Cheddar and Chive Savory Sourdough Irish Soda Bread Recipe
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This Cheddar and Chive Sourdough Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that bakes golden, tender, and full of melty, savory flavor.. Sharp cheddar folds through every bite while fresh chives add a bright, herby pop and the sourdough gives a subtle tang. I wanted a loaf that celebrates my Irish roots and feels right on a St. Patrick’s Day dinner table. That connection first hit me on a high school choir trip through Dublin and the countryside, where I loved the green hills and hearty meals like Irish stew, cottage pie, and black sausages. Like the Sourdough Guinness Bread, this soda loaf has a rich, comforting Irish feel and is best enjoyed warm with butter alongside a festive dinner.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy Recipe –This sourdough soda bread comes together fast because it uses baking soda as a rising agent instead of yeast, like in yeasted bread recipes. The buttermilk reacts with the soda to make the dough rise in the oven, so you can mix, shape, and bake it in about an hour. You get warm bread on your table without doing a whole bunch of stretch and folds or waiting around for days. Another quick bread recipe that’s just as simple? The Cranberry Orange Quick Bread.
- Simple Ingredients – The base is the traditional soda bread combination of flour, baking soda, buttermilk, and salt. Adding sourdough discard gives the bread a subtle tang, and shredded cheddar, fresh chives, and garlic turn it into a savory loaf. It works the same way as Oatmeal Quick Bread, where a few everyday ingredients come together into something hearty and flavorful.
- Sourdough Tang – The leftover sourdough starter discard is a great way to add extra flavor while avoiding waste. It gives a gentle tang and depth without extended fermentation, but you’ll still get that sourdough taste in this quick bread. I use discard in my Apple Cinnamon Quick Bread the same way, to get that sourdough flavor without waiting for a full rise.
Ingredients & Substitutions
* To find precise measurements, scroll to the bottom of this post to find the recipe card*
- Flour-Traditional Irish soda bread is typically made with soft wheat flour grown locally, but this recipe uses hard wheat, specifically bread flour, for a stronger rise and chewier texture. Bread flour gives the loaf more structure and a slightly taller, tender crumb, but white flour or all-purpose flour works fine if that’s what you have.
- Sugar-Sourdough Irish bread is slightly sweetened with white sugar. Swap out the white sugar for honey for a healthier option. Mix the honey with the wet ingredients first, instead of the dry ones.
- Baking Soda-Baking soda is the main leavening agent in this recipe. It reacts with the acidic buttermilk to make the dough rise in the oven, giving the bread a tender crumb. Check the expiration date on your baking soda. If it’s old, it won’t react properly and your loaf could turn out dense.
- Salt-Any unrefined salt will do, but my favorite is Redmond’s unrefined salt for those extra minerals.
- Cheddar Cheese-I used shredded mild cheddar in this recipe, but shredded sharp cheddar or Dubliner are other great options for a more robust flavor.
- Sourdough Discard-The discard adds a gentle tang and extra depth to the bread without a long fermentation process. It gives you that sourdough flavor in a quick bread, making the loaf taste richer than plain soda bread.
- Chives-Fresh chives give a bright color and herby pop. You can substitute two tablespoons of freeze-dried chives.
- Garlic Powder: Garlic powder adds a mild, savory note that blends nicely with the cheddar and chives.
- Egg-Adds moisture to the dough.
- Buttermilk-If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, don’t fret. I have included a section on how to make Sourdough Irish Soda Bread without buttermilk below.
- Cold Butter: Using cold or frozen butter isn’t just for flavor. As it melts in the oven, it creates little pockets of steam that lighten the bread and help it rise.
How to Make Cheddar and Chive Sourdough Irish Soda Bread
Dry Ingredients:
- Preheat your oven to 425 F.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, garlic powder, and salt.
- Measure the flour by scooping it into your measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. This makes your measurement more accurate and helps prevent crumbly bread.
- Use a cheese grater to shred the frozen butter into little bits. Add the butter, shredded cheddar cheese, and chopped chives to the dry ingredients. Mix lightly until the butter is coated in flour and the cheese and chives are evenly distributed.
Wet Ingredients:
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sourdough starter discard, and egg.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture.
Mix:
- Stir the ingredients together with your hands or a wooden spoon until just combined. Avoid over-mixing, or the dough could become dense.
Shape:
- Flour your hands and your work surface generously.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the floured surface. Knead a couple of times to form it into a round loaf.
- Place the dough on a prepared baking sheet with parchment paper or in a buttered cast iron skillet.
- With a floured, sharp knife, cut a deep cross on top of the bread. Irish tradition says this blesses the bread. Some also say poking holes in the corners releases the fairies. Either way, it helps the bread cook evenly and adds a touch of tradition.
Bake:
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Tap the bottom of the loaf to check doneness; it should sound hollow when baked through.
- Remove the bread from the oven, let it rest on a wire rack, and cool slightly before slicing.
How to Make Sourdough Irish Soda Bread Without Buttermilk:
If you don’t have buttermilk, don’t worry. You can just use stuff you probably already have in your fridge.
- Mix equal parts yogurt (Greek or regular) and milk.
- Add 1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar to 1 cup milk.
- Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to 1 cup milk.
- Use kefir as is.
Cheddar and Chive Sourdough Irish Soda Bread is a great addition to any St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The green and yellow colors match the holiday, but the flavor is what will really make you and your guests feel lucky. This hearty loaf pairs well with traditional Irish dishes like Corned Beef and Cabbage, Irish Stew, Cottage Pie, or Beef and Barley Soup. It’s not just for dinner. Toast a slice and spread on a generous layer of creamy Irish butter for a delicious breakfast or midday snack.
McKenna’s Helpful Tips
- Don’t over-knead the dough. Mix just until everything comes together to keep the crumb light and tender, not dense.
- If you don’t have a food scale, scoop the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. This keeps your measurements accurate and helps your bread stay tender instead of crumbly.
- Dust your hands and working surface generously with flour when shaping the dough so it doesn’t stick.
- To check if the bread is done, tap the bottom. It should sound hollow when it’s fully baked.
How to Store
This bread is best eaten the day it’s made, but day-old slices are still delicious toasted with creamy Irish butter or with a big slice of Dubliner cheese. Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you won’t finish the whole loaf, cut it in half, wrap the pieces, and freeze what you don’t need. It keeps well in the freezer for several weeks.
FAQs
Yes. Traditional Irish soda bread is either plain or slightly sweet with additions like caraway seeds and raisins. If you’re not in the mood for savory flavors, you can swap out the garlic powder, cheddar, and chives for sweeter mix-ins. Some tasty options include raisins and caraway seeds, craisins with citrus zest, raisins with walnuts, honey with caraway seeds, or sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Irish soda bread is different because it uses baking soda and buttermilk to rise instead of yeast. Back when yeast was hard to come by in Ireland, people made bread this way.
Using sourdough discard gives this bread a gentle tang and extra flavor you won’t get from the true soda bread recipe. The fermentation in the discard also starts breaking down some of the flour, which can make the bread a little easier to digest. You get that classic sourdough taste without waiting for a long rise, making it a simple way to use up leftover starter while giving your soda bread extra depth.
If your bread is dense, it usually means the dough was overworked while kneading. If it’s crumbly, there was probably too much flour added. To prevent this, measure flour carefully using a food scale or spoon it into your cup and level it off with a knife.
Cheddar and Chive Sourdough Irish Soda Bread Recipe
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Equipment
- sharp knife
Ingredients
- 410 grams bread flour 3 1/4 cups
- 25 grams sugar 2 Tablespoons
- 9 grams baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons
- 5 grams garlic powder 1 teaspoon
- 9 grams salt 1 1/2 teaspoons
- 57 grams butter, frozen 4 Tablespoons
- 113 grams cheddar cheese, freshly shredded 1 cup
- 12 grams chives, chopped 1/4 cup
- 310 grams buttermilk 1 1/4 cups
- 142 grams sourdough discard heaping 1/2 cup
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet with butter, set aside. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can also line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the bread flour, sugar, baking soda, garlic powder and salt.410 grams bread flour, 25 grams sugar, 9 grams baking soda, 5 grams garlic powder, 9 grams salt
- Use a box grater to shred the frozen butter. Next, add the butter, the shredded cheddar cheese, and the chopped chives to the dry ingredients. Lightly mix until the butter is dusted with flour and the cheese and chives are fully incorporated.57 grams butter, frozen, 113 grams cheddar cheese, freshly shredded, 12 grams chives, chopped
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sourdough discard and egg until smooth.310 grams buttermilk, 142 grams sourdough discard, 1 egg
- Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- With your hands or a wooden spoon, mix until all of the flour mixture has been fully incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix the dough!
- Generously flour your workstation and your hands as this dough is quite wet and sticky.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and pour it onto the floured surface. Knead a couple of times to form the dough and shape it into a round loaf.
- Place the dough onto a prepared cast iron skillet.
- With a floured, sharp knife, cut a deep cross onto the top of the bread.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove the bread from the oven, rest it on a wire rack, and allow it to cool slightly before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe Tips
- If you don’t have a food scale, be sure to measure the flour by scooping it into your measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. This will help you get a more accurate measurement of flour so your bread isn’t crumbly.
- This dough is quite wet and sticky, so be sure to dust your hands generously with flour while you shape the dough.
- Be sure not to over-knead the dough, this can cause the crumb to be dense instead of light and tender. Mix until just incorporated.
- You can also check to see if the bread is done by tapping on the bottom. It will sound hollow when it is done baking.
- Store leftover sourdough Irish bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Don’t have buttermilk? Use one of these substitutions instead!
- Thinned-out yogurt (greek or regular) with milk (1 to 1 ratio)
- Milk with white or apple cider vinegar (1 cup with 1 T)
- Milk with lemon juice (1 cup with 1 T)
- Keifer
This bread is the most flavorful, moist, and delicious sourdough bread I’ve ever made! The recipe comes together easily. The dough is very wet and requires some extra flour to be worked in it while shaping. Highly recommend!
Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so glad you loved it — that flavor combo is one of my favorites too. Thanks again for taking the time to leave a review!
I actually have some active sourdough starter right now. Would it be ok to use that instead of discard?
Absolutely! Just be sure to use the same amount in grams.
I want to try this instead of all the seasoning can I add raisins and orange zest or will
It change flavor totally.
Yes, you can absolutely do that! Adding raisins and orange zest will create a sweeter, more traditional Irish soda bread variation. It will definitely change the flavor profile from savory to sweet, but it should still work well with the base recipe.
Hello, I have a friend allergic to cheddar cheese. Only cheddar. What other cheese do you think will substitute for the cheddar?
If they’re only allergic to cheddar, you can definitely substitute another cheese. Gruyère, mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Colby, or even parmesan would all work really well in this bread.
I’d recommend using a cheese that melts nicely and has a little flavor (Gruyère is especially delicious). Happy baking!
I made this and it was fantastic in terms of taste, but I cooked it at 425 for the 25 to 30 minutes and mine was still doughy in the center and the top crust was starting to get too brown. Do you have any suggestions?
I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavor—thank you for trying it! If the center was still doughy but the top was browning too quickly, it might help to tent the bread loosely with foil halfway through baking. That’ll protect the crust while allowing the inside to finish cooking. You could also try lowering the oven temp slightly (maybe to 400°F) and baking it a bit longer to help it cook more evenly. I hope that helps for next time!
Hi! If I were to make the dough ahead of time, how long can I store it in the fridge? Thanks!
Hi Kayla! You can store the dough in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Any longer and the baking soda may loose its effectiveness. Enjoy!
For the variations how much of each ingredient would you add?
Hi Dorothy! Here are some measurement suggestions for the variations. Enjoy!
1 cup of Raisins & 2 T of Caraway Seeds
1 cup of Craisins & 1 T of Citrus Zest
1 cup Raisins & 1/2 cup f Walnuts
2 T Honey & 2 T of Caraway Seeds
1/2 cup Sunflower & 1/2 cup Pumpkin Seeds
What is sourdough discard?
Hi Patti! Sourdough discard is unfed or inactive sourdough starter. You can read all about it here – https://simplicityandastarter.com/how-long-does-sourdough-discard-last-in-a-jar/
I think there’s a mistake in the recipe. It should be baking soda, not baking powder in the ingredient list. I made this last night but followed the recipe and grabbed the baking powder by accident. Flavor is phenomenal but texture is off because of that. Will remake with baking soda, but very good.
Hi Kelly! You are right, thank you so much for pointing out this typo. It has since been updated. I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the flavor. Hope you love the second batch even more!