Gordon Ramsay’s soda bread uses plain flour, wholemeal flour, bicarbonate of soda, and buttermilk, shaped into a round, scored with a deep cross, and baked at 200°C for 30-35 minutes. The recipe is from his Ultimate Cookery Course and makes one loaf.
There’s no yeast in this bread, no rising time, no proving. You can go from a bag of flour to a hot loaf in under an hour. Ramsay calls it “amazingly easy, absolutely delicious and foolproof” in the UCC video.
The buttermilk does the heavy lifting. It reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to create bubbles that lift the bread, so you skip the hours of waiting that yeast doughs need. Ramsay says it “has a wonderful subtle sour note that gives this bread a deliciously different taste.”
The one thing you must not do is knead it properly. Thirty seconds, that’s it. Ramsay says “be careful not to overwork the dough” because there’s no gluten development needed here.
Work it too long and the bicarb loses its fizz before it hits the oven. You end up with a dense brick instead of a crusty loaf.
Gordon Ramsay Soda Bread
Course: SidesCuisine: Irish, BritishDifficulty: Easy8
slices10
minutes35
minutes220
kcal45
minutesFrom Gordon Ramsays Ultimate Cookery Course. No yeast, no rising, no proving. Just flour, buttermilk, and bicarbonate of soda, ready in under an hour. Ramsay calls it amazingly easy, absolutely delicious and foolproof.
Ingredients
350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
150g wholemeal flour
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp caster sugar
450ml buttermilk
Directions
- Preheat: Set the oven to 200°C (400°F)/Gas 6.
- Mix the dry: Sift the plain flour, wholemeal flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.
- Add buttermilk: Reserve 2 tablespoons of buttermilk. Pour the rest into the well and mix lightly with a fork. Don’t overwork it, just make sure all the dry ingredients are combined. Add the reserved buttermilk if the dough feels too stiff.
- Shape: Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently for 30 seconds only. Form it into a round, place on a lined and floured baking tray, and flatten slightly.
- Score: Use a serrated knife to cut a deep cross in the top of the loaf. This helps the heat reach the thick centre so the bread cooks evenly.
- Bake: Place in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden on the outside. Tap the base, it should sound hollow when done. Cool on a wire rack.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay mix plain and wholemeal flour?
Plain flour alone makes soda bread too soft and cakey. Wholemeal alone makes it dense and heavy. Ramsay uses 350g plain to 150g wholemeal, roughly two-thirds to one-third.
The wholemeal adds nuttiness and a coarser texture to the crumb. The plain flour keeps it light enough to rise properly with just bicarb.
What if you can’t find buttermilk?
Ramsay covers this in the book: “If you can’t buy buttermilk, use ordinary milk instead, but add a level teaspoon of cream of tartar.” The cream of tartar provides the acid that buttermilk would normally contribute.
You can also add a tablespoon of lemon juice to regular milk and let it sit for 10 minutes until it curdles slightly. It’s not identical but it does the job.
Why do you only knead for 30 seconds?
Soda bread doesn’t use yeast, so there’s no gluten network to develop. The rise comes entirely from the chemical reaction between the bicarb and the acid in the buttermilk. That reaction starts the moment they touch.
Every extra second of kneading lets more of those bubbles escape before the dough hits the oven. Thirty seconds is enough to bring it together. Any more and you’re deflating the very thing that makes it rise.
Does soda bread keep well?
No, and Ramsay is honest about it: “The resulting loaf will not keep as long and is best eaten the same day.” By the next morning the crust goes soft and the crumb dries out.
That’s the trade-off for a bread that takes 45 minutes from start to finish. If you need bread that lasts, make the focaccia instead. If you want hot, crusty, fresh bread right now with almost no effort, this is it.
