This cheesy vegan soda bread recipe is one of my new favourite healthy no yeast quick breads because it’s super flavourful, easy to make and doesn’t require any rise time!
If you find yeasted breads, challenging, I see you. I’m BUSY and sometimes just can’t be bothered to wait hours for a rise. As a result, I created a yeast free, flour free focaccia recipe on my blog that has been a total hit. I then got experimenting with other non yeast breads and the popular one is a classic Irish Soda Bread.
Soda bread is a traditional quick bread that doesn’t use any yeast to leaven the bread, but rather, relies on baking soda and buttermilk, instead. I also wanted to make a vegan soda bread recipe. So in lieu of typical buttermilk, I actually use non-dairy almond milk mixed with some apple cider vinegar to “thicken” the milk naturally. I also use a combination of vegan shredded cheese and nutritional yeast to add cheesy flavour instead of using dairy cheese.
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
Let me tell you why this soda bread recipe has been a hit in my house:
- Completely vegan
- High in fibre
- Perfect for pairing with soups or making into sandwiches
- Kid approved level of cheesiness!
Key Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour– I like the natural nuttiness this brings, plus of course it boosts up the nutrition.
All Purpose Flour– I do recommend using a combination of whole wheat and all purpose, because I find if you go straight up wheat, the bread can taste a little dry.
Ground Flax – This adds a nice hearty texture and also lots of omega 3, fibre and protein!
Vegan Buttermilk – A simple combination of non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar (you can swap in lemon juice or rice vinegar) that is allowed to sit for 5 minutes to thicken up like buttermilk. Buttermilk is actually naturally low in fat, it’s just that because of the acid added to it, it’s thick like butter.
Baking Soda – This works with the vegan buttermilk to give the bread a nice rise.
Fortified Nutritional Yeast– This adds a ton of protein and vitamin B12 plus a naturally cheesy flavour.
Vegan Cheese Shreds – This gives you a little colour and also more salty savoury cheesy flavour.
Vegan Butter– This gives this bread a buttery biscuit like texture. SO SO GOOD.
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and place a piece of parchment paper into a round cast iron skillet with high sides or a cake pan.
Step 2: Mix the almond milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes to make “buttermilk”.
Step 3: In a large bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, flax, nutritional yeast, sugar, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Mix together until combined.
Step 4: Cut the vegan butter into the dry ingredients and rub your finger and thumb together to get small pieces of butter coated in the flour.
Step 5: Add buttermilk and cheese and use your hands until they’re well incorporated. This will be a very wet dough.
Step 6: Sprinkle 1/4 cup whole wheat flour to your work surface and turn the dough out onto the surface. Sprinkle another 1-2 tablespoons of flour on top of the dough. Then fold the dough onto itself like a book and add another tablespoon or so of flour as you kneed. Knead for another 5 minutes until it’s no longer super sticky (it will still be a moist flour, but you want it to stop sticking to the surface with every turn.) Fold corners under to make a ball and set the ball in the cast iron. Cut a X on the top of the circle.
Step 7: Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Step 8: Remove from oven and place the loaf on a rack to cool. Slice and serve with vegan butter or vegan cream cheese.
Expert Tips
You’ll know it’s time to stop kneading once the dough is smoother with a satiny finish. It will still be pretty moist, but it shouldn’t be a shaggy ball that sticks to the counter with every knead. This ensures the gluten is developed so you have a beautiful bread.
Use a sharp knife or bread lame (fancy term for a razor) to slice the X on top of your bread. You can also get crafty with designs, but the main purpose is to give the bread space to expand.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand.
There are a few tell tail signs you can look out for. One is that the X looks dry and no longer wet. Another is that when you stick a toothpick into the centre, it comes out clean (like any good quick bread). I like to get technical and take the bread’s temperature – it should read 205 F.
Absolutely. My kiddo LOVED this bread’s cheesy flavour and I loved that it had the extra protein, fibre and healthy fats from whole wheat flour, flax and nutritional yeast. I served it simply with a little cream cheese or butter on top, sprinkled with some hemp hearts for even more nutrition.
More Recipes You Might Like
- Gluten Free Flax Focaccia (No Yeast)
- Vegan Corn Spoonbread (Gluten Free)
- Dairy Free Banana Bread with Cherries and Chocolate Chips
- Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Bread
What are some of your favourite no yeast bread recipes? Have you tried making any soda bread recipes? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!
Cheesy Vegan Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup whole wheat flour plus more for kneeding
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- ½ cup fortified nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter cut into pieces
- ¾ c shredded vegan orange cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and place a piece of parchment paper into a round cast iron skillet with high sides or a cake pan.
- Mix the almond milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes to make “buttermilk”.
- In a large bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, flax, nutritional yeast, sugar, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Mix together until combined.
- Cut the vegan butter into the dry ingredients and rub your finger and thumb together to get small pieces of butter coated in the flour.
- Add buttermilk and cheese and use your hands until they’re well incorporated. This will be a very wet dough!
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup whole wheat flour to your work surface and turn the dough out onto the surface. Sprinkle another 1-2 tablespoons of flour on top of the dough. Then fold the dough onto itself like a book and add another tablespoon or so of flour as you kneed. Kneed for another 5 minutes until it’s no longer super sticky (it will still be a moist flour, but you want it to stop sticking to the surface with every turn.) Fold corners under to make a ball and set the ball in the cast iron. Cut a X on the top of the circle.
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and place the loaf on a rack to cool. Slice and serve with vegan butter or vegan cream cheese.
Nutrition
Updated on June 19th, 2024
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
Brandi says
Could you substitute almond milk with oat or coconut milk?
Abbey Sharp says
yep!