Every year for St. Patrick’s Day, we invite a friend over and put on an Irish dinner, which usually consists of an Irish stew, Irish soda bread, and either some whisky or a Guinness. I’ve made this dinner a few times now, and sometimes play around with the menu, such as adding Guinness and Cheddar Dip, Irish Potato Bread, or an Irish Drop Shot for a drink. But I’ve never really gotten the handle on the Irish soda bread—it always comes out way too dense and tough. This year I was determined to do it right, so I pulled up a few recipes online and compared them and taught myself how to make Irish soda bread. I’ve since made this recipe a couple more times and it’s turned out perfect every time, so I think I’ve finally hacked it!
What I was doing wrong before was measuring the flour by volume, when really flour should be measured by weight. The amount of flour in a cup can really vary from measurement to measurement—similar to brown sugar, it can be lightly packed or tightly packed, and that can make a big difference on your end result.
While the recipes I looked at called for flour measured by volume, I switched to a weight measurement and instantly all of my Irish soda bread is light and fluffy and soft and delicious!

How to Make Irish Soda Bread
Step one: Setting up
Preheat your oven to 425 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step two: Mix dry ingredients
Add flour, baking soda, and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine.

Step three: Add buttermilk
Create a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and add your buttermilk.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make it with 1 3/4 cups milk and 1 3/4 tablespoons lemon juice. If you’d like to make it vegan (or, like me, forget to buy milk but have vegan milk on hand), you can make buttermilk using the same ratios with soy milk, almond milk, or other vegan milk. For these photos, I forgot to buy milk, so this is made with almond milk.

Mix until combined.

My dough was a little too wet so I added a bit of flour and mixed some more.

Step three: Knead the dough
Transfer the dough to a floured counter or table and lightly knead the dough. If it’s too wet and sticky, add flour in small amounts until dough is still tacky but holds together and doesn’t stick to your hands. I usually have to add some flour for this reason.
Step four: Prep the loaf for the oven
Roll the dough into a round loaf and place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. With a sharp knife, score the top with an X.

Step five: Bake the bread
Place the baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes or until loaf is golden brown. It should sound hollow when tapped.

Let the loaf cool for at least half an hour before slicing. Cutting into it while still hot can lead to moisture evaporation, which can make the bread drier and tougher.

Step six: Enjoy!
Irish soda bread lasts for several days in an airtight container at room temperature. It may last longer, but we always eat it by the third day because it’s just so darn delicious!
I have a carb-loving cat who will steal bread, pasta, cereal, and more any chance he gets. I happened to turn my back for about 30 seconds after slicing some bread, and…


Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 480 grams All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1¾ cup Buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Create a well in the centre and add buttermilk. Stir until combined.
- Transfer dough to a floured counter or table and lightly knead to form a round loaf. Add more flour in small amounts if dough is too wet and sticky.
- Place the round loaf on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. With a sharp knife, score an X on the top of the loaf.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Bread should sound hollow if tapped.
- Let cool at least 30 minutes before slicing. If sliced while still too warm, moisture may evaporate and bread may become tough.
This was a super great recipe! Delicious!
Love the cat picture; I assume he rates your recipe at 5 stars! The tip about weighing ingredients was helpful. Thanks.
This bread is always great and makes me look forward to St Patrick’s day every year. Wizard does too!