My Favorite Irish Soda Bread Only Has Four Ingredients

Whenever I have a carb emergency I make one of two things: cookies or quick bread. Lately I’ve been leaning toward the latter—like banana bread, lemon poppy muffins, or biscuits—because they’re less sweet compared to cookies, and I enjoy the ritual smear of salted butter. I’ve been making this Irish soda bread on repeat and I think you’ll like it too.

Quick-bread satisfaction

The quick breads category is pretty wide. They can be sweet and cake-y like banana bread, barely sweet like scones, or savory like cheddar cheese and thyme biscuits. Unlike yeast-raised breads, quick breads are raised with chemical leaveners (baking soda or baking powder), which means they require absolutely none of the long proof times. What’s more, something like Irish soda bread requires very few ingredients. 

The Dutch oven is my vehicle of choice for this lofty, tender Irish soda bread. Similar to baking a sourdough loaf, humidity is your soda bread’s friend. Encasing your soda bread in a small space allows humidity to build up as moisture evaporates from the dough. The moist air keeps the surface of the loaf flexible for longer than if you bake it open on a sheet tray. The extra flexibility means the loaf can rise taller, uninhibited by a hard crust.

How to make Irish soda bread

I slightly modified this simple recipe, which has only four ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. It’s very similar to biscuit dough (minus butter or oil). While traditional soda bread is the simplest—no raisins—I choose to toss them in. You can substitute in other mix-ins if the mood strikes you: Try dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, or chocolate chips. The dough is relatively plain so any flavor profile you choose will work just fine. 

I have two notes before you set out to make your loaf. Most importantly, don’t overwork your dough. You’ve heard it before, but with shaggy doughs like this it’s hard to resist kneading it until smooth. Don’t do it. Leave it a bit shaggy and you’ll have a more tender loaf. 

About preheating your Dutch oven: The conventional oven should be preheated no matter what, but I’ve made this recipe with a cold Dutch oven before. I actually made a whole Irish soda bread YouTube video using a cold pot. It comes out perfectly and well-risen. However, I've recently been preheating the Dutch oven as the conventional oven heats up, and the loaf comes out perfectly there too. In the recipe below, I preheat the pot. You can do either—the only difference I detect is a faster bake by 10 minutes if you choose to preheat. 

Any other Irish soda bread questions you have might be answered here. Otherwise, the dough takes mere minutes to put together.

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces all-purpose flour

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• ¾ teaspoon baking soda

• 10 ounces buttermilk

• 2 ounces raisins (optional)

1. Put the Dutch oven inside the oven and preheat to 425°F. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.

2. Pour in the buttermilk all at once and combine the ingredients by pressing and stirring. I use a plastic bowl scraper to do this. 

3. When the dough starts to become clumpy and shaggy, add the raisins (if using) and continue pressing and stirring.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

4. When it’s mostly combined but there is still loose flour at the bottom of the bowl, pour the dough out onto an un-floured countertop. Pat and press the dough to pick up the dry bits. Use any sticky areas to target the loose flour. Once you’ve collected most of the loose parts, pat the dough into a (roughly) two-inch thick round. Use a serrated knife to score a half-inch deep plus sign into the dough. Place the loaf on a piece of parchment paper.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

5. Carefully take the Dutch oven out and use the parchment to lift and lower the loaf into the pot. Put the lid back on and return the pot to the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Cool the soda bread on a wire rack before noshing.

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