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If you’re after a Gluten Free Soda Bread recipe which is SUPER easy to make, you’ve come to the right place. This gluten free, yeast free Irish Soda Bread is possibly the best gluten free bread I have ever baked. No rising, no proving, no kneading – and no yeast!
Why choose THIS gluten free soda bread recipe?
- 200+ Reviews: This recipe has over 200 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reviews and it always goes down an absolute treat when I make it for my non-gluten-free friends and family.
- Ease: This gluten free soda bread is probably THE easiest gluten free bread ever. No yeast, no proving, no kneading – just make and bake!
- Flour of choice: I always use the FREEE Plain Gluten Free Flour for this but any plain gluten free flour blend from the supermarket. Keep it simple!
- Video tutorial + photos: I first published this recipe back in 2020, but I have recently updated it (Feb 2025) to include a video tutorial and step-by-step photos, for anyone less confident with their baking!
This gluten free Irish soda bread recipe is one of my favourite yeast free bread recipes, and is the perfect bake for St Patrick’s Day.
It uses basic storecupboard ingredients (plus a few from the fridge) and bakes in 30 minutes, with no kneading necessary.
If you’ve not tried it before, soda bread is an Irish bread, traditionally made from flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. Some recipes also include oats.
Serve it with a bowl of winter vegetable soup, a hearty beef stew, or simply slathered in butter and jam. And if you love it, check out my gluten free soda farls recipe next.
Don’t just take my word for it…
Marie left ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and said: “Made this quite a few times it’s perfect Thank you. childhood memories would never guess it’s gluten free.”
Ellie also left a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review and said: “I have just made soda bread and it’s delicious, soft and moist, not dry like most GF bread.“
Table of Contents
Ingredients
The quantities for this gluten free soda bread recipe are in the recipe card below, but here are some notes on the main ingredients:
- Plain Gluten Free Flour: Any plain gluten free flour blend will work. I usually use the FREEE Plain Gluten Free Flour in this recipe, but most flour blends will work.
- Xanthan Gum: This is essentially for creating a dough you can shape, and stops the finished soda bread from being crumbly.
- Bicarbonate of Soda: Or baking soda in the US.
- Egg
- Natural Yoghurt: This helps to add moisture to the dough.
- Milk: Mixed with Lemon Juice this creates a homemade buttermilk in a few seconds.
Some people also add raisins or currants to their soda bread, though I’m not the biggest fan of this kind of dried fruit so I didn’t do this. A few handfuls would be perfect.
How to make Gluten Free Soda Bread
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free soda bread is to make.
Firstly, preheat the oven to 190’C / Gas 5. Line a baking sheet with a piece of baking paper and set aside. A nice, hot oven is crucial!
Mix the yoghurt, milk and lemon juice in a bowl and stir to make buttermilk. The lemon juice should cause the milk/yoghurt to curdle a little, which is what you’re going for here.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, xanthan gum, sugar and bicarbonate of soda and mix well.
Pour in the yoghurt/milk/lemon mixture and then add the egg (which should be whisked just enough to combine the yolk and white).
Use a wooden spoon to bring the mixture together into a soft, sticky dough. Dust the worktop with a sprinkle of gluten free flour and turn out the dough.
Dust some gluten free flour on your hands as well as and then lightly mould the dough together into a ball.
If it is a little difficult to handle at first, you should find with the extra flour it starts to become more workable.
Don’t over-work the soda bread dough, as you don’t want to add too much extra flour to the mix and dry it out during baking.
Mould the dough into a circle shape – it should hold its shape relatively well but may still spread a little, this is fine. Place it on the centre of the parchment paper.
Use a knife to score an X into the top of the dough and sprinkle with a little extra gluten free flour, or rice flour if you prefer.
Bake the dough in the centre of the hot oven for around 30 minutes. It should be lovely and golden and sound hollow when you tap the top and bottom of the loaf.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving. Ideally leave it for at least 15 minutes before slicing, if you can resist!
Storing and Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: After it has cooled to room temperature, it will keep for a few days in an airtight container. I recommend either refreshing slices of the soda bread in the oven before serving so it is warm, or lightly toasting them.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze this gluten free soda bread. I recommend freezing it in slices with small squares of baking paper between them to stop them sticking. Defrost a slice as required and refresh in the oven or toaster (as above) before eating.
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g plain gluten free flour, (I use the FREEE plain gluten free flour, or any other supermarket blend)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 0.5 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 large egg, (lightly whisked)
- 200 ml natural yoghurt, (full fat is best)
- 100 ml milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Extra gluten free flour for dusting, (I used rice flour but you can use plain GF flour instead, either works)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190'C / Fan 170C / Gas Mark 5. Line a baking sheet with a piece of baking paper and set aside.
- Mix the yoghurt, milk and lemon juice in a bowl and stir. The lemon juice should cause the milk/yoghurt to curdle a little, which is what you’re going for here!
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, xanthan gum, sugar and bicarbonate of soda and mix well. Pour in the yoghurt/milk/lemon mixture and then add the egg (which should be whisked just enough to combine the yolk and white).
- Use a wooden spoon to bring the mixture together into a soft, sticky dough. Dust the worktop with a sprinkle of gluten free flour and turn out the dough.
- Dust some gluten free flour on your hands as well as and then lightly mould the dough together into a ball – if it is a little difficult to handle at first, you should find with the extra flour it starts to become more workable. Don't over-work it as you don't want to add too much extra flour to the mix.
- Mould the dough into a circle shape (it should hold its shape relatively well but may still spread a little, this is fine – you don't want the dough to be super stiff!) and place it on the centre of the lined baking sheet. Use a knife to score an X into the top of the dough and sprinkle with a little extra flour.
- Bake the dough in the centre of the hot oven for around 30 minutes. It should be lovely and golden and sound hollow when you tap the top and bottom of the loaf. Once baked, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
- Storing: This gluten free soda bread is best eaten fresh on the day of baking. It will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container or you can slice it up and freeze it, defrosting as needed. See the blog post above for freezing tips.
- Top Tip: If the top of the soda bread starts to catch when baking, cover it with some foil for the rest of the bake.
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups – I have weighed each item individually to ensure the conversion is accurate as possible. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this gluten free soda bread recipe should look at each stage.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about this Gluten Free Soda Bread!
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this gluten free soda bread. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
I’ve not tried making a dairy free or vegan version of this soda bread. Dairy free would be possible by swapping the milk and yoghurt for a dairy free version, and it should be relatively similar to the original recipe. I’ve not tried it with an egg replacer so at this time wouldn’t want to recommend something I’m unsure on.
Usually to make buttermilk, you’d add 1 tbsp of lemon juice per 1 cup of milk, and stir until it curdles. However, I wanted to use a mixture of yoghurt and milk to make the mixture a little thicker and add some moisture to my gluten free soda bread. This stops the soda bread from becoming too dry
This soda bread recipe uses bicarbonate of soda – often called baking soda in the US. This is gluten free. Not to be confused with baking powder in the UK which sometimes contains gluten. I’ve written a guide to gluten free baking powder with more information and a list of safe (and unsafe) products!
Serving suggestions
Gluten free soda bread is definitely best served warm. My favourite ways to do this are:
- Serve it warm slathered in butter.
- Add some jam for a sweet treat.
- Dip it into a hearty bowl of soup.
- Serve up slices of soda bread with a hearty beef stew or chicken casserole.
Because of its shape, this gluten and yeast free soda bread isn’t the best bread for sandwiches. For that you’ll probably want something more like my gluten free bread recipe.
More Gluten Free Bread Recipes
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Very impressed
Tastes wonderful
Baked for my granddaughter as she celiac
I am not but love it
Love the recipes I have tried, slowly working through them.
Please! I’m not allowed
Yoghurt, but milk, butter ,& egg are allowed!
What can I use instead of yoghurt in gf Irish Bread?(It’s the
fermentation in yoghurt
which is my problem!!)
Easy to make and delicious. Had to convert some of the recipe due to unfamiliar measurements.
I have tried your soda bread recipe a number of time to no avail, the finished bread comes out of the oven, when cooled and sliced it is very brown and moist at the bottom. Any suggestions would help as I am in recovery from throat cancer and find the like of Juvela goes very hard after microwaving it to soften it.
This is such an easy bake. I often whip it up while I’m making dinner so that we can have it to mop up our sauces!
So easy, and quick. My gluten-free friends liked it.