This easy Irish Soda Bread recipe is a perfect recipe to serve up on St. Patrick’s Day with a big bowl of Irish Beef Stew! The whole family is going to love celebrating with this deliciously cheesy bread!
The Best Irish Soda Bread
St. Patrick’s Day was always a big deal growing up – I have a fairly strong Irish heritage on my mom’s side, so she would make Corned Beef and Cabbage and Irish Soda Bread every year. The sharpness of the cheddar and that perfect bitterness, paired with the fresh thyme is just Irish perfection. It isn’t the classic, but it’s a wonderfully cheesy version of my mom’s recipe and I am so excited to be sharing it with all of you! Slather a piece of bread with butter for the perfect Irish side dish!
Looking for another St. Patrick’s Day recipe? Try our Smoked Corned Beef & Cabbage or a fun Shamrock Shake!
What You Will Need
- all-purpose flour – we like to make sure we have some extra flour on hand to make the kneading process easier!
- baking soda, cream of tartar, & kosher salt – baking essentials that help provide structure.
- fresh thyme, rosemary, & cardamom – a perfect combination of flavors that are so good!
- sharp cheddar cheese – everything is always better with cheese!
- buttermilk – check your local grocery store for this or make your own version with a cup of regular milk and a tablespoon of white vinegar.
- egg – another ingredient that helps provide structure to the bread.
- honey – a little bit for a touch of added sweetness!
How To Make Irish Soda Bread
To start the best Irish Soda Bread recipe, mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the shredded cheese into the flour mixture and then pour the wet ingredients in. Mix to fully combine. For best results, keep a small bowl of flour next to you and coat your hands. Carefully knead the dough until it forms into a ball. Place the dough ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes. Option to sprinkle a little extra salt, cheese, or even a few oats on top before baking!
Use a serrated bread knife to cut into slices and serve with plenty of butter!
Best Ways To Serve Irish Soda Bread
We absolutely love serving this with a nice warm bowl of stew! Some of our favorites are Guinness Beef Stew, Crockpot Venison Stew, or Irish Beef Stew. And if it is St. Patrick’s Day, we usually enjoy it with classic stove-top Corned Beef & Cabbage or Smoked Corned Beef and Cabbage!
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Irish Soda Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Irish
Description
Irish Soda Bread – The perfect recipe for St. Patrick’s Day! Serve as an appetizer with butter or dip in your favorite Irish stew!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for kneading)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon honey
- optional topping: extra salt and some oats to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, thyme, rosemary, and cardamom.
- In small bowl, add egg and beat slightly. Then add buttermilk and honey. Whisk until well mixed.
- Add cheese to flour bowl and mix well.
- Then add buttermilk/egg mixture to the flour bowl and mix with a spoon until a dough starts to form.
- Place about a 1/2 cup of extra flour in a small bowl next to you – sprinkle some over the dough if it already looks fairly moist.
- Then, taking some additional flour your hands, start kneading the dough.
- *It is going to be very sticky – just keep kneading and adding flour as needed until the dough starts to dry up and form a ball.
- Place dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Then take a serrated knife and cut an X in the middle of the dough.
- Sprinkle some salt, oats and even a little extra cheese on top.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
Notes
- Serving: we love serving this with an Irish Beef Stew or Guinness Beef Stew.
- Storage: any leftover bread can be placed in a storage bag and left out at room temperature for 1-2 days.
Leni says
This looks like a delicious recipe. The only thing I would swap is maple syrup for honey. I read somewhere that honey scorches at temperatures higher than 350F. Other than that I will make recipe as written.
Jenny from jennyisbaking.com says
Hi Erin, I love bread. Any kind. This one looks great. You do mean all-purpose flour, right?
Erin says
Thanks, Jenny! And yes! I definitely meant all-purpose flour – thanks for the clarification! I updated the recipe too 🙂
Linda says
This looks super yummy and I am going to make it Friday !??
Erin says
Let me know how you like it and how it turns out!!! Yay!