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You don’t need any baking skills to enjoy a fresh loaf of homemade bread hot from the oven! This no-knead, no-yeast 5-Ingredient Honey Beer Bread recipe is the quickest, easiest, and tastiest loaf that you will ever prepare. Warm, moist, and buttery, the bread is delicious with dip for a party-friendly appetizer, or tasty alongside a bowl of soup or chili for a cozy dinner!
Easy Beer Bread Recipe
The term “beer bread” refers to any bread that has beer included in the dough mixture. This particular 5-ingredient recipe is made with no yeast, so it’s a quick bread that rises with the help of the leavening agent in the self-rising flour and the beer. Best of all, it comes together in about 5 minutes, so it’s a great last-minute option when we need a simple side dish or a delicious appetizer with minimal effort.
What does beer bread taste like?
The slightly sweet beer bread has a rich, full-grain flavor, making it perfect with savory dishes like soup and chili, and equally tasty when toasted with butter and jam for breakfast. The beer gives it a “yeasty” flavor, without overpowering the loaf. The alcohol cooks off in the oven, so kids can freely enjoy the bread, and no — it won’t make you drunk!
Ingredients
This easy beer bread recipe comes together with 5 basic ingredients, which you can keep in your pantry for any last-minute cravings! As always, specific measurements and complete step-by-step baking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Self-rising flour: this flour includes baking powder (a leavening agent that helps the bread rise) and salt. If you prefer to make your own self-rising flour at home, see these helpful instructions to start with all purpose flour.
- Beer (at room temperature): light beer, non-alcoholic beer, and stronger, darker beer will all work. The beer flavors the bread and helps it rise.
- Honey: enhances the flavor of the bread, adds sweetness, and keeps the bread moist. You can substitute with sugar instead of honey, but I find that the texture of the bread is best with honey.
- Salt: the self-rising flour already includes some salt, but I like to add a little bit more to balance the sweetness of the honey.
- Butter: melted butter on top of the bread helps it brown in the oven, adds rich, delicious flavor, and gives it a crisp exterior (while the inside stays moist and tender). We prefer the salty contrast of salted butter, but unsalted butter is fine too.
The Best Beer for Bread
You can alter the style and taste of your bread by changing the type of beer that you use in the dough. For instance, I’ve shown a very mild, light beer here, which creates a light, subtle loaf of bread that’s appealing to young kids. If you prefer a more pronounced beer flavor, use an IPA (pale ale) for moderate flavor, or a stout or dark beer for a stronger taste. Essentially, the bread will taste like a more mild, toned-down version of whichever beer you choose to use.
How to Make Beer Bread without Yeast
This easy recipe comes together with about 5 minutes of prep. There’s no yeast, no kneading, and no rising time required!
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Stir together the self-rising flour, honey, beer, and salt in a large bowl, just until combined. Do not over-mix.
- Transfer the shaggy dough to the prepared loaf pan.
- Pour the melted butter over the top of the batter.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).
- Serve warm, or cool on a wire rack before slicing.
How to Eat Beer Bread
There are so many ways to enjoy this versatile loaf of bread! Hosting a party, tailgate, or cocktail hour? Serve the bread with spinach dip, crab dip, pimento cheese, or shrimp dip.
Spread butter on top and drizzle your slice of bread with extra honey. It’s great on its own, delicious as toast for breakfast, tasty for hearty sandwiches at lunch, or perfect as a simple side dish at supper. Here are some entrees that go with beer bread:
- New Orleans Red Beans and Rice
- Crock Pot Potato Soup
- Split Pea Soup with Ham
- Bean Soup or Easy Ham and Bean Soup
- Frogmore Stew
- Southern Chicken and Pastry
- Chicken and Dumpling Soup
- Creamy Vegetable Soup
- Cheeseburger Soup
- Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
- Beef Chili, Slow Cooker Chili, or Texas Chili
- White Bean Chicken Chili or Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
- Farmhouse Chicken and Rice Soup or Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Vegetable Soup
- Grandmother’s Hamburger Soup or Crock Pot Cabbage Soup with Hamburger
- Dutch Oven Beef Stew, Crock Pot Chicken Stew, or Chicken Stew
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup or Creamy Mushroom Soup
- Aunt Bee’s Crab Bisque
- Broccoli Cheese Soup or Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup with Ham
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup or Creamy Pumpkin Soup
- Shrimp Soup
- Brunswick Stew
How to Store Homemade Beer Bread
Wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, the bread will stay fresh at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
How to Freeze
To freeze the bread, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then again in aluminum foil, and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter overnight.
Recipe Variations
- Cheese Beer Bread: Add 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese (or another flavorful shredded cheese of your choice). A teaspoon of garlic powder, 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh chives, or chopped jalapenos would also be delicious savory additions!
- Add fresh herbs or dried herbs like rosemary, basil, parsley, or thyme.
- Mix in diced bacon or ham.
- Irish: Use Guinness stout or another similar Irish beer for a robust, full-flavored loaf of bread.
- Sweet: Double the honey in this recipe to ½ cup. You can also mix in raisins, dried currants, or dried cranberries for a loaf that’s similar to Irish soda bread.
Tips for the Best Beer Bread Recipe
- Properly measure the flour. Always spoon and level the flour or weigh it on a kitchen scale — do not scoop it out of the package. Incorrectly measuring the flour packs it too tightly into the measuring cup and results in a dense, dry loaf of bread.
- Use a beer that you enjoy. Light beer is fine, non-alcoholic beer is fine, and a darker, more robust beer works well if you like a more prominently flavored bread.
- Do not over-mix the dough. Stir until just combined — a few lumps are fine. Over-mixing will result in a dry, dense, tough loaf of bread.
- Make sure that your self-rising flour is fresh. If the leavening agents in the self-rising flour are no longer effective, your bread will not rise.
- Pouring melted butter over the batter helps it brown, adds flavor, and gives the bread a buttery crust. We like the salty contrast of salted butter, but unsalted butter will also work (whichever you prefer).
More Homemade Bread Recipes to Try
- No-Knead Bread
- Persimmon Bread
- Best Ever Banana Nut Bread Recipe
- Jalapeno Cheddar Bread
- Irish Soda Bread
- Garlic Bread
- Focaccia Bread
- Easy Homemade Bread
- Honey Wheat Bread
- Soft Dinner Rolls
- Homemade Crescent Rolls
Beer Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 (12 ounce) can of beer, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan or coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the self-rising flour, honey, beer, and salt until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared loaf pan.
- Pour melted butter over the top of the dough.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Notes
- Properly measure the flour. Always spoon and level the flour or weigh it on a kitchen scale -- do not scoop it out of the package. Incorrectly measuring the flour packs it too tightly into the measuring cup and results in a dense, dry loaf of bread.
- Use a beer that you enjoy. Light beer is fine, non-alcoholic beer is fine, and a darker, more robust beer works well if you like a more prominently flavored bread.
- Do not over-mix the dough. Stir until just combined -- a few lumps are fine. Over-mixing will result in a dry, dense, tough loaf of bread.
- Make sure that your self-rising flour is fresh. If the leavening agents in the self-rising flour are no longer effective, your bread will not rise.
- Cheese Beer Bread: Add 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese (or another flavorful shredded cheese of your choice). A teaspoon of garlic powder or 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh chives would also be delicious savory additions!
- Mix in diced bacon or ham.
- Irish: Use Guinness stout or another similar Irish beer for a robust, full-flavored loaf of bread.
- Sweet: Double the honey in this recipe to ½ cup. You can also mix in raisins, dried currants, or dried cranberries for a loaf that's similar to Irish soda bread.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in December, 2017. It was updated in February, 2022.
i came across this recipe some 40 or 50 years ago in an Irma Bombeck cookbook. I’ve since lost the book and the recipe. Since COVID-19 I’ve been thinking of making beer bread since bread is in short supply here as is yeast. I used to make it into 4 long sandwich rolls by just shaping them and putting them on a cookie sheet. That’s the way my family liked it best. I never tried a loaf but think I’ll try it. Thanks for reminding me of this great bread!
I love the idea of making it into sandwich rolls, Nancy. I hope this recipe brings back good memories! Enjoy. 🙂
Hi,
I am not a baker. So I like this really simple recipe. We are running short of self raising flour. Can I use whole meal flour? Thank you very much.
Jo
Hi, Jo! This is a perfect bread to start with if you’re not an experienced baker. You don’t want to substitute with regular flour because you need the leavening in the self-rising flour to help the bread rise. If you’d like to make your own self-rising flour at home, it’s really easy. Here’s an article that explains how to use regular all-purpose flour to make self-rising flour: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/homemade-self-rising-flour-recipe
Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Sheltering at home and using what I have on hand to reduce the times I must shop for food. Made soup and wanted some bread – but had no milk or yeast. Found this recipe and gave it a try. I did not have self rising flour but found out from King Arthur Flour website how to make some with what I had. It was so easy. The bread came out beautifully and tasted just as good as it looked. We will definitely have this again. Thanks.
That’s so good to hear, Marion! I’m glad that you enjoyed it and were able to make it work with what you had on hand. Thanks for letting me know!
Hi, Deb! I’m not sure — it’s hard to say what might have gone wrong. Sometimes overmixing or overworking baked goods (like muffins or quick breads) will cause the finished product to be too dense or tough. Maybe that was the case here? Or, it could just be that you were expecting a lighter yeast-like bread, which is different from this bread. This is more like a dense quick bread (like banana bread, for example) because it’s not made with yeast. Sorry that it wasn’t what you wanted. 🙁
Sounds good, as we are not able to go around much I will try your recipe.
I may try a round loaf though.
Thanks for the recipe.
Cheers Lin.
I don’t have a loaf pan – think I can use something else? Not going out to the store anytime soon during these crazy times
Hi, Denise! Maybe a muffin tin? They would be more like rolls or biscuits in the muffin tin, but that would be my next best bet. You’ll need to reduce the baking time, though, since the muffins would be smaller (probably about 25 minutes or so).
I was only able to find gluten free flour at the store… can this be made with gf flour?
Hi, Leslie! You need the leavening in the self-rising flour in order to help the bread rise, so a regular all-purpose or gluten-free flour (unless it’s gluten-free self-rising flour) will not work here. I’m not familiar with baking with GF flour, but you can make your own self-rising flour at home with all-purpose flour. You might be able to do the same with the GF flour — I’m just not sure. Here are the instructions if you want to give it a try: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/homemade-self-rising-flour-recipe
Thank you! I was able to find all purpose flour and modified it to use in this recipe. The bread turned out great and we all loved it!!!
Awesome! So glad that it worked, Leslie. Thanks for letting me know!
Just made this bread, and it’s delicious! So quick and easy! Love the slightly sweet taste. This will be breakfast tomorrow. Thank you so much for sharing.
Stay well
Thanks, Louise! So glad that you love it too!
Can a carbonated soda be substituted for the beer. I do not have ant beer in my house.
Hi, Beverly! I think the soda would probably “work,” in that the bread would probably rise okay. That said, I would worry about the taste of the bread with the soda. The beer isn’t very sweet, and adds a rich “yeasty” flavor to the bread. If you omit that and use a sweet soda, I’m concerned that the bread will be very sweet and will taste like whatever soda you use. I haven’t actually tried it, though — so just a thought!
Has anyone used non alcoholic beer in this recipe? Just me not wanting to “waste” beer 🙂
Hi, Lisa! The non-alcoholic beer should work fine!
Thanks Blair! I’ll be making this in the next day or so will let you know how it turns out, and which type of beer I used! Take care!
I made this yesterday using a non alcoholic Heineken lager and it turned out really well
Awesome! Thanks for following up to let us know, Lisa!
I’m gonna make this tonight for me and the boys, along with your dump corned beef and cabbage. Gonna add some lightly roasted caraway seeds and dill to give it a bit of a rye bread flavor.
Omgoodnessss this bread right here , it is my family’s new favorite thank you
That’s awesome, Laura! Thank you!
This recipe really caught my eye! Will definitely try this, using a dark beer (which I will have to purchase first). I really miss the first bread-maker that I had, bought another (different brand) & that one turned out to be a real piece of junk.
Now that my wrists are so achy, kneading bread is a no-no for me. Thank you so much for posting this! Love this blog, and look forward to seeing it every Sunday, a beautiful start for anyone’s week!
Thank you, Sandra! I’m so glad that you can enjoy this bread — no kneading necessary. 🙂 Thanks for joining me each Sunday for the weekly update, too!
We made this today to give to our neighbors. I added almost 1/2 cup honey and 2 light handfuls of craisins. We made a loaf plus one small cake pan to try ourselves. We like it very much and will add it to our cookbook. Thank you for the recipe.
That sounds perfect, Toni! Thank you!
Quick and easy. This went great with the pot roast soup/stew I made. I used a pale ale which my hubby loved. I would prefer the lighter flavor. Also added cheddar and garlic powder. So yummy!
Sounds delicious, Beth! We’re so glad you enjoyed it.