Ever since soda bread, that staple of the Irish dining table, was invented in the 1800s, it seems there are nearly as many “traditional” recipes as there are Irish families. Some are simple concoctions incorporating little more than flour, baking soda and buttermilk, while others boast the additions of various fruits and spices. This raisin-studded incarnation comes from a former SAVEUR staffer, who learned it the way such dishes should be—from her grandmother.
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What You Will Need
Irish Soda Bread
The addition of raisins to this Irish classic adds a hint of sweetness to an otherwise hearty bread.
Yield: makes one loaf
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 1⁄2–2 cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter or two knives, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, then stir in raisins.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a round loaf.
- Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iron skillet or a baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about 1⁄2” deep in an “X” shape. Transfer to oven and bake until bread is golden and bottom sounds hollow when tapped with a knife, about 40 minutes. Transfer bread to a rack to let cool briefly. Serve bread warm, at room temperature, or sliced and toasted.
More Irish Recipes
We love Irish cuisine year-round, but the rich, pure flavors of the Emerald Isle are particularly perfect for the moment when winter transitions into spring. St. Patrick’s Day, when we turn our attention to all things Irish, couldn’t fall at a better time. Corned beef and cabbage is practically synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day these days, and our next-level recipe teams impossibly tender salted meat with delicately poached winter vegetables beyond the usual cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Or enjoy potatoes and cabbage in a different incarnation: mashed together and enriched with cream in colcannon. You also can’t go wrong with a steaming pot of Irish stew studded with slow-cooked chunks of lamb. Here, we’ve rounded up our favorite classic Irish recipes for all your St. Patrick’s Day festivities. 
Mark Murphy, head of the Dingle Cookery School in Ireland, believes the lamb raised in Dingle to be some of the world’s best. “The meat has a slight salt flavor,” he says, “due to the Atlantic sea breezes that blow across the peninsula,” where the animals feed. Even if you can’t get lamb from the source, seaweed lends a soft salinity to the dish. Get the recipe for Seaweed-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Red Wine Sauce 
“The brown crab is one example of the great seafood we’re lucky to have abundant here in Dingle,” says Ireland chef Martin Bealin. He uses every part of the crustacean at Global Village, including the shells, which flavor this rich, comforting bisque. Get the recipe for Crab and Irish Whiskey Bisque 
Leave it to the potato-loving Irish to dream up colcannon, spuds mashed with finely chopped cabbage and enriched with lots of cream. Get the recipe for Colcannon 
In this traditional warming stew from the Emerald Isle, lamb shoulder is rendered spoon-tender by a simmer and then a long, slow bake with plenty of filling potatoes and aromatic carrots and onions. For bright color and a bit of verdant sweetness, green peas are tossed in toward the end of the cooking. Get the recipe for Irish Stew 
The haddock and cheddar mash at Dublin’s The Winding Stair restaurant represents the best of Ireland: sea, dairy, and spud. Get the recipe for Haddock and Cheddar Mash 
At Gubbeen Farm, a 250-acre coastal plot of land in West Cork, an Irish twist on French cassoulet results in a flavorful, brothy stew of lima beans and thin Irish pork sausages. Get the recipe for Irish Bean and Sausage Stew 
Espresso powder adds a jolt to this sleepy soda bread. We love it as toast for a breakfast sandwich or to mop up rich sauces alongside a dinner roast. Get the recipe for Irish Coffee Soda Bread 
Drew Hamm at Henry’s in Chicago makes a toasty spin on the traditional Irish coffee by adding Flor de Cana rum and a cinnamon syrup to the usual Irish whiskey base. Get the recipe for Irish Coffee Riff 
Cream, whiskey, vanilla, and coffee combine with sweetened condensed milk for a silky-smooth alternative to store-bought Irish cream. We love it added to coffee, used to sweeten cake frosting, or just on its own, enjoyed over a little ice. Get the recipe for Homemade Irish Cream 
Incorporating a Dingle staple—Irish brown bread—and a rich butterscotch topping, this ice cream has the comforting flavors of honey-drizzled toast in each bite. Get the recipe for Irish Brown Bread Ice Cream with Butterscotch Sauce