Cheese and Herb Irish Soda Bread (gluten-free)

Gluten-Free Cheese and Herb Irish Soda Bread features a hint of cheesy flavor with herbs. This quick and easy rustic bread is perfect for any time of year, particularly St. Patrick’s Day! No baking experience is necessary, as this mix and bake recipe is yeast-free and doesn’t require you to wait for the dough to rise.

Irish soda bread is my all-time favorite bread to bake because of its simplicity and delicious texture.

Why? I simply find it quicker and easier to bake than a classic yeasted bread, and the end result is so lovely that I just couldn’t have it any other way.

I was first introduced to classic Irish soda bread back in 2010 on St. Patrick’s Day by a friend who loved to cook and bake, and it has been a beautiful relationship ever since. In fact, the first time I baked a loaf of bread, it was Irish soda bread.

The convenience of having a fresh loaf of bread ready in an hour or less is so appealing to me! Plus, I absolutely love the rustic crusty outside and soft inside.

All this can be yours with just two simple words: baking soda.

Over the years, I have baked countless loaves of Irish soda bread and have gotten creative with various flavors, including roasted garlic, caramelized onion, and this cheesy herb approach.

In fact, I bake Irish soda bread no matter the time of year!

If this is your first time baking soda bread, no stress! You are bound to have great success with this easy recipe.

Before I get ahead of myself, let’s go back to the basics.

What is Irish Soda Bread:

Irish soda bread is made with a minimum of three basic ingredients: flour, buttermilk, and baking soda. The baking soda acts as the leavening agent and reacts with the buttermilk to create the perfect chemical reaction to generate fluffy, delicious bread.

The traditional Irish soda bread recipe also includes caraway seeds and raisins, sultans, or dried currants; however, there are plenty of ways one can adapt the base recipe to fit personal tastes.

Take this gluten-free cheese and herb Irish soda bread recipe, for instance. Adding dried herbs and aged cheese brings fun nuance to the loaf. 

Because there is no waiting for yeast to activate or dough to rise (also known as proving), the whole process is very quick and simple.

If you’re looking for a more traditional gluten free Irish soda bread recipe, follow my tutorial on How to Make Irish Soda Bread. It includes the traditional caraway seeds and raisins.

Traditional soda bread happens to take way less time than yeasty bread because you aren’t waiting for the yeast to activate, nor the dough to rise. Plus, it’s free form.

You simply mix all the ingredients up in a mixing bowl, drop the dough on a baking sheet, and bake! Rustic crusty bread at its finest!

No need to allow the dough to rise, no loaf pan, no bread machine.

Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for Irish soda bread. You will be able to find them at any grocery store.

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread:

Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: Taking the place of regular all-purpose flour, we need a gluten-free flour blend. 

I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, which is a combination of various gluten-free flours. It primarily includes rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, and xanthan gum, and closely mimics the texture of regular all-purpose flour.

Do note that varying brands of gluten-free flour will produce varying results; however, any brand that is known to be a 1:1 replacement for regular all-purpose flour should work.

For the best results, stick with a flour you have used in other gluten-free breads. 

If you don’t follow a gluten-free diet, you can replace the GF flour with equal parts all-purpose (or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat).

Dried Herbs: I like using a combination of dried sage, thyme, oregano, and black pepper. If you have other dried herbs or seasoning blends you love, feel free to add them in. Italian seasoning and herbs de Provence both work too.

Buttermilk: Used both for leavening and to add moisture to the bread, we need buttermilk! 

Aged Cheese: Pick your favorite aged cheese like gruyere, parmesan cheese, or asiago cheese, and add it in! This simple addition creates beautiful flavor for a unique approach to Irish soda bread.

Recipe Customizations:

• If you want to experiment with other flavors, you can use sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, olives, or caramelized onions. Do not that the moisture content of the bread will change with anything that is added, so you may need to adjust the amount of flour accordingly. 
• Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to help neutralize the baking soda if you’d like. As long as you’re using buttermilk, you shouldn’t need to make this addition.

Now that we’ve covered the main ingredients, let’s bake a loaf of easy gluten-free bread.

How to Make Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, dried herbs, and grated cheese) until well combined.

Form a well in the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, stir the buttermilk into the flour, making small circles first then working your way outward to incorporate all the flour.

Form the dough into a ball in your hands and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough will be sticky, but shouldn’t be so sticky that you can’t knead it.

If the dough seems too wet, add a little additional flour until the sticky dough is easier to work with.

Knead the dough a few times then form it into a disc about 2” thick. You can sprinkle some flour on the disc. Place the dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Using a serrated sharp knife, gently cut an X into the top of the dough, about ½” to 1” deep.

Bake the bread for 20 minutes and then lower oven heat to 400 degrees and bake for another 27 to 30 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

If you have a meat thermometer, insert it into the thickest part of the bread to check the internal temperature. Bread is fully cooked once it has reached an internal temperature of 200 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit.

Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.

I enjoy the bread warm or toasted with a pat of butter to spread over it. Due to the Irish theme, I love using Irish butter, but any kind of unsalted butter is amazing too.

Serve this delicious Cheese & Herb Irish Soda Bread alongside Easy Shepherd’s Pie with Sweet Potatoes, Keto Cottage Pie, or Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage for an amazing St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

How to Store Irish Soda Bread:

Wrap the whole loaf tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can store it in the refrigerator for an extra 2 to 3 days. Bread can also be frozen in a zip lock bag for up to 3 months.

And that’s it! The next time you have a hankering for homemade bread, bust out a loaf of this gluten-free soda bread!

Cheese & Herb Irish Soda Bread

4.43 from 14 votes

Amazingly flavorful herby cheesy Irish Soda Bread is the easiest bread to make!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save RecipeSaved Recipe!

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

• 4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour see note*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon rubbed sage
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• Cracked pepper
• 1 cup grated gruyere cheese or parmesan or asiago
• 2 1/4 cups buttermilk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients except for the buttermilk and whisk to combine.
• Form a well in the flour. Pour in the buttermilk. Using a spoon, stir the buttermilk into the flour, making small circles first then working your way outward to incorporate all the flour.
• If the dough seems too wet, add a little additional flour.
• Form the dough into a ball in your hands and turn it out onto a floured surface. The dough will be sticky, but shouldn’t be so sticky that you can’t knead it. Knead the dough a few times then form it into a disc about 2” thick. You can sprinkle some flour on the disc. Place the dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
• Using a serrated knife, gently cut an X into the dough, about ½” to 1” deep.
• Bake the bread 20 minutes and then lower oven heat to 400 degrees and bake 27 to 30 minutes or until the bread is golden-brown and sounds hallow when tapped.
• If you have a meat thermometer, insert it into the thickest part of the bread to check the internal temperature. Bread is fully cooked once it has reached an internal temperature of 190 degrees Fahrenheit.

Notes

*Bob’s Red Mill's gluten-free 1-to-1 flour works great!  You can also replace the Gluten-free flour with equal parts all-purpose flour or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat.

Click here to add your own private notes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 12 · Calories: 199kcal · Carbohydrates: 44g · Protein: 4g · Fiber: 1g · Sugar: 2g

Author: Julia

Course: Breads

Cuisine: Irish

Keyword: cheese and herb bread, drop bread, gluten free, irish soda bread, no yeast bread

Did You Make This Recipe?I want to see it! Tag @the.roasted.root on social media!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.