This easy to make Irish Soda Bread with Dill is a variation of the traditional Irish Soda Bread. Serve it with your favourite Irish stew for a delicious meal!
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This post was originally published on March 14, 2015. It has been updated.
Since St-Patrick’s Day is quickly approaching I thought it would be fun to try a new Irish recipe and share it with you. I thought about making a traditional Irish lamb stew, but since my true passion is baking I gravitated towards making an Irish Soda Bread.
This bread is easy to prepare, doesn’t require many ingredients and is made without the use of yeast. Baking soda is used instead to leaven the loaf, which makes this a quick bread. This means there is no waiting for the bread to rise before you can bake it.
How to Make Irish Soda Bread
This recipe is based on a traditional recipe for Irish Soda bread from Canadian living. To make the bread heartier, I substituted half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat bread flour. To add a bit more flavour and colour to the bread, I added 4 tablespoons of finely chopped dill. When mixing the dough, I recommend reserving about 1/4 cup of the buttermilk and not adding it all at once. Mix the dough and then determine whether you need to add more buttermilk. The dough should be nice and soft. Shape the loaf and place it on a lined baking sheet. Using a sharp knife score a wide cross on the dough, this helps the heat reach the middle of the loaf and helps it to bake more evenly.
This Irish Soda Bread bakes beautifully and is delicious with the addition of fresh dill. The bread is best served warm with some salted butter. Serve it with a bowl of Irish stew for a delicious dinner!
How to Freeze Soda Bread
You can store any leftover soda bread in the freezer, just wrap it well and store it in a large freezer bag. Thaw the bread on the counter and warm it in the oven before serving.
More Quick Bread Recipes
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole wheat bread flour
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
- 1-3/4 to 2 cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Place a rack in the centre of your oven and preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking soda into a large bowl, add the chopped dill and blend it in well with your fingers.
- Make a well in the centre and add 1 and 3/4 cups of the buttermilk, start mixing it with your fingers until the bread comes together, if needed add more buttermilk, one tablespoon at a time.
- Turn the dough out onto a flour dusted surface and knead the dough a few times until it comes together into a ball shape. Don’t over knead the dough.
- Transfer the dough onto the baking pan and using a sharp knife score a wide cross, about 1/2 of an inch deep on the dough.
- Place the pan onto the middle rack and bake for about 32 to 35 minutes, the bread should be brown and sound hollow when you tap the bottom of it.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for about a half hour before slicing and serving.
- Serve with salted butter and enjoy!
Nutrition
Love the rustic texture of the bread, especially with the flavour of dill incorporated
Thank you so much!
Wow im really loving this irish soda bread. and with dill? wow that would add so much great flavor.
The dill was really good. Thank you!
I do like dill, its wonderful flavour and taste; the bread looks very delish! 🙂
Yes, so do I and I feel that I don’t use it all that much in my cooking, I will have to try and incorporate it more often 🙂 Thank you!
Do you add it to fish? They are perfect together! 😀
Yes, I do sometimes and it’s always delicious.
This bread looks like a delicious loaf!
Thank you!
I like the taste of dill so this is a recipe to try. I will have to wait till my garden wakes up!
Love the idea of adding dill to a bread – if only my husband liked that herb….
Ah, yes it can be a challenge in the kitchen when tastes are not the same 🙁
Beautiful photos Fida. Your styling is impeccable.
Thank you Deborah, I find some foods are easier to style than others. Looking forward to Saturday!
I’ve made soda bread before but not with dill–that sounds really good!
I hadn’t planned on it but then I had some dill in the fridge and thought it would make a nice addition.
Looks like a nice loaf of irish soda bread and I like the addition of dill… quite fancy trying it! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks Lili!
This is some of the best looking Irish soda bread I’ve ever seen, Fida! Love the addition of dill. Your photos are stunning!
Thank you so much Nancy! Bread / loaf pictures easily look good, they must be photogenic!
This bread looks delicious . Cant wait to dip it in the Irish lamb stew which Judi @cookingwithauntjuju.com just made. Awesome combination.
Thank you. Oh, that’s a good idea, think I’ll do the same!
Looks tasty
It’s was, especially with all that butter 🙂