What do you get when you cross the speed and simplicity of soda bread with the delicious sharp tang of cheddar cheese? This totally awesome Easy Cheese Soda Bread! Packed full of flavour, very easy to make and ready in just 40 minutes – with no kneading, or proving!
Easy Cheese Soda Bread
I love soda bread – it’s just so easy! Mix a few simple ingredients together, shape into a ball, cut a cross in the top and pop it in the oven for half an hour and bam! All of the deliciousness of freshly made bread, with none of the faff: no kneading, no hanging around waiting for it to prove, just easy tasty bread – and FAST!
I’ve shared quite a few variations on the soda bread theme over the years… white soda bread, wholemeal soda bread, rye soda bread, vegan soda bread… even soda bread rolls. But there has been one glaring omission… until now. And that’s cheese soda bread!
This Easy Cheese Soda Bread is just as quick and easy as regular soda bread… the only difference is you throw a big ol’ handful of cheese into the dry mix before adding the wet ingredients… that’s it!
What cheese to use in cheese soda bread?
Honestly, you can use most cheeses in cheese soda bread… so long as it melts and doesn’t burn too easily, it will work. But my absolute favourite is cheddar – preferably a good, strongly flavoured, mature cheddar.
Cheddar adds a lovely, strong cheesy flavour to soda bread that is very reminiscent of cheese straws. Basically, if you like cheese straws you will LOVE this bread!
If you are not a fan of cheddar, or you just want to try other cheeses out, other good options would be Stilton, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Camembert or Chèvre (French goat’s cheese).
What to serve cheese soda bread with?
This cheese soda bread goes brilliantly with soup – especially my Easy Tomato and Red Lentil Soup.
It also goes great with stews, chilli con carne, lasagne and cold meats.
Easy Tomato and Red Lentil Soup
Made entirely from storecupboard ingredients
One of the best things about this Easy Cheese Soda Bread is it can be made entirely from storecupboard ingredients – there’s no need to buy in any special ingredients. All you need is flour, salt, baking soda, cheese, vinegar and milk!
No need for buttermilk!
Best of all, there’s no need to buy in any buttermilk to make this Easy Cheese Soda Bread recipe!
Buttermilk can be hard to find and/or a little pricey. Plus, it’s not something most of us keep in stock in our kitchens…
But the good news you can make ‘fake buttermilk’ simply by mixing regular milk and vinegar (my preference is apple cider vinegar, but you can also use white wine vinegar – or even red wine vinegar as a push. I’d steer clear of malt vinegar, though!). Simply mix 200ml (7oz) milk (cow’s milk or plant-based -up to you!) and 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
If you don’t have any milk, you could even use water. And if you don’t have any vinegar, you could use lemon juice.
You could also substitute the milk/vinegar combo for the same quantity of yogurt. (You may need to add a splash of water to get the consistency right.)
If you prefer to use buttermilk too, that’s totally OK! I find this recipe works best with 285ml (10oz) buttermilk.
How long does soda bread keep for?
Soda bread does not last as long as regular bread. It’s best eaten within 24-48 hours of making it. After that, it tends to go a little hard/stale. To ensure your soda bread lasts as long as possible, keep it in an airtight container, once it has cooled down completely.
If your soda bread has gone a little hard or stale, don’t worry, it can easily be perked up by toasting it!
Can you freeze soda bread?
Soda bread freezes brilliantly. Simply place the soda bread in a plastic lidded container and put it in the freezer, where it’ll keep for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature.
Alternatively freeze slices of soda bread as above, and defrost a slice or two as and when you need it. You can easily defrost slices of frozen soda bread in your toaster! My toaster has a defrost setting, but if yours doesn’t, just set it to a low setting to defrost your soda bread.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Cheese Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 150 g plain white flour (see Note 1)
- 200 g wholemeal flour
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (see Note 2)
- 100 g mature cheddar cheese (see Note 3), grated
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (see Note 4)
- 200 ml milk regular or plant-based (see Note 5)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F. Dust a non-stick baking tray with a little flour.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flours, salt, baking soda and grated cheese.
- In a jug mix together the vinegar and milk.
- Pour the milk/vinegar mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Bring the dough together into a ball using your hands. The dough should just come together into a ball, but shouldn’t be wet and sloppy. If it doesn’t all come together add a splash of water. If it’s too wet and sloppy add a touch more flour.
- Roll the dough into a ball and place on your prepared baking tray.
- Flatten the ball a little and then cut a deep cross into it. The cross should go almost to the base of the loaf – but not quite!
- Bake the loaf in your pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes until cooked all the way through and golden on top.
- Ideally, serve warm – straight out of the oven!
Video
Notes
- You can use any combination of flours you like (white, wholemeal, granary, rye etc.) but make sure that you use regular 'plain' / 'all purpose' flour NOT bread flour and NOT self-raising flour.
- Be sure to use baking soda (which is the same as bicarbonate of soda) DO NOT use baking powder, which is a different thing entirely!
- I personally prefer to use cheddar cheese in this recipe, but feel free to experiment with other cheeses, such as Stilton, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Camembert or Chèvre.
- Alternatively, you can use white wine vinegar or lemon juice. At a push you could use red wine vinegar, but DO NOT use malt vinegar or balsamic vinegar.
- I have successfully used regular cow's milk, almond milk and oat milk here. You can use any plant-based milk you like here, but beware that strongly flavoured milks, such as hazelnut or coconut will affect the taste of the bread (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your preferences!)
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Sandhya says
Wowie for the Cheesy Soda bread. I love how easy it is to make and they freeze so well too.
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Sandhya. Glad you like it! Eb 🙂
Linda Maddison says
Does the bread have to have a deep cut across it, or is this just to speed up baking? also does it have to be round, can it be in a farmhouse loaf shape? I would like to be able to slice the bread to make sandwiches.
Eb Gargano says
The cross both speeds up baking and helps the centre to cook properly. You may find, if you don’t put a cross in it, the middle ends up a little undercooked. I’m not 100% sure what you mean by ‘farmhouse loaf shape’ – it means different things to different people, but this recipe should work fine as a more oval shaped loaf, which would make it better for slicing for sandwiches. I hope that helps! Eb 🙂
Linda Maddison says
Thank you for replying, I’m in the UK & farmhouse loaf is the normal shape baked in loaf tin, but the oval shape (which we call a ‘Bloomer’) sounds like it may work for slicing, I’ll try that tomorrow, thanks for your advice Eb 🙂
Eb Gargano says
No problem. Let me know how it goes! Eb 🙂
MG says
Loved this recipe. Used rye flour, halved quantities to make two cheesy rolls which came out perfectly. Very tasty and definitely easy to make. Will make them again.
Eb Gargano says
Aw, yay! That’s so good to hear 😀