Gordon Ramsay’s beer bread uses self-raising flour, wholemeal flour, sea salt, and 250ml of beer, mixed into a wet batter and baked at 180°C for 35 minutes. The recipe is from his Ultimate Home Cooking cookbook and makes 8 mini loaves.
Ramsay says “people don’t believe me when I say you can have home-made bread on the table within 40 minutes, but here’s the proof.” In the UCC video he calls it “a kind of English take on Irish soda bread” because the beer replaces yeast entirely.
The fizziness and natural yeast in the beer do the lifting. No proving, no rising, no waiting.
The batter should look wrong. Ramsay warns “I’m looking for the mixture to be quite wet. If the dough becomes too firm then it’s going to cook dry in the centre.” It pours more than it shapes, which is why he uses mini tins instead of forming a free-standing loaf.
Gordon Ramsay Beer Bread
Course: SidesCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
mini loaves5
minutes35
minutes140
kcal40
minutesFrom Gordon Ramsays Ultimate Home Cooking. Just flour, salt, and a bottle of beer, ready in 40 minutes. Ramsay calls it a kind of English take on Irish soda bread. The beer replaces yeast entirely so there is no rising or proving.
Ingredients
Butter, for greasing
175g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
75g wholemeal self-raising flour
½ tbsp flaked sea salt (Maldon)
250ml beer or lager
1-2 tbsp milk, for glazing
Directions
- Preheat: Set the oven to 180°C (350°F)/Gas 4. Grease 8 mini loaf tins with butter, dust with flour, and shake out the excess.
- Mix: Sift the flours into a bowl and add the salt. Pour in the beer, mixing as you go, until the batter is free of lumps. It will look unusually runny for a bread mix. That’s correct.
- Fill: Divide the batter between the tins, filling them three-quarters full. Place on a baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 30 minutes. Brush the tops with milk and a light dusting of flour to help them colour. Bake for a further 5 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the base sounds hollow when tapped.
- Cool: Remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack. Eat warm or cold.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay use beer instead of yeast?
The beer already contains yeast and carbonation. When it heats up in the oven, those bubbles expand and lift the bread without any proving or rising time.
Ramsay says “the reason why this recipe works so well is that the beer, it’s got that yeast, so naturally it’s going to work beautifully.” Same principle as soda bread using bicarb and buttermilk. A faster natural reaction instead of slow fermentation.
What beer works best?
Ramsay just says “beer or lager” without specifying a brand. A standard pale ale or lager works fine. The flavour comes through in the finished bread, so use something you’d actually drink.
Dark stouts make a denser, more bitter loaf. Light lagers make a milder bread. Avoid anything too hoppy as the bitterness concentrates during baking.
Can you make this without alcohol?
Yes. Replace the beer with the same amount of non-alcoholic beer. It still has the carbonation and malt flavour so the bread comes out almost identical.
If you want to avoid beer entirely, use 250ml sparkling water with a tablespoon of malt extract stirred in. The fizz provides the lift, the malt gives the flavour.
Can you make one big loaf instead of mini loaves?
Ramsay says in the video “this mix will work really well as one large loaf” but he chooses mini tins because “small tins give it that kind of intimacy and I quite like having my own little loaf.”
For one large loaf, use a standard 900g (2lb) loaf tin and increase the bake time to 40-45 minutes. Check with a skewer before taking it out.
Does beer bread keep?
Better than soda bread. Ramsay says it “will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container.” The beer adds moisture that bicarb in soda bread doesn’t provide.
By day three it starts to dry out. Toast slices from day two onwards and they crisp up nicely. Serve alongside Ramsay’s beef stew for the combination he pairs it with in UHC.
