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This Irish Soda Bread recipe yields a classic quick bread with a crusty exterior and a buttery crumb. Studded with raisins or currants, this easy recipe is perfect for breakfast, snack or a side with soup or stew!
If you love homemade bread but you’re scared of using yeast, then an easy Irish Soda Bread recipe is the perfect solution. Baking soda reacts with buttermilk to act as the leavening agent, so there’s no need to knead, rise, or proof the dough.
What does Irish Soda Bread taste like?
This rustic loaf is full of flavor! It’s slightly sweet with a hint of orange from the zest, plump raisins or currants throughout, and a dense, tight crust. The golden crust is incredibly crisp, while the bread stays tender and soft inside.
How to make the best Irish Soda Bread recipe:
Many traditional recipes for Irish soda bread yield a huge round loaf. That’s fine, but it’s always way more bread than our family needs. Instead, I created this version to be baked in a loaf pan, which gives us just the right amount of bread for a meal or two — with perfectly-sized slices. It’s the only Irish soda bread recipe you’ll ever need! Let’s get started…
Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Salt
- Butter
- Buttermilk
- Sour cream
- Orange zest
- Optional raisins, dried currants or caraway seeds
First, combine dry ingredients in the large bowl of a stand mixer. Add the cold, cubed butter and mix until the butter is incorporated.
When zesting the orange, make sure that you only grate off the very outer layer of orange peel. That’s where all of the essential oils and flavor can be found. The white pith beneath is bitter, so don’t grate off the pith.
Next, whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and gradually add them to the dry ingredients.
Gently fold in the raisins, currants and/or caraway seeds, being careful not to overmix the dough. If you toss the raisins with a little bit of flour, they will not sink to the bottom of the bread, but instead will stay suspended throughout!
Transfer the dough to a greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The bread will sound hollow when you tap on it!
How to slice Irish Soda Bread:
Allow the bread to cool on a wire rack before slicing. This Irish Soda Bread recipe yields a nice, thick, crispy crust, so I recommend using a serrated knife to cut it into slices.
How do you eat Irish Soda Bread?
The bread is delicious served on its own at room temperature. Give it a smear of butter, and pair it alongside your favorite bowl of Irish soup or stew, or offer it with Corned Beef and Cabbage or a Reuben Casserole for a St. Patrick’s Day feast!
You can also toast the sliced bread and add butter or jam for a breakfast treat or afternoon snack! It’s perfect alongside a cup of coffee or hot tea.
Is Irish Soda Bread healthy?
Like any bread, Irish Soda Bread can fit in any healthy diet. One thick slice includes 185 calories, 4 grams of protein and about 4 grams of fat. The bread is made with all-purpose flour, so it’s not gluten-free, low-carb or Keto-friendly.
Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations:
- How to store Irish Soda Bread: Store the bread in an airtight container or wrapped tightly at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Can Irish Soda Bread be frozen? Yes! Wrap the bread tightly and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Can Irish Soda Bread dough be refrigerated? No, I do not recommend preparing the dough in advance and then keeping it refrigerated before baking. This is because the baking soda and buttermilk start reacting immediately, so it’s important to get the bread in the oven as quickly as possible. Otherwise it will lose its leavening power.
- Use raisins, dried cranberries or dried currants in this bread. If you prefer, you can omit the dried fruit altogether.
- Caraway seeds are also optional. I have left them out of this particular photo, because our family doesn’t care for them.
- The buttermilk is an important ingredient in this recipe. The lactic acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide, which helps the bread rise. Don’t substitute with a different milk.
- Make sure that your butter is very cold. Mixing the cold butter into the dry ingredients (just like you would do for scones or pie crust) is the key to a nice, flaky texture.
More quick bread recipes that you might enjoy:
- Easy Pumpkin Bread
- Morning Glory Farm Zucchini Bread
- One Bowl Whole Wheat Banana Bread
- No-Knead 3-Ingredient Beer Bread
Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Equipment
- stand mixer (I use my trusty KitchenAid)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons very cold salted butter, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup buttermilk (I used low-fat, but any variety will work)
- 1/3 cup sour cream (I used light, but any variety will work)
- ½ teaspoon grated orange zest
- 2/3 cup raisins or dried currants, tossed with 2 teaspoons flour
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cold butter and mix on low until the butter is incorporated into the flour.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, sour cream and orange zest. Gradually add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir in the raisins and caraway seeds (if using).
- Transfer to the prepared loaf pan. The dough will be very sticky, so it helps to dampen your fingers or spatula with a little bit of water so that you can spread the dough in the pan without too much sticking. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Notes
- How to store Irish Soda Bread: Store the bread in an airtight container or wrapped tightly at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Can Irish Soda Bread be frozen? Yes! Wrap the bread tightly and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Can Irish Soda Bread dough be refrigerated? No, I do not recommend preparing the dough in advance and then keeping it refrigerated before baking. This is because the baking soda and buttermilk start reacting immediately, so it’s important to get the bread in the oven as quickly as possible. Otherwise it will lose its leavening power.
- Use raisins, dried cranberries or dried currants in this bread. If you prefer, you can omit the dried fruit altogether.
- Caraway seeds are also optional. I have left them out of this particular photo, because our family doesn’t care for them.
- The buttermilk is an important ingredient in this recipe. The lactic acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide, which helps the bread rise. Don’t substitute with a different milk.
- Make sure that your butter is very cold. Mixing the cold butter into the dry ingredients (just like you would do for scones or pie crust) is the key to a nice, flaky texture.
The recipe seems really interesting, frankly i have not even heard of Irish Soda Bread. It is very well explained and looks good to have it with a cup of tea in the evening.
Thank you for this loaf pan recipe. I have been making the large round loaf and now that we are empty nesters, found them to be more than we need. Good.
Thanks, Jane! I felt the same way — a huge round loaf was just too much! Glad that this can help to solve that problem. 🙂
This looks Fabulous!!!! However, not any Irish Soda bread my Irish ( as in, in Irekand or born thete!) ever made
First no sugar. Ever. Sigar was expensive. Never used for bread. Sour cream??? Nope. No eggs, either.
Our family recipe is 4 c flour, baking soda 2 tsp, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 2c buttermilk ( which you can make if you dont have it on hand– 1 c milk and 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar), and 1 stick of butter, melted.
Variations include currants, caraway seeds, or raisins – I prefer golden raisins, if you go the raisin route.
You can definitely make a whole wheat version– just use 3 c WW flour to 1 c white flour. Some folks add a wee bit of molasses, but we never do.
I will definitely try your fruity bread, cuz it looks delicious, but it isn’t Irish bread.
Thanks, Catherine! You’re right — this is definitely an Americanized version of a soda bread recipe. 🙂
Your family recipe sounds good, too!