How to make cheap soda bread at home and you only need four ingredients

SUPERMARKET shelves are beginning to be filled once more, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try your hand at making your own bread from home – especially when it’s so easy to do.

The author of a popular cookery website – – has shared a simple Irish soda bread recipe which uses only four basic ingredients that you probably already have at home – and it’ll set you back just over £1 a loaf.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

Kelly, the site’s founder, showed home bakers just how easy it is – simply by using flour, buttermilk, baking soda and a pinch of salt.

While regular milk has been hard to snatch up in some supermarkets, buttermilk is readily available and has a shelf-life of up to two weeks – making it the perfect addition to your essentials shopping list.

The best part about this recipe is that it’ll only take ten minutes to prepare and an extra 40 minutes in the oven until it’s toasted and golden brown.

To start, it’s best to preheat the oven to 220°C to ensure it’s hot when it comes to placing the the dough mix in.

To make the bread, simply combine 480g of plain flour, one teaspoon of baking soda and salt and sift into a bowl to remove any lumps.

After washing your hands (remember, for at east 20 seconds with soap), create a well in the centre of the mixture and slowly pour in 350ml of buttermilk.

Like with any bread mix, you must slowly knead the mixture together with your hands until combined, taking care not to “overwork” the dough which can cause it to break when it is stretched out.

The recipe suggests that the texture should be soft and crumbly, but still moist enough for it to hold together.

Next up, roll the dough into a ball and place on a lightly greased baking tray.

Using a knife, make a large ‘X’ across the dough, pressing about an inch deep.

Then pop the tray into the oven and bake for roughly 40 minutes, or until the loaf is toasted and brown to your liking.

In the time you make a cuppa and sit down to enjoy it, you’ll have yourself a tasty loaf of soda bread ready to be eaten.

Kelly is a health adviser from North Carolina and founded the vegetarian food blog which specialises in quick and easy dishes.

Her soda bread recipe is so simple and delicious that it’s been shared by hundreds of amateur cooks who have been looking for an easy way to make bread – and other baked goods – since the coronavirus pandemic resulted in supermarket shelves being stripped.

We also shared how to make soda bread in your slow cooker WITHOUT yeast – and it couldn’t be easier.

And this mum shares a ‘delicious’ £1 Aldi scone recipe – using just four ingredients.

Plus, you can have Nando’s chicken at home with this slow cooker roast recipe for only £2.80.