This vegan soda bread is soft and delicious and one of the easiest breads you’ll ever make. There is no kneading or yeast required, and it’s ready in 45 minutes!
This vegan soda bread is our new favorite homemade bread recipe because it is so easy it’s crazy.
And I’m used to making crazy easy, no-knead recipes like our whole wheat bread and our easiest vegan white bread recipes, but even I was shocked at how easy it is to make this Irish soda bread.
It doesn’t even need any yeast!
It’s called soda bread because of the presence of baking soda, and it’s the baking soda, mixed with some homemade vegan buttermilk, that creates the perfect rise and a gorgeous soft loaf of bread with a delicious crispy crust.
You will love everything about this bread. And eating it warm from the oven topped with heaps of vegan butter makes the whole bread making experience a total joy and pleasure.
Ingredients You Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan butter – you can use any brand of vegan butter or a homemade vegan butter. I haven’t tested it with coconut oil but I think that would work well too.
- White granulated sugar – is just to create a really good balance of flavors in this bread. It doesn’t taste sweet at all. Nonetheless if you’re eating sugar free you can omit the sugar.
- Vegan buttermilk – we use a homemade vegan buttermilk in this recipe which is just a simple mix of lemon juice and soy milk. There are full instructions for how to make it in the recipe card. You can also use almond milk and lemon juice to make vegan buttermilk.
- Baking soda – this is called bicarbonate of soda in some parts of the world. This is the crucial ingredient in this recipe (soda bread) so it can’t be substituted.
How To Make Vegan Soda Bread
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add all purpose flour, white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk together until mixed.
- Add vegan butter and mix it into the flour with your fingers until crumbly.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 and ½ tablespoons of lemon juice to a measuring jug and adding soy milk up to the 1 and ½ cup (360ml) line. Leave it for a minute to curdle into buttermilk.
- Add the buttermilk to your mixing bowl and mix in with a spoon until it starts sticking together and forming into a shaggy dough.
- Flour a surface and your hands and pour the shaggy dough and any flour bits that didn’t incorporate properly onto your floured surface and use your hands to form the dough into a ball.
- Gradually flatten the dough into a flat round disc shape. If it’s still a little shaggy that’s fine. It’s important that in this process of shaping the dough you only knead it a maximum of 8-10 times.
- Place the flat round disc of dough onto a parchment lined baking tray. Take a sharp knife and cut a deep X into the top of the dough.
- Bake at 425°F for 35 minutes until golden brown.
Recipe Tips
Use the right amount of flour. If you’re measuring with cups then the best method is to use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour or pack it into the cup. If you have a food scale then simply weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
Don’t knead it too much. If you knead your dough too much it will make the bread tough. You want to knead it a maximum of 8-10 times in the process of forming your dough into a disc shape before baking.
Serving Vegan Irish Soda Bread
This bread is wonderful served with vegan butter and jam or topped with peanut butter or cashew butter or almond butter.
Of course it’s also wonderful as a side alongside a delicious vegan soup like vegan tomato soup or vegan mushroom soup or a hearty vegan stew or potato curry.
Storing and Freezing
Keep the bread in a covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days. It’s best on the day of baking, but makes good toast on days 2 and 3.
It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. You can freeze the whole loaf or the individual slices. Let the bread cool completely before freezing and then freeze it on the day of baking to lock in freshness.
More Vegan Bread Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups All Purpose Flour (437g)
- 3 Tbsp White Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Vegan Butter (30g) Cold
- 1 ½ cups Vegan Buttermilk (360ml) Lemon Juice + Soy Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Add all purpose flour, white granulated sugar, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk together until mixed.
- Add vegan butter and mix it into the flour with your fingers until crumbly.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 and ½ tablespoons of lemon juice to a measuring jug and adding soy milk up to the 1 and ½ cup (360ml) line. Leave it for a minute to curdle into buttermilk.
- Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and mix in with a spoon until it starts sticking together and forming into a shaggy dough.
- Flour a surface and your hands and pour the shaggy dough and any flour bits that didn’t incorporate properly onto your floured surface and use your hands to form the dough into a ball.
- Gradually flatten the dough into a flat round disc shape. If it’s still a little shaggy that’s fine. It’s important that in this process of shaping the dough you only knead it a maximum of 8-10 times.
- Place the flat round disc of dough onto a parchment lined baking tray. Take a sharp knife and cut a deep X into the top of the dough.
- Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
- Use the right amount of flour. If you’re measuring with cups then the best method is to use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour or pack it into the cup. If you have a food scale then simply weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
- White granulated sugar – can be omitted if you prefer. It’s just to create a really good balance of flavors and doesn’t taste sweet at all. Nonetheless if you’re eating sugar free you can omit it.
- Vegan buttermilk – you can also use almond milk to make the vegan buttermilk.
- Don’t knead it too much. If you knead your dough too much it will make the bread tough. You want to knead it a maximum of 8-10 times in the process of forming your dough into a disc shape before baking.
- Storing and Freezing. Keep the bread in a covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days. It’s best on the day of baking, but makes good toast on days 2 and 3. It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. You can freeze the whole loaf or the individual slices. Let the bread cool completely before freezing and then freeze it on the day of baking to lock in freshness.
I just made this with almond milk and it came out great. I had to sub traditional butter since I did not have vegan butter – I know that’s not the point of this blog, but am noting in case it’s helpful to anyone else like me. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad it was a success Carly! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi there 🙃 can a gluten free flour be substituted? Thanks, I hope so!
Hi Jeannie, I haven’t tested it, but it should work with a gluten-free all purpose baking blend.
Hi. Can you make this with strong bread flour?
Hi Elaine, I haven’t tested that but I think so!
Thank you Alison. I’ll give it a go tomorrow and let you know how it turns out xx
I used bread flour, as I’d run out of plain, and oat milk instead of soya, and sprinkled oats on the top. It is the easiest bread I’ve ever made, and it tastes wonderful! Was supposed to go with tonight’s tea of vegan mushroom soup, but we ate most of it last night ???? will definitely be making this again x
Hello! I’ve made the loaf with the strong bread flour and it’s amazing! xx
Awesome! Thanks so much for updating us! 🙂
Can this be made with wholemeal flour? I cannot eat white flour.
I haven’t tested that but I think it would probably work!
Wholemeal is used to make brown soda bread