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, 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.
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
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. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
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.
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.
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