Vegan Irish Soda Bread

March 4, 2023

Articles

A very classic but vegan recipe for Irish soda bread with just four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and vegan buttermilk. It’s a delicious quick bread with a delightfully crisp crust and a dense but soft crumb, and it’s ready in 45 minutes!

I have been making a vegan Irish whole wheat soda bread for nearly two decades now and I love it. But after eating soda bread in Ireland, when we visited the country a few years back and ate the real thing, I wanted to create a traditional Irish soda bread that was even more authentic tasting than my whole wheat version, albeit vegan.

Classic Irish soda bread uses buttermilk, and for that first soda bread recipe, which I posted in 2009, I had concocted a vegan buttermilk with non-dairy milk and vinegar. The result was great, but I knew I could do better.

So to create a better soda bread, one that uses just four ingredients like the traditional Irish recipe, I now use my cultured vegan yogurt to mix up a dairy-free buttermilk (you can use a store bought vegan yogurt). In addition to making the bread healthier, the vegan buttermilk adds a bit of fat into the crumb, keeping it moist and adding delicious, buttery flavor.

Some Irish and many American versions of soda bread include raisins and/or caraway seeds, and you can certainly add those if you like to this basic recipe. Other versions incorporate butter, eggs and sugar. I have deliberately kept this recipe simple, as it was traditionally meant to be, and it’s an exquisite treat with a pat of vegan butter and/or jam.

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Why you’ll love this recipe

It’s vegan but it’s the real thing–and it’s delicious! This vegan Irish soda bread is flavorful with a fluffy crumb and crispy crust–just as it should be.
It’s authentic tasting. The vegan buttermilk adds lots of authentic flavor to the recipe as well as some healthfulness.
It’s quick. Irish soda bread is one of the quickest breads you can make (this one-hour sourdough bread is another). The sole leavening agent in a soda bread is baking soda or bicarbonate, therefore soda bread. The alkaline soda reacts with the acidic buttermilk, creating bubbles of carbon dioxide, which gives the bread its rise, no yeast needed. It takes about 45 minutes for this bread to go from start to finish.

Ingredients

All purpose flour. Flour for Irish soda bread should be low in gluten because this is a bread where you do not want to develop gluten. It may sound counterintuitive but think of a soda bread as being more like a scone or a biscuit than a yeasted bread. You can use cake flour to make this bread, with even better results. Or replace three tablespoons of the white flour with three tablespoons of cornstarch.
Vegan buttermilk: vegan yogurt + non-dairy milk like almond milk, oat milk and soy milk. I use my vegan cultured cashew yogurt for this recipe (here’s a recipe for a vegan Instant pot yogurt). If the yogurt isn’t very tangy, add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to the mixture.

Variations

To make this a whole-wheat soda bread, replace 1 ½ cups of the all purpose flour with whole-wheat flour.
To make this a sweeter bread, add 2 tablespoons sugar to the dry ingredients and whisk in.
Add 2 teaspoons caraway seeds to the dry ingredients before mixing in the buttermilk.

How to make vegan Irish soda bread

Vegan buttermilk in cup measure with spoon.

Make the vegan buttermilk by mixing the vegan yogurt with the non-dairy milk.

Flour, salt and baking soda whisked in bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and salt.

Vegan buttermilk added to dry ingredients for soda bread.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in 1 ½ cups of the buttermilk.

Use your hand shaped like a claw to mix dry ingredients and wet.

Make a claw with your hand and quickly mix the buttermilk into the flour in circular motions, without kneading, just until he dough comes together. Add the remaining buttermilk if needed, a little at a time. You can also mix with a wooden spoon.

The dough will look shaggy and feel sticky but that’s fine. Don’t knead it to smooth it–you don’t want to develop gluten.

Turn out the dough on a well-floured surface.

Irish soda bread loaf on floured surface.

Use your hands to shape the dough into a disc by patting down the top and tucking down the edges. Flip the dough over once so the smoother surface is on top, but keep in mind that this is a rustic bread and you don’t need a very smooth disc of dough–it should look craggy.

Irish soda bread with a cross cut in it.

Place the dough in a floured cast iron pan or on a baking sheet (there’s no need for lining with parchment paper or a silicone mat, although you can do it if it makes you feel better). Cut a deep cross into the bread using a sharp knife, almost but not quite all the way to the bottom.

Vegan Irish soda bread in cast iron pan.

Bake the soda bread in a preheated 450-degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden-brown on top. The bread should sound hollow when you knock on it with your knuckles. After 10 minutes get it out of the pan and place it on a cooling rack. You can slice the bread when warm or at room temperature.

Serving suggestions

The soda bread is perfect with a soup, like this vegan Irish leek potato soup, or a hearty vegan Irish stew or vegan Irish chili.
Serve it by itself, with a pat of vegan butter or jam.
The bread makes wonderful toast, especially the day after.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make this bread with whole wheat flour?

To make this bread with whole wheat, substitute 1 ½ cups of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour or wholemeal flour.

Can I make the soda bread gluten-free?

I have a delicious recipe for a vegan and gluten-free Irish soda bread. To make it with vegan buttermilk instead of the plant milk and vinegar combo, just substitute it with vegan buttermilk made according to this recipe.

Why cut a cross in the Irish soda bread?

There are many superstitions and stories behind the cross in the Irish soda bread. Some believe it was made to keep the devil and/or the fairies out and ward off evil. Others believe it to be a blessing and a way of giving thanks. Whatever the superstition, the science behind cutting a cross in the soda bread is to help the bread bake in the center and help it rise as it bakes.

Storage instructions

Irish soda bread is meant to be eaten the day it is made, and it does taste best when it’s fresh. It can be stored in the fridge or even frozen, but preferably eat it within a few days. Irish soda bread makes great toast, so if you have some around that you made a couple of days ago, toast it and slather on some jam or butter.

Refrigerate: Place the soda bread in an airtight container or bag and refrigerate for up to four days.
Freeze: Freeze the bread for up to three months in a freezer-safe bag or container. You can freeze the whole loaf or slices.

More delicious vegan bread recipes

Slices of Irish soda bread on marble board.

If you loved this recipe for Irish soda bread, check our more vegan Irish recipes on Holy Cow Vegan!