Easy Irish Soda Bread recipe with raisins and caraway seeds perfect for St. Patrick's Day or anytime you want a delicious quick bread.

When my dad was a boy he tried some Irish Soda Bread at the neighbor's house and liked it so much that he copied the recipe and brought it home to ask his mother to make it. I still have the original copy in his writing, in a protective sleeve, of course.
We've pretty much been making it every year for St. Patrick's Day since then.
It is delicious with Baked Corned Beef or Irish Stew with Guinness depending on whether you want to go Irish American or more traditional Irish.
I love it the next morning toasted up and slathered with some good Irish butter for breakfast.
Ingredients for Irish Soda Bread
The ingredients are pretty basic baking items: flour, vegetable oil (canola, corn, etc.) baking powder, baking soda and salt.
I believe currants are a bit more Irish, but I usually use raisins because that's what we have.
For the buttermilk I try to keep a canister of buttermilk powder on hand. When I don't have it, my go to substitute is half plain yogurt mixed with half milk.
Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients
- 4 cups flour (sifted)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 1 cup currants or raisins
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ¾ cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Sift together dry ingredients. Stir in seeds and raisins or currants. Add oil and milk. Stir only enough to moisten dry ingredients.
- Divide dough in half and put on greased baking sheet in 2 mounds.
- Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter or margarine.
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Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey
Carleta Vineys
Just noticed that"soda" should be "baking soda". That seems to be the standard for most recipes today.
Audrey
updated that and the "salad oil" reference
Audrey
good catch, mom. I just cut and pasted from the recipe page. You'll be proud to know your grandson knows the difference!
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com
Audrey, what a sweet story! How I would treasure a recipe handwritten by my father when he was ten! Believe me, I am envying you right now (in the nicest sense of the word, of course). I've never put raisins in my soda bread, but it might make a nice change once in a while.
Audrey
Thanks, Jean. I love that his Mom (and mine) saved it.