Ready to eat in about 40 minutes! Soda bread with yogurt is a deliciously fluffy quick loaf that’s delicious with butter, cheese or your favourite toppings.
We have quite a relationship with bread in our house.
Personally, I love it! I could happily eat it for every meal. Toast, sandwiches, toasted sandwiches, bagels, pita, you name it. Give me bready carbs and I’m happy.
DH though, has a sensitive tummy and just can’t eat bread in those kinds of quantities. The occasional slice of sourdough is fine, or a nibble at the challah on Shabbat, but mostly he has to find some other source of tasty carbohydrates.
Soda bread to the rescue!
Fortunately for all of us, there’s soda bread! Soda bread is not really ‘bread’ at all, in that it isn’t raised with yeast in the typical way. It’s what is known as a ‘quick bread’ – raised with chemical leavening agents and without the lengthy fermentation and proving that yeast breads require.
This soda bread with yogurt is a particularly tasty example! It has a lovely fluffy, light texture and a delicious flavour. The yogurt also makes it extra nutritious by adding more protein and calcium to the bread.
Minimal ingredients
Soda bread contains just a handful of basic ingredients, which are mostly pantry staples. To make it you will need:
- flour
- bicarbonate of soda (also known as baking soda)
- a pinch of salt
- an acidic liquid
Traditionally the acidic liquid would have been buttermilk but here I’ve used natural yogurt. You can also use milk or plant-based milk, plus some lemon juice or vinegar.
If you don’t want to use an acidic liquid, you can make soda bread using plain milk or another liquid, but you need to swap out the bicarbonate of soda for baking powder. Baking powder has a built-in acid component which is activated when it is mixed with the wet ingredients. You will need about three times as much baking powder as baking soda.
Soda bread – No need to knead
Another big difference between soda bread and yeast bread is that there’s no need to spend ages working the dough. In fact, less really is more! The raising action of the bicarbonate of soda starts working as soon as it is mixed with the yogurt (or other acid), so it’s important to get the loaf into the oven without delay.
Kneading and overworking the dough of your soda bread can also cause the finished loaf to be tough rather than light and fluffy. So save yourself the bother – just mix, shape and bake!
Seedy topping
I’m incapable of leaving the top of a loaf plain, whether it’s yeast bread or soda bread. For this soda bread with yogurt I simply brushed a little plant-based milk over the top and sprinkled with some crunchy mixed seeds. They make the loaf look very attractive, I think, as well as adding a few extra vitamins and minerals.
Bready spready go!
You can eat your soda bread with any of the things you’d normally put on bread. I enjoy it thickly spread with butter but it’s great with humous, cheese, smoked salmon, or sweet spreads like jam or marmalade too.
It’s great dunked into hot soup! Serve with something hearty like miso mushroom barley soup or tomato, carrot and orange soup and you’ve got yourself a whole meal.
Soda bread also makes terrific sandwiches. Try layering buttered soda bread with some tangy cheese, thickly sliced ripe tomato, lettuce, and a dollop of chutney. Delicious!
Soda bread with yogurt
Soda bread with yogurt is best eaten freshly made – warm from the oven if possible – but any leftovers can be toasted and enjoyed the next day too. Try it toasted for breakfast topped with butter and marmalade, honey, jam or cream cheese and sliced strawberries.
Whatever your relationship with bread is like, I hope you’ll enjoy trying this delicious soda bread with yogurt!
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📖 Recipe
Easy soda bread with yogurt
Ingredients
- 225 g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- pinch salt
- 200 g plain natural yogurt (or plant-based live yogurt)
- 40-60 ml milk (or plant-based alternative)
- 1-2 tablespoon mixed seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour.
- Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the yogurt and half the milk and stir to combine. When the ingredients start to make a shaggy dough, use your hands to bring everything together. If the dough is dry, add a little more of the milk. (You may not need all the milk.)
- Tip out the ball of dough onto a floured surface. Turn and shape the dough into a round loaf and transfer to a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour.
- Quickly brush the top of the soda bread with milk/plant-based milk and sprinkle over the seeds, if using. With a sharp knife, cut a deep cross in the top of the loaf – you want to go almost right through but be careful not to cut the soda bread into pieces!
- Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden brown. When cooked, the loaf will sound 'hollow' when you tap on the bottom of it.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy!
Nutrition
More delicious bread recipes
Other quick breads you might enjoy include this vegetable soda bread, this easy vegan soda bread, malawach – a Yemenite Jewish flatbread, and these cheese and olive savoury muffins.
And if you can’t get enough soda bread, check out these delicious savoury and sweet recipes from other bloggers:
Slow cooker mozzarella and herb soda bread from Baking Queen 74.
Malted spelt soda bread from Kavey Eats.
Blackberry and apple spelt soda bread from Tin and Thyme.
Chunky monkey soda bread from Fab Food 4 All.
Hazel
Just made this for lunch. I used self raising flour as I didn’t have any plain and omitted the baking powder. Absolutely delicious and so quick and easy.
Mary Bost
This was great. The crust had character but wasn’t too hard. The inside was light and fluffy, yet dense enough to be satisfying. I used gluten-free flours, an assortment of leftovers with coconut flour, masa, almond flour and a couple mixed commercial flours. I tripled the recipe and ended up with 6 mini-loaves. My loaves did split after I cut too deeply to mark them but in the end, I was happier having half-size (or 1/4-size) loaves because they held their structure, which can be a challenge for gluten free. After baking them, I microwaved each loaf for 60 seconds, as is common for gluten fee baking as well. I’m so happy to finally have some allergen-free bread in the house which actually turned out just fine. As long as I remember to take some lactase enzyme with it!
Helen
Hi Mary, so happy to hear that this turned out well after your modifications, and that you enjoyed the recipe! If yogurt is an issue for you, you might instead try this vegan soda bread instead.
All the best, Helen x.
Heidi Roberts
I always mean to try to make a soda bread – I will now thanks to your recipe
Helen
Thanks Heidi! It’s so easy and really yummy. I hope you enjoy it!
Janice Pattie
I seem to have a surfeit of yogurt, so I think I might give this recipe a try. I’ve made soda bread before but not with yogurt. Yours looks really light and very tempting!
Helen
Thanks Janice. The yogurt does give it a lovely texture and a delicious flavour. I hope you enjoy it!
Simone
I have made this probably over 10 times now and every single time its perfect and delicious and rarely lasts a whole 24 hours! Thank you for sharing xx
Helen
That’s great to hear Simone! It’s certainly a favourite in our house. So glad that you’re enjoying making and eating it too 🙂
Alison Donnelly
Really fabulous recipe! Light bread and tasty with the seeds.
And in the oven in 5 minutes
Helen
Thanks Alison – great to hear you liked it!
Jacqueline Meldrum
I’ve been making a lot of bread lately, but I never seem to get around to making soda bread, but I really must. It’s a nice quick loaf to make for soup. Your soda bread looks so fluffy and I love the topping. Sharing this now.
Helen
Thanks Jacqueline! I love that it’s so quick. It’s great when you want fresh bread to go with something but have left it a bit late!
Lee-at
This looks so easy but I only have plain Greek yogurt at home. Would that work?
Helen
Hi Lee-at. I don’t see why it wouldn’t! Greek yogurt can be quite thick so you may need a little extra milk but you can adjust the amount so that you get a nice non-sticky dough. I hope you enjoy it!
Kelly Anthony
There is nothing better than a warm piece of homemade bread right out of the oven. My family will love this quick and easy soda bread with yogurt.
Helen
Thanks Kelly, I agree! This is gorgeous when it’s still warm enough to melt the butter. ?
Angela
I love this recipe! I have all of the ingredients in my pantry and it is so easy to make. I love the addition of the yogurt. Comes out beautifully every time!
Helen
Thanks Angela – that’s great to hear. So glad you enjoy it!
Anna
I loved this recipe! It is so much easier and quicker than making a sourdough, and the bread tasted amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Helen
Thanks Anna – I’m glad you enjoyed it! It’s certainly quick and easy 🙂
Myrtle Culbert
I’ve been making weekly since I found this recipe.
I’m making double the quantities to get 2 loaves!!
My daughter gets one!!!
Have also added sultanas to make fruit soda and couple of times have used honey Greek yoghurt which gives it a nice sweet taste..turns out really lovely each time.
Helen
That’s so great to hear Myrtle! Your fruit version sounds delicious 🙂
Jen
This would make a yummy project to do with the kids today. Love how easy it is to make!
Helen
Thanks Jen. It’s so easy the kids can probably do it themselves! Maybe just help with cutting the top as you do need to use a really sharp knife.
CAMILLA HAWKINS
Love the seed topping on your soda bread. Must make some soon!
Helen
Thanks Camilla. I just can’t leave the top of anything plain!!
Kavita Favelle
I love how quick and easy soda bread is, and such a good place to start for baking novices too!
Helen
Thanks Kavita! Yes, you really can’t go wrong with it 🙂