Vegan Irish Soda Bread

|Updated Mar 22, 2022

Irish Soda Bread is probably the easiest and quickest bread you’ll ever make. It’s a no-knead and no-yeast recipe made with only a couple of simple ingredients, totally vegan and dairy-free.

This rustic bread is soft and pillowy with a lovely crust on the outside. The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t need any baking skills or special ingredients to make a super delicious loaf of bread.

Irish Soda Bread is made with baking soda (Take note: not baking powder!), and vegan buttermilk (which is unsweetened plant milk and vinegar). The key to making this bread is a very good mise en place, which is a French phrase that refers to measuring out all of your ingredients and setting up your equipment before beginning the recipe. Baking soda will be directly activated by the buttermilk, so you have to work really fast to make sure your bread is in a preheated oven as soon as possible.

If you're feeling fancy, you can add extras to your bread. You can mix in grated vegan cheese, garlic powder, chopped cranberries, chili, or herbs to the dough, or top your bread with a mixture of nuts and seeds.

Use more white flour for a softer bread or more whole wheat for a stronger flavor. Irish Soda Bread can be also made gluten-free, just simply use your favorite GF flour mix.

Irish Soda Bread makes a great breakfast bread straight out of the oven, or as toast for the following days. For St. Patrick’s Day, spread something pretty and green on top like pesto, mashed green peas, or guacamole, or serve your bread with Irish Beefless Stew or a good lentil soup.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 35 minutes

Irish Soda Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

1.5 cups of whole wheat-rye flour + more if needed
1 cup of white flour + more for dusting
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup of unsweetened plant milk
1 tbsp vinegar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F/200 C, and line your baking tray with parchment paper.
In a bowl mix together flours, baking soda, and salt.
Sprinkle your work surface with some flour, and prepare extra flour on the side, in case you need it. You need to work very fast with this bread.
To make vegan buttermilk combine plant milk and vinegar. Let stand for a few minutes, until it thickens and curdles.
Add vegan buttermilk to the flour mixture, and stir with a spoon to combine. It will start to fizz directly, it’s completely normal.
Pour the mix onto your prepared surface, and knead a couple of times so everything is combined. Don’t overmix, otherwise, the bread won’t work.
Add extra flour if needed. Your dough should be soft, but shapeable.
Transfer dough to the baking tray, and shape into a flat disk, about 1.5 inches thick. Cut a cross on the top with a sharp knife.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it has a crust and looks cooked through. Let cool slightly before slicing.

Nutritionals (1 of 8 slices)