Irish Soda Bread without Buttermilk (Vegan!)

Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, this Classic Vegan Irish Soda Bread without buttermilk is soft on the inside and crusty on the outside. This is a traditional yeast-free bread filled with raisins and flavored with caraway seeds.

Originally Published: July 2020 | Updated: February 7, 2023

---

---

Why You’ll Love this Vegan Irish Soda Bread without Buttermilk

Like many people, I have such fond memories of eating Irish Soda Bread on St. Patrick’s Day. I love that this plant-based soda bread is completely dairy-free, so it’s made without buttermilk!

This is a traditional family recipe for soda bread that has been modified to be dairy free and vegan friendly.

• With only 10 ingredients, this quick bread is a great way to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day.

• The bread is perfectly crusty on the outside, with a soft interior scattered with slightly sweet dark raisins.

About Irish Soda Bread

First, a little history about the origin of Irish Soda Bread. Despite what the name suggests, soda bread was first created by the Native Americans in North America and the Irish later replicated the process.

Soda bread was adopted widely in Ireland because of its use of inexpensive ingredients. You can find more info through this article!

---

---

Ingredients

This bread only has 10 simple ingredients (not including salt) that you can find at your local grocery store. They are:

• All-Purpose Flour
• Granulated Sugar
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda
• Salted Vegan Butter, I used Country Crock Plant Butter
• Unsweetened Almond Milk
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Ground Flaxseed, to replace eggs (optional)
• Dark Raisins
• Caraway Seeds

Substitutions

• Vegan Butter: dairy free butter can be swapped with a 1:1 ratio with dairy based butter.

• Almond Milk: this can be swapped for another plain dairy free milk like oat milk or soy milk. Almond Milk can also be swapped with regular dairy based milk.

• Ground Flaxseed: the ground flaxseed acts as an egg replacer. It’s the equivalent of 1 whole egg. You can swap it for chia seeds if you don’t have flax on hand, or another egg substitute like Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer.

---

---

How to make Homemade buttermilk

The ingredients in traditional soda bread are usually flour, baking soda, and buttermilk. Since we are making a vegan version, we’re swapping the buttermilk with a dairy-free alternative.

📌 You can easily make a vegan buttermilk alternative by stirring together almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Before mixing all the ingredients together, let the almond milk and vinegar curdle for about 10 minutes.

Step By Step Instructions

STEP 1: Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix well so there are no lumps.

STEP 2: Cut in the vegan plant butter. Then, stir in the raisins and caraway seeds.

STEP 3: Combine the vegan buttermilk, baking soda and flax egg together. Then, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

STEP 4: Once you mix all the ingredients together, the dough should feel stiff and sticky.

📌 TIP: It’s important to not over mix or knead the dough at all. If you do so, the loaf will be heavy and dense after baking.

STEP 5: The dough should come together easily into a ball. If the dough feels too sticky to shape, sprinkle on 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until you can shape it into a loaf. 

STEP 6: After shaping the dough into a circular loaf, you can cut an “X” in the top with a knife. This “X” or cross shape is what gives soda bread its classic look (see below). This divides the loaf into quadrants that can be easily broken apart.

---

---

Serving the Vegan Irish Soda Bread

Now that the vegan Irish soda bread is ready, it’s time to dig in!

It’s fabulous smeared with a little bit of dairy-free butter. I love this bread served fresh, straight out of the oven, so it’s still a bit warm.

It’s also great served with the classics like cabbage, vegan beef stew and vegan seitan corned beef!

Storage

The loaf will stay fresh at room temperature for 1-2 days wrapped well in plastic wrap. After that, I recommend freezing the Irish Soda Bread to lock in it’s moisture.

To Freeze the Loaf: wrap it well in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Or you can wrap individual slices and place them in an airtight container.

---

---

FAQ

Looking for more baked goods?

• Easy 35 Minute Cinnamon Rolls
• Cozy Maple Spiced Coffee Cake
• Vegan Hot Cross Buns
• Vegan Poblano Cheddar Biscuits
• Homemade Flaky Biscuits without Baking Powder

---

---

Disclosure: This page contains some affiliate links. Please know that I may receive a percentage or commission from a link included on this page, at no cost to you. I will only recommend a product or service that I have used or believe has substantial value to my readers.