Vegan Irish Soda Bread with only 5 Ingredients
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 04/06/2020 - Last updated on 10/12/2022
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This Vegan Irish Soda Bread is an easy yeast-free bread recipe made with only 5 simple ingredients and ready in 30 minutes.
Is Traditional Irish Soda Bread Vegan?
No, unfortunately, traditional Irish soda bread is made with dairy, often including buttermilk, butter, and sometimes eggs.
So classic Irish soda bread is not vegan but here I am showing you how to make a vegan version of the Irish soda bread in less than 30 minutes.
Learn more about how to start your vegan journey with our beginner’s guide to the vegan diet!
How To Make Vegan Irish Soda Bread
First, you need to make vegan buttermilk. This is the key ingredient to creating a moist bread texture.
Let me show you how to make vegan buttermilk in 10 minutes. You need:
- An acidic ingredient – can be apple cider vinegar, vinegar, or lemon juice.
- Full-fat plant-based milk – soy milk gives the best texture, but oat milk and almond milk would work.
Then, all you need is the flour of your choice. I recommend a combo of white flour and white whole-wheat flour for an earthy flavor.
Finally, baking soda acts as a raising agent to make this yeast-free bread raise as regular artisan bread.
Shaping Irish Bread Dough
You must flatten your dough ball into a thin round disc – no more than 3cm high.
If the dough is too thick, the bread won’t rise simply because baking soda doesn’t have the same raising power as yeast.
Also, make sure you cut a deep 1 cm (0.3 inches) cross on top of the bread. This is the key to perfect Irish soda bread.
What To Eat With Irish Bread
You can serve this bread with vegan butter as a side to soup or make delicious avocado toast.
It’s a delicious bread, plain or toasted, that can also be used for sweet jam toasts or sandwiches.
More Vegan Baking Recipes
Below I listed more vegan baking recipes for you to try:
Made this vegan bread recipe and want to share a picture with me? Join me on Instagram!
Your friend, Carine
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Vegan Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour - or spelt
- ¾ cup Wholemeal Flour - or whole spelt or more all-purpose white flour or oat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt - optional, can be made salt free
Vegan buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar - or lemon juice or any vinegar
- 1 ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons Soy Milk - or oat milk or almond milk
To knead the bread
- 4-6 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F). Line a baking tray with a lightly greased piece of parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk soy milk with apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 10 minutes until it thickens to a buttermilk-like consistency.
- In another large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, and salt.
- Make a well in the center and pour the vegan buttermilk.
- Stir the dough with a spatula at first. Then, when it becomes difficult to work the dough with the spatula, use your hands to knead the dough, adding more flour if needed to form a ball.
- Knead the dough for 1 or 2 minutes maximum until you are able to make a ball. If the dough is very sticky, simply add white flour (up to a maximum of 1/3 cup) but be careful! You don't want dry dough, or the Irish bread will be very dense and dry. A stickier dough results in moist, elastic bread, and that's what you want.
- Transfer the dough ball onto the prepared baking tray and flatten the dough into a thin disc of a maximum of 3 cm (1.5 inches) in height. This is extremely important, or the bread won't rise at all.
- Cut a deep cross (1 cm deep, 0.4 inches) on top of the bread and sprinkle/pat some extra white flour on top of the bread.
- Bake at 220°C (430°F), middle rack, for 20-30 minutes or until the outside is crusty.
- Transfer to a cooling rack for 1 hour before slicing.
- Store the bread at room temperature for up to 3-4 days, wrapped into a clean towel to keep its moisture.
- Can be eaten plain or toasted with jam or mashed avocado. Or it can be served as a quick side to soup and salads.
Really lovely recipe! Thank you!!! Worked perfectly for our Sunday morning breakfast with vegan butter and chia seed jam. I’ve tried a few vegan Irish soda bread recipes and this one is the best!
Thank you soo much!!
This is delicious. So on point t, great texture and not overly salt like other soda bread recipes. Thanks so much!
I found your excellent site looking for a soda bread with no Dairy for my Nephew who had had a no Dairy on his allergy test.
So I made this one with Soya Milk which I use and Lemon worked Beautiful 25mins no problem.
only one point you say flattern but it must be 1.5 inches high not possible I did it the height but
it was more a ball shape it did rise smelled briliiant and my Newphew loved it. gave him the receipt together with the Naan one as they are so easy he has a very busy life but I said bake on a Sunday last 4 days towel wrapped.
I will be looking at your site fully so much tasty looking meals and treats even though I do eat meat.
Could this be baked in a cast iron pot or does it need to be on a tray?
Probably yes, I didn’t try but I am pretty sure it will bake very well in a cast iron pan.
I made this as a Sunday morning treat. Used vanilla sweetened almond milk for the buttermilk. White and wheat flour. Twenty minute bake time. It was PERFECT!
Can’t wait to experiment with fruit and nuts added.
HI. This recipe has been great as i can no longer eat yeast. so it’s been a great substitute for bread for me. and my son loves it too!
I’m trying to cut down on my white flour intake. How much of the white flour can i substitute with whole wheat flour/barley flour, buckwheat flour? (i can’t do oats)
Thank you for this recipe! Very easy to make and came out great! Made it for my son who is vegan and he loved it so much that he had me make another one! Bread is moist and flavorful. I added pumpkin seeds and raisins.
I made this for St. Paddy‘s day this year and added dried apricots, raisins, currants, tart cherries and cranberries and it was fantastic!
Made this on St.Patty’s day and it was SO good!!!!!
We had dinner guests for St. Patrick’s day, and I found your recipe while looking for a dairy-free soda bread option to accommodate them. Your description convinced me that I could simply substitute almond milk for buttermilk/sour milk in my grandmother’s recipe. I made both versions and they were almost indistinguishable. Your recipe is very similar to hers — none of the raisins, yeast!, or other ingredients I consider to be non-traditional. Irish Soda Bread fresh from the oven is an amazing treat. Thanks.
Delicious! I made it gluten free and it did rise. I used 400g Doves Farm white bread flour, 40g oats and 20 g plain white gf flour. It was very wet so I added some more plain white gf flour. Did not make dry enough to knead so just spooned it into baking tin when it was like a thick batter.
Gave it 40 mins in the oven.
Will definitely make again.
Thank you for this recipie.
Hi.
I have made bread in a iron cast pot/lid before. And it’s sooo good.with this I place as a dough ball into the hot pot.
So reading this one is of course different.
Just to clarify once you’ve kneaded the dough I just flatten it on the tray (so not a ball)?
Can’t wait to try it
Thank you
Yes, don’t make a high ball, flatten slightly as explained in the recipe card instruction.
Would this recipe work with coconut milk?
Sure, any non-dairy milk works well in this bread recipe, Enjoy, Carine
I made this with almond milk and it only baked for 25 minutes. I added sesame seeds on top and my whole family enjoyed it. Thanks for veganizing this recipe as I could only find it with cow milk until I found your version.
This was delicious, and could not have been easier! I will say mine could have gone longer than 30 minutes in the oven (which I did not realize till I sliced, but it was still very good, even better with toasting.) I did not have soymilk or oats, so I used oat milk and einkorn flour – tasted great.
Wonderful bread! Crispy on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside. So easy! I used oat flour I had processed in the food processor from rolled oats. We added Kalamata olives to it and served it with vegan lentil Sheperd’s pie.
This recipe makes an excellent moist, dense bread. Note that the print version calls for “wholegrain rolled oats” instead of “wholemeal flour.” Maybe an autocorrect error?
Sorry for that issue on the printed version, we will fix it now ! Thanks for trying my recipes, Carine
Do you process the oats to make a flour or just add with the all purpose flour?
Im making this in bulk. Can I freeze the bread? Or how long will it last in fridge or room temp? Thank you!
Yes sure! freeze up to 3 months and thaw at room temp the day before.
The recipe use a combination of two flour: all-purpose flour and whole meal flour. You can replace whole meal flour by whole spelt flour or more all-purpose or oat flour – so yes you grind the rolled oat into oat flour
Going to make your soda bread tomorrow.
At what point to I add the raisins to the dough.
Thank you,
Nancy
The recipe has no raisins, if you want to add some, add into the flour mixture before adding water, 1/2 cup should be enough
Any chance I could use coconut flour?
Thanks
I hardly ever bake and I have coconut flour from the past project. It’s still good… To be truthful I never even open the package. But I really wanna make this soda bread
No you can’t ! Coconut flour contains lots of fiber it’s highly liquid absorbent and you can only use it in a recipe developed for coconut flour.
thanks I loved it+
This might have been too good because I couldn’t stop eating it. Best Irish Soda bread ever…vegan or not vegan! I’ll be making it a lot.
This is such an amazing bread! I made it yesterday, it’s quick, delicious and so fluffy. Thank you for the recipe, this will go on my bread rotation
So easy to make and tastes really good too.SO thank you for this recipe will be using it from now on.
I was short on all purpose flour so I ended up using 2.5 cups of flour and 1.5 cups of oats — it still turned out delicious! The dough was more like batter but I was still able to shape the dough nicely — I think that was due to the oat substitution. Paired very well with strawberry and raspberry jam! Thank you for the recipe!
This recipe was fantastic!! It was my first time making any kind of bread so I didn’t have high expectations from myself….however your step by step guide and helpful tips made it Carla proof and the result was absolutely delicious! Thank You so much Carine!! My next challenge is the Apple Crisp recipe. Can’t wait!! x
I am so happy you love it! Enjoy the apple crisp too, I can’t wait to read your feedback on it! XOXO Carine
Can the Irish Soda Bread be made Gluten Free?
Thank you!
I am sorry but the recipe won’t work with gluten free flour, it won’t raise and be very dense. Enjoy, XOOX Carine
simple easy recipe. Turned out perfect so happy and thankful to you Carine. I have used banana bread recipe too which is my favourite. Looking forward for more vegan recipes specially easy ones !
I made this bread the other day and it is GORGEOUS!
Today I made cake with your recipe “blueberry cheesecake” and I think I found my favorite channel for exploring new recipes!
THANK YOU!
Thank you for the lovely feedback ! I am glad you are enjoying so many recipes from my blog, XOXO Carine