Savory, easy Irish cheddar soda bread with garlic, onions, and plenty of cheese! It's buttery, and delicious toasted or fresh from the oven.
We've tried this bread with many different types of cheese, and although a traditional Irish cheese tasted good, our very favorite was a good regular medium/sharp cheddar cheese! It's best served with a delicious soup, toasted with butter, or with Crock Pot Beef Stew and Red Skin Mashed Potatoes.
I love that this is a no yeast bread (quick bread) and that it's done in less than an hour. It's an Irish soda bread without buttermilk, it uses a substitute made with milk and vinegar instead. A little acid is necessary to activate the baking soda and make the bread fluffy!
This is a great side dish or snack for St. Patrick's day with slow cooker cabbage with ham, or another savory dish like Irish poutine with bacon. It's so easy to mix up and bake. The loaf was gone so quickly, especially when it was slathered in Irish Kerrygold butter.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Size - This loaf of cheesy soda bread is small enough to bake in a decent amount of time.
- Taste: Cheese, garlic, and onion are the main flavors. You do get a little salt and the texture is like a drop biscuit in bread form.
- Ease: Mixing the butter into the dry ingredients, then adding the flavor-filled cheese & onions and the wet ingredients! No mixer required, this is a beginner friendly recipe!
- Time: It takes less than 10 minutes to mix up the simple soda bread dough and then 45-50 minutes to bake. I'd say less than an hour total if you preheat the oven before starting to mix the dough.
🛒 Key Ingredients
- Cheese - Use your favorite cheddar! When tested, regular cheddar was voted #1. Other tested cheeses were Kerrygold, an Irish cheese brand that's pretty easy to find in the USA. We tried the Dubliner Irish Cheese and the Irish Reserve cheddar, and they are both a stronger, sharper tasting cheese. If you like those, you'll like them in the bread. If you don't (or you have picky children), use a regular tried and true cheddar cheese and you can't go wrong.
- Garlic - minced is used but garlic powder would work just fine! Just make sure to use half the amount.
- Onion - needed for a little color and flavor. It's delicious.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- Green onions can be swapped out with chives, shallots, or a sweet onion variety like yellow or white.
- Butter can be switched with coconut oil or shortening for a dairy-free Irish soda bread.
- Any plant-based milk can be used in place of the whole milk used in the recipe.
- You could replace half of the milk with plain greek yogurt or sour cream.
🧑🍳 Instructions
It's super easy to learn how to make Irish soda bread. You can always leave out the extras like the onions and cheese and this is a really good basic Irish soda bread recipe.
Don't forget to turn on the oven to preheat to 375℉! You can use a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper or a 9 inch cast iron pan to bake the loaf in.
- Step 1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together milk and vinegar and let sit 5 minutes.
- Step 2. Add egg to milk mixture and whisk well.
- Step 3. In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and butter. Crumble butter with hands or a fork into the flour mixture until it's in pea sized pieces.
- Step 4. Mince onions and chop cheese into small pieces, about ¼ inch cubes (about .5 cm).
- Step 5. Add the onions, cheese, and garlic to the flour mixture.
- Step 6. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to form a dough.
- Step 7. Once the dough is formed, knead about 10 times, making sure that all flour pockets are gone. Gently form into a ball, use extra flour if you need to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
- Step 8. Place the dough ball in cast iron frying pan (or prepared baking sheet) and cut a cross ¼ inch deep into the top of the loaf using a knife.
- Bake for 45-55 min, until internal temperature of the loaf is 200℉. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
📌 Top Tips & Hacks
- Use an instant-read thermometer to test the internal temp of the loaf before pulling it out of the oven. It's so handy and it helps to make sure the loaf is baked all the way through!
- Chopping the cheese into cubes is how we liked it best, but you can use grated cheese as long as they are the large grated pieces, not finely grated. Otherwise the cheese kind of melts into the dough.
- If using garlic powder, remember to use half the amount called for in the recipe.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! It's the acid that reacts to the baking soda, so as long as you replace it with a different acid you don't need buttermilk. I use a mixture of milk and vinegar as a buttermilk substitute, since I don't buy and use buttermilk frequently.
We like it best toasted with butter as a snack or served alongside a delicious dinner like soup and potatoes.
Yes! It can be eaten at room temperature, but toasting it with butter brings out the delicious flavors and melty cheese.
🥖 More Easy Bread Recipes
Did You Try This Recipe? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Make sure to leave a star rating and a comment below the recipe card. I love hearing from you, and it is so helpful to other readers! Better yet, share it with family and friends. Thank you!!
📝 Printable Recipe
Irish Cheddar Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk 240 mL
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar 5 mL
- 1 large egg
- 3¼ cups all purpose flour 455 g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda 8 g
- ¾ teaspoon salt 4 g
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter 56 g
- 2-3 green onion stalks (¼ cup or 30g chopped)
- 4 oz cheddar cheese 115 g
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic 11 g
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 ℉. Prepare a 9 inch cast iron pan with baking spray or a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together milk and vinegar and let sit 5 minutes.
- Add egg to milk mixture and whisk well.
- In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and butter. Crumble butter with hands or a fork into the flour mixture until it's in pea sized pieces.
- Mince onions and chop cheese into small pieces, about ¼ inch cubes (about .5 cm).
- Add the onions, cheese, and garlic to the flour mixture.
- Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to form a dough.
- Once the dough is formed, knead about 10 times, making sure that all flour pockets are gone. Gently form into a ball, use flour if you need to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
- Place the dough ball in cast iron frying pan (or prepared baking sheet) and cut a cross ¼ inch deep into the top of the loaf using a knife.
- Bake for 45-55 min, until internal temperature of loaf is 200℉. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Sara!
Registered Nurse by day, food blogger by weekend. Perfect dip tester & snack quester. I love short walks on the beach and long naps. Sharing my love for food, one bite at a time.
ada says
Very easy! I added a little more cheese and it was delicious.