Easy vegan Irish soda bread without buttermilk or eggs is the perfect quick bread recipe. Hearty, crusty bread with raisins ready in about an hour.
This vegan soda bread is a classic recipe. The insides are soft and tender, the outside is crusty, and the whole thing is filled with sweet raisins! It isn’t fussy at all to make and is perfect to mix up quickly in time for dinner.
Free from: Dairy, casein, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, corn, sesame, mustard, lupin, sulfites, nightshades, tomatoes, and more
This delicious bread is just perfect to eat alongside soups like classic minestrone or healthy lentil. It's perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any time of the year.
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Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Soft and chewy bread
- Flavorful and slightly sweet
- Super easy to make
- Made with simple ingredients
- Dairy free and egg free recipe!
What is Soda Bread
Soda bread is a quick bread that doesn’t use yeast to rise, it uses baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Traditional Irish soda bread is made with buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda, giving it a small bread rise.
There are many kinds of soda bread including an American version filled with eggs and buttermilk and raisins, the Irish kind filled with raisins and sometimes caraway seeds, and even a Polish and Serbian soda bread. This vegan version is sweet and one of the easiest breads you can make in no time flat.
No matter which kind you make, the recipes are always pretty easy to assemble and have a hearty texture, similar to a savory scone.
Ingredients
You only need a few simple ingredients to mix up this soda bread.
- All purpose flour: Using simple all purpose flour keeps this bread simple and sweet. You can mix in half all purpose and half whole wheat flour for a more hearty bread.
- Sugar: A touch of sugar to sweeten.
- Baking Soda + Baking Powder: This is what causes the bread to rise up and is what gives this bread its name. The baking soda reacts with the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar and the baking powder reacts with the heat to be a one, two punch and makes a lovely rise.
- Salt: Brings out the flavors of all breads.
- Raisins: A traditional addition that I love!
- Coconut milk: This is what makes up the majority of liquid in the bread. Use the canned for the richest tasting bread. See below for other milk alternatives.
- Lemon Juice + Apple Cider Vinegar: These acids help the bread to rise and give it a little tang. The acid is necessary to make this. I like the combination of both vinegar and lemon juice as I find it rises the best.
Allergy Substitutions
If you are avoiding coconuts, you can make this bread with unsweetened almond milk or soy milk. Because coconut is so rich and fatty, add 1 tablespoon of any neutral flavored oil if you are using any other non-dairy milk.
Out of apple cider vinegar? You can use an equal amount of plain white vinegar in its place.
Instructions
This is a quick run through of how to make vegan Irish soda bread. For the full instructions, complete with ingredient measurements, please see the recipe card below.
Start by preheating the oven to 375F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also make this in a round cake pan, but I find that it’s easiest to just use a baking sheet. I like the free form nature of this easy bread.
In a medium bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients: Flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, raisins (if using), and sugar.
In a large mixing bowl, or a stand mixer with the dough hook, whisk together the wet ingredients: Coconut milk (or milk alternative) with the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. In my stand mixer with a dough hook, this takes about 60 seconds. By hand, it takes about 2 minutes.
The dough will be pretty wet and shaggy looking, but it shouldn’t stick to your hands. Tacky, not sticky is what you want here.
Turn the dough onto the prepared baking sheet and press a few more raisins into the top.
Then, using a sharp knife, cut a deep cross or X into the top of the dough, about 1 cm deep.
Place it into the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the bread is a nice, golden brown color and the temperature inside reads 190F.
Let it rest for at least 30 minutes to an hour before slicing into the bread. Enjoy!
Variations
- Don’t like raisins? You can mix up the dried fruit in place of raisins like dried cranberries, dried chopped dates, or go tropical inspired with orange zest!
How to Store
Irish soda bread is best enjoyed the day it is made.
Countertop: Keep any bread in an airtight container on the countertop for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Store the baked and cooled soda bread in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. I recommend slicing it before freezing and placing a piece of wax paper or parchment paper in between the slices so you can warm up what you like as needed.
To reheat from frozen, allow the bread to thaw on the countertop for 2 hours. You can warm slices in the toaster oven or microwave.
Top Tips
- Don’t overwork the dough. It’s a little wet and a little shaggy in appearance but that is what you want. The soft crumb comes from all the milk in the bread.
- Don’t forget to mark the bread with an X on top! This helps the heat get all the way down into this dense bread. If you don’t score the top, it won’t cook all the way through.
- Use room temperature dairy free milk. It works into the dough better when it’s not cold.
- Don’t slice into the bread until it is nice and cool. The resting time after cooking is super important to keep this bread moist.
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Recipe
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl or stand mixer
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- mixing spoons
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour plus 2 Tablespoons
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut milk from a can
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the raisins, reserving a few raisins for pressing on top of the bread.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar.
- Combine and knead. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a shaggy dough forms.
- Shape. Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and press into a disc. Using a sharp knife, cut an “X” into the top of the dough, about 1 cm into the dough.
- Bake. Bake the bread for 45-55 minutes or until the bread is a deep golden color and the temperature inside the bread reads 190°F/80°C.
Notes
- Allergy Substitutions
- If you are avoiding coconuts, you can make this bread with unsweetened almond milk or soy milk. Because coconut is so rich and fatty, add 1 tablespoon of any neutral flavored oil if you are using any other non-dairy milk.
- Out of apple cider vinegar? You can use an equal amount of plain white vinegar in its place.
- Variations
- Don’t like raisins? You can mix up the dried fruit in place of raisins like dried cranberries, dried chopped dates, or go tropical inspired with orange zest!
- How to Store
- Irish soda bread is best enjoyed the day it is made.
- Countertop: Keep any bread in an airtight container on the countertop for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Store the baked and cooled soda bread in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. I recommend slicing it before freezing and placing a piece of wax paper or parchment paper in between the slices so you can warm up what you like as needed.
- To reheat from frozen, allow the bread to thaw on the countertop for 2 hours. You can warm slices in the toaster oven or microwave.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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