Easy & Quick Buckwheat Irish Soda Bread
This soda bread made with buckwheat flour is dense and crumbly yet so soft. It has a perfect dark crust giving the bread a gorgeous rustic finish – the kind that you see when you visit a bakery stall at your local Sunday market. Breads made with buckwheat flour are a great low-carb option and the buckwheat flour makes this bread low GI. The appeal of this buckwheat soda bread is how quick and easy it is to make. As much as I love the light airiness of yeasted breads like these Tiger Rolls or Air Fryer Bread, sometimes, I need my bread on the table in a hurry. I’ve already got my Broccoli and Pear Soup cooking in the Instant Pot! Another huge bonus of this bread is that do not have to even worry about the temperature! By that, I mean I do not have to prove the dough.
What is soda bread and why it is called Irish Soda Bread?
Soda bread is a quick bread made using bicarbonate of soda (baking soda, bread soda) as the leavening agent instead of yeast. The bread is traditionally made from coarse white or wholemeal flour, baking soda, buttermilk and salt. It is actually the lactic acid in the buttermilk that reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to create the rise as it forms carbon dioxide. The texture of soda bread is dense and rumbly rather than light and airy which is characteristic of yeasted breads. Soda bread is often referred to as Irish Soda Bread although, interestingly, it was first created by Native Americans. They used pearl ash, a white salt made from wood ash, to leaven their bread. The famous Irish bread that we know today began its history in 1830 when baking soda was first introduced to Ireland. Yeast was not readily available so buttermilk and bread soda were used as leavening agents. Ireland’s climate grew soft wheat flour rather than hard wheat flour (which is more suited to yeasted breads) so soda bread became common.
No-knead bread
As this is a no-yeast bread, the dough does not require any kneading. In fact, over kneading the dough can toughen it. Once all the ingredients are well mixed, all this bread requires is shaping!
What to serve with Buckwheat Soda Bread
The warm flavourings in this recipe make this bread excellent as it is. Simply slather on some butter whilst the bread is still hot. I love rustic breads with hot soups during the winter.
Ingredients for buckwheat Irish soda bread
Let’s see which ingredients we require for our soda bread.
Buckwheat flour & Wholemeal flour – we have used a ratio of buckwheat to wholemeal flour. We have used chapatti flour here.
High protein bread flour is not required for this recipe.
Buttermilk – the lactic acid in the buttermilk reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to make carbon dioxide.
As an alternative to buttermilk, whisk natural yogurt and water together. Use around 4-5 tbsp yogurt with tap water to make the amount of buttermilk required for this recipe.
Baking soda – used as a leavening agent here Salt
Flavours If you want a plain bread recipe, leave out these ingredients. It will still taste delicious!
Rosemary – we have used fresh rosemary Sundried tomato – you can use either sun-dried tomato in oil from a jar or dry sun-dried tomatoes.
This is my all time favourite ingredient! I LOVE sun-dried tomatoes whether it is in sandwiches, pasta salads such as Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Salad or pasta sauces like Instant Pot Sundried Tomato Pasta Sauce. For a filling lunch, Sun dried Tomato, Chickpea Cakes with Cashew and Oats are always a good idea! You can also make your own Sun-dried Cherry Tomatoes
Olives – we have used a combination of green and black olives. Garlic – use fresh minced garlic for the best flavour
How to make the easiest soda bread with buckwheat flour
It is so easy to make buckwheat soda bread. It’s the perfect quick bread recipe for when you are in a hurry. You also need only a few store cupboard ingredients.
Leftover soda bread
Soda bread tends to go chewy so it is best eaten the day it is made so the best way to revive it is to toast it. We toasted slices under the grill and topped with avocado for breakfast the next day.
More delicious Buckwheat recipes:
Farali Buckwheat Upma – Spiced Buckwheat with vegetablesEGGLESS BUCKWHEAT PANCAKESHAZELNUT BUTTER, BUCKWHEAT AND HONEY COOKIESBuckwheat, Blueberry, Cashew Smoothie with Chia SeedsBULGUR AND BUCKWHEAT STUFFED AUBERGINE
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Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First time published in February 2015.
