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Hi Bold Bakers!
There’s something really special about re-creating the Irish staples I grew up on. From taking nostalgic recipes like Irish Scones and My Aunty Rosaline’s Irish Christmas Cake, and making them big and bold, to sharing with you my Traditional Irish Bread and Butter Pudding, I’m all about revamping the classics. This recipe for Simple White Irish Soda Bread is no exception. And to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I recorded this special recipe for you almost entirely in Irish!
Soda bread is all about taking just a few basic ingredients and turning them into hearty homemade bread. This great recipe has all my tips and tricks for making this classic Irish bread a truly outstanding savory baked good.
What Makes Soda Bread Irish?
Making bread was an integral part of daily life in almost every home in Ireland. Families lived in isolated farmhouses and cooked most of their meals with humble ingredients. The main ingredients here are flour, buttermilk, and baking soda, things almost everyone has on hand. I love how just a few ingredients combine to make a loaf of bread that is tender, dense, slightly tangy, and crunchy.
Can I Make Soda Bread Without Eggs?
Soda bread really only requires flour, buttermilk, baking soda, and salt. That said it’s really a lovely bread when enriched with eggs and butter. For my recipe, I decided to add in just 1 egg, but you can leave this out if you like.
Just add in some additional buttermilk if you make this bread without the egg to balance the whole recipe out. That will make sure there is the right amount of moisture.
Can I Make This Irish Soda Bread Recipe Without Buttermilk?
All Soda Bread requires an acidic liquid to activate the baking soda and help the bread to rise up and have the correct texture. For this reason, I would not suggest trying to make Irish soda bread without the buttermilk.
What You’ll Need For Baking Soda Bread
When it comes to baking soda bread, this recipe only requires a few tools of the trade.
- Large bowl
- Jug
- Whisk
- Floured surface
- Baking sheet
- Sharp Knife
- Wire Rack
- Measuring cups
How To Make Irish Soda Bread
This traditional Irish recipe is tried and true, and only involves a few simple steps — here’s how you make it, but make sure you get the full recipe with measurements down below!
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips.
- In a jug, whisk egg and buttermilk.
- Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, pour 3/4 of the liquid in.
- Bring flour and liquid together using your hand.
- Using a floured surface, turn out the dough before bringing it together into a round. Place on a baking sheet dusted with flour.
- Score the bread with a deep cross using a sharp knife and poke a hole in the four corners.
- Glaze bread with leftover liquid in the jug.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F, then 30 minutes at 400°F, until it’s golden brown.
- Place on a wire rack to cool and serve warm.
How To Store Soda Bread
This best Irish soda bread recipe is lovelily sliced and toasted up the next day. Cover the bread and store it at room temperature for up to 4 days. If you’d like, you can also freeze the leftover bread for up to 3 weeks!
Tips And Tricks To Making Simple White Irish Soda Bread
- Since the buttermilk will immediately create a reaction with the baking soda, it’s best to mix this batter up and get it into the oven as quickly as possible.
- To ensure the crust comes out extra crispy don’t open the oven door during baking and no peeking.
- It’s best to allow the butter to sit out beforehand and come to room temperature. This will make the butter easier to rub into the flour and speed up the whole process.
- If you don’t have buttermilk and can’t find it, you can make your own using my Buttermilk Substitute!
- If you want to change up the flavor of this bread, you can add nuts or dried fruit. Adding a bit of sugar and some raisins would be lovely.
Get More Bread Recipes!
- Brown Traditional Irish Soda Bread
- Gemma’s Best Ever Irish Scones
- Cinnamon Raisin Bread
- Sourdough Starter Guide
- Perfectly Crusty Sourdough Loaf For Beginners
- No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread
- White Sandwich Bread
- Hearty No-Yeast Bread
And don’t forget to buy my Bigger Bolder Baking Cookbook!
Full (and printable) recipe below!
Try These Recipes!
Watch The Recipe Video!
Simple White Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups (18oz/497g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/28g) butter
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cups (14oz/400ml) buttermilk*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (210°C).
- Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.
- In a separate jug, whisk the egg and buttermilk together (see note on how to make Buttermilk below)
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour 3/4 of the liquid into the flour mixture.
- Using an open hand bring the flour and liquid together to a loose dough. The dough should be quite soft, but not too sticky. You can add a little more of the milk mix if it is needed. (flours in different places react differently).
- Turn onto a floured work surface and gently bring the dough together into a round about 8 inches by 8 inches. Place on a baking sheet dusted well with flour
- Score the bread by blessing it with a deep cross on top. Poke a hole in the 4 corners of the bread to release the fairies and stop them from cursing your beautiful bread (see video).
- Glaze the bread with the leftover bit of buttermilk in your jug.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F (210°C), then turn down the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake for 30 minutes more. When done, the loaf will sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Serve with Irish butter and jam. Store at room temperature for 4 days.
I made this for my family of 4 tonight for St Patrick’s Day. None of us had ever eaten Irish soda bread. It came together quickly and baked in 35 minutes. We liked it so much that we didn’t have leftovers. The whole loaf gone in 1 dinner sitting!
Thank you Gemma for this recipe. It is a great way to mark St. Patrick’s Day and soothe the soul as we shelter in place in No. California. We had all the ingredients except buttermilk so of course used your recipe for buttermilk substitute. We added raisins and it came out lovely. Thanks again.
Hi Gemma,
I discovered your soda bread recipe during lockdown here in the UK. I have always loved it but had never tried to make it before. Wow! It’s fantastic ????
It tastes just like the soda bread you get in ????????
I give it a 9.5 out of 10. I don’t think anything is better than my Auntie Bridgeys in County Mayo, but this comes close.
It was easy to follow and got me absolutely hooked on baking and cooking again.
Thanks for sharing your skills, tips and techniques.
Pablo
Gd day Lady Stafford, thanks for the delicious recipes always. I made this bread and got it right the first time, that Irish episode was quite funny . I got all aspects the hollow sound, crust, cross on top. Here’s a silly question,the inside of my bread tasted a liltle bit like cake . is that ok? 🙂
Thanks.
I made this recipe, which turned out fantastic!
Lovely recipe turned out well 🙂 Cooked it at 200 degrees 15 minutes then turned down to 180 for 30 minutes
Just watched this video again. Thanks for speaking the mother language. Reminds me of my grandparents.
So good I could eat it all by myself lol, but I won’t be greedy I will share with my Dutch hubby,
I love this simple white Irish soda bread and it is my second Irish soda bread I have made from your recipes. I used this recipe to make simple white Irish soda bread bowles I also uploaded some pics as well. I also can not wait to get your cookbook that I ordered today. Thank you for all of your awesome recipes.
Hi Gemma I love this recipe. I added sugar and it tastes wonderful