger)
• 15o ml pot live bio yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon black treacle
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 250 ml of water

4.3.4 Steps

• Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan/ gas 6.
• Get that baking sheet ready with grease on it.
• Get a nice size bowl and pour that flour, oats, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt and mix them.
• Get that yoghurt and add water to it and mix it well. In the end, the mixture should be about 400ml.
• Add the honey and the treacle to the mixture and stir it.
• Combine those dry ingredients and this mixture to get a nice sticky dough for our oven.
• Get that dough onto a lightly floured slab and make it into a round shape.
• Shy some of the oats onto the dough.
• Cut a cross half an inch on the dough and bake it for about 30 to 35 minutes.
• The soda bread will be prepared and can be checked as it sounds hollow when tapped.
• Nice and warm with a nice soup, butter or pair of cheese.

4.4 Apricot Orange Soda Bread

This Irish soda bread just tastes amazing. Among the nice tasty free recipes for Irish soda bread, this one makes a great addition to your set of bread with taste and texture. Let us see how this Irish soda bread is made.

4.4.1 Ingredients

• 250 grams of all-purpose flour
• 250 grams of whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder(baking soda preferred)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter(cold)
• 2 cup buttermilk(cold, shaken and low fat )
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons of orange zest
• 1 cup Dried Apricots(chopped)

4.4.2 Steps

• Preheated oven near about 200 degrees Celsius or 190 degree Celsius
• Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Make a mixture of flour, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar.
• You can use a mixer at low speed for this purpose if you want.
• When you are done mixing these dry ingredients, add that cold butter and mix them well.
• Use your hands to get that butter nicely mixed in that flour.
• Beat the egg and add buttermilk to it along with the orange zest to it.
• Now to make the dough combine both the dry and wet ingredients and mix them to form a dough.
• Add some dry flour and apricots to the dough and again mix them.
• When your dough is prepared, now let’s go to the baking part.
• Shy some flour on the dough.
• Get a baking tray for our soda bread and a baking sheet.
• Using a serrated knife or a sharp knife put a half an inch cross on the soda bread.
• Bake the soda bread for about 35 minutes, it’ll sound hollow when tapped when it is perfectly cooked.
• Tastes exceptional whether hot or cold.

4.5 Zucchini and cheddar Irish soda Bread

Healthy and tasty, this dish is all you need to have a great toast for an amazing breakfast. One of the nice soda bread recipes which are worth your time, let us see how it is made and what ingredients you need to make it work.

4.5.1 Ingredients

• 4oo grams of self-raising flour, available in market(it is 100 grams of plain flour with 1 teaspoon of baking soda)
• 2 Medium zucchinis
• 50 to 60 grams of rolled oat
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 80 grams of grated mature cheddar(save some for sprinkling)
• Thyme leaves
• 290 ml pot buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon clear honey
• 1 egg

4.5.2 Steps

• Preheat the oven to 200c/ 180c fan/ gas 6.
• Grate the zucchini on a tea towel roughly. The purpose is to take the liquid out of the zucchinis as much as possible.
• Twist and squeeze the zucchini in the towel to take out the liquid from them.
• Make a mixture of baking soda, salt, oats and flour.
• Now add the cheddar to the bowl along with the zucchini and thyme.
• Mix the buttermilk and the honey together and stir them.
• Add this mixture to the previous mix of flour and zucchini.
• Mix them nicely to prepare a good dough and then knead for a little amount of time.
• Now, this is the popular step, make a round shape and put it on the baking sheet.
• Sprinkle that cheddar on top of it and brush some of the beaten eggs.
• Make a plus sign on the dough. (half an inch)
• In 40 minutes you have a nice and easy Irish soda bread for a beautiful day.

5. Side Dishes with Irish Soda Bread

There are many side dishes to go with this Irish soda bread and they make it taste amazing and full of life and flavour. This homemade bread will go with many dishes and cheese but there are some of the selected dishes with which this Irish soda bread will just be smooth.

5.1 Corned beef and Cabbage

This is one of the classical recipes which is served with Irish soda bread. The taste is amazing and when combined with Irish soda bread it just explodes with culture and taste.

The recipe for this dish is a little bit complicated but honed hands who are making this for generations it is just normal.

The cost of this dish is not at all high and can be made with easy ingredients which are easily found.

It tastes amazing when cooked for a longer period of time, the meat with its nice tenderness and savoury juice is just what you need for your Irish soda bread.

5.2 Irish Beef Stew

Again we have a classical dish to go with our Irish soda bread, and the best soda bread deserves a good stew.

This beef stew is rich in flavour and tastes amazing on all accounts if you are a meat lover.

Tastes great, best with a piece of nice Irish soda bread. Both of the dishes balance each other.

5.3 Fried Red Cabbage

This is a nice and easy recipe to go with another easy recipe which is for our soda bread. The taste is amazing like always but if you are short on time and you need a nice tasty and quick breakfast then this one is for you.

Served with nice homemade bread or soda bread, hot or cold tastes great on all accounts.

5.4 Grilled onion Rings

Sounds delicious and even more when you have it with this amazing no-yeast soda bread. Get some mustard sauce or any particular sauce you like and just be creative.

It tastes amazing and you must not miss this combo of Irish soda bread loaf and grilled onion rings. Some nice chicken or steak along with it will be a blast.

5.5 Apple Butter

This one tastes sweet and goes excellent with this soda bread or even normal bread if you want. The taste of this butter is more favourable to the soda bread and balances each other really nicely. Honey butter can also be a nice substitute if you don’t like apples. Give it try and you’ll love it.

6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. How to store Soda bread?

You can store soda bread in an airtight container or refrigerate it for about 3 to 4 days, depending on your usage.

Q2. Can you use gluten-free flour instead of plain flour for Irish soda bread?

Yes, you can use gluten-free flour instead of plain flour and it will taste the same so no worries on the taste part.

Q3. Is kneading necessary for soda bread?

No, you should avoid it because the dough is generally really soft so try to avoid it but in some recipes, you might just need it a little bit.

Q4.Why is it called soda bread?

It is so-called because of the baking soda which is used in it and also the primary substitute for yeast.

Q5. Is soda bread the best option for No-Yeast Bread?

Yes, you can say it is, the taste and texture of everything just exceed our expectations and the taste is no less in comparison with yeast bread.

7. Conclusion

Exceptional easy Irish soda bread, quick to make and can be found easily on the internet. The food blog talks about it, less cooking time and just the whole loaf makes you crave this dish even more. There is no spec of the doubt when you make this exceptional bread that this is gonna be amazing

All the flour and the buttermilk which is used in this dish really give it a nice texture and a great crust. When you finish cooking this bread it will be a happy moment cause not much effort will be needed. So do not stop and explore this amazing bread which will be a great addition to your breakfast.