Irish Soda Bread features a rustic, light-brown crust and a dense, tender texture. Served warm, cold, or toasted, we love it for its simple ingredients and no rising or kneading time!
What better way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day than with a traditional Irish recipe? Our ABK team loved learning about the origins of Irish soda bread and how to bake the best soda bread! We combined the best of our favorite recipes to create a bread your family will not only enjoy baking together, but will love eating on St. Paddy’s Day.
Why is it called Irish Soda Bread?
Soda bread originated in Ireland in the early 19th century, when baking soda became available as an affordable alternative to yeast, which was not easily accessible at the time. Buttermilk reacts with the baking soda, causing the bread to rise without using yeast.
Why is there an X on Irish Soda Bread?
The Irish cut an X on the top of each loaf. Tradition states that the X was a way to “bless” the bread and ward off evil spirits. Scoring the loaf before baking allows heat to enter the thick dough, causing it to bake more evenly, rise well, and prevent cracking.
Soda bread was often baked in a cast-iron pot over an open fire, creating a dense, rustic loaf that was served with butter or jam alongside a hearty meal.
No Knead, No Wait for Rise on Soda bread
There’s no kneading or rising necessary when making soda bread. Just combine the ingredients until it forms a ball, place on a greased pan, and bake. Thirty minutes later, you’ll be enjoying a warm, buttered slice of bread fresh from the oven. We also love it toasted.
Today, Irish soda bread is enjoyed worldwide, especially around St. Patrick’s Day. There are many variations of this simple bread. The most common are the addition of golden raisins and/or caraway seeds. Golden raisins add a natural sweetness, a lighter color, and a slight tang. Caraway seeds are found most often in rye bread, bringing an earthy flavor of licorice and citrus.
Our recipe makes two loaves of bread. Try making one loaf “plain” and one with raisins or caraway seeds. Enjoy a “taste test” and vote on your favorite loaf!
Irish Sayings:
Two of our favorite Irish sayings are:
“May the road rise up to meet you.”
“May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.”
What to serve with irish Soda Bread
We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did developing it. Try Irish Soda Bread with ABK’s Easy Beef and Vegetable Stew or Instant Pot Beef Stew.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, (see Notes)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup golden raisins, optional
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons caraway seeds, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place rack in the center of the oven. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
- Add buttermilk, melted butter, and raisins or caraway seeds, if desired. Stir until incorporated.
- Knead the dough with your hands just until it forms a cohesive ball. Divide dough into 2 evenly-sized loaves and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Using a sharp knife, cut a large X on the top of each loaf.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until cooked through. You may need to cover the bread with foil during the last 5 minutes of baking to avoid overbrowning. When cooked through, the internal temperature of your bread should be about 190 degrees.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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