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St. Patrick’s day is upon us, and we make a really big deal of that in the Boston area. Usually this means eating corned beef and cabbage, drinking a lot of Guinness and baking soda bread. It also usually means listening to Nana Pat wax poetic about the Kennedys and listening to how your family is somehow connected to New England’s royal family. But anyway, back to the soda bread.
I’ve been trying to make a low carb vegan soda bread for years now. It’s one of those things that’s on a perpetual list of recipes that I keep scrolling through, hoping that one day it’ll just click. Well, we’re finally there. Happy St. Paddy’s Day, folks – we’ve got ourselves a gluten-free, vegan, low carb soda bread. It’s a relatively easy recipe to make, and a perfect accompaniment to some low carb vegan corned “beef” and cabbage.
If you want to hear some ramblings about why Boston takes its Irish heritage so seriously, I posted that below the recipe. 🙂
Notes on Making Low Carb Vegan Soda Bread (gluten free, nut free, soy free)
- It really does need to cool before being cut into, otherwise the texture won’t be right, and it will still be a little gummy.
- Let it cool on a baking rack, so as not to get soggy on the bottom.
- You could sub in flax for the psyllium, but it won’t hold together quite as well!
- You could add carraway seeds to this, or raisins if you’re less concerned about carbs.
- I ate this for breakfast with some Earth Balance, and it made me super happy
Low Carb Vegan Soda Bread (gluten free, nut free, soy free)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 50g coconut flour
- 2 tbsp 10g psyllium husk OR 2 tsp (10g) psyllium husk powder
- 2 tbsp 14g ground flax
- 1 scant tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 7/8 cup nondairy milk plus 1 tsp vinegar or 7/8 cup vegan buttermilk - does this exist?
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Stir vinegar into the nondairy milk, and let it sit until it coagulates and thickens. This is normal.
- Whisk together dry ingredients.
- Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes, so all the liquid is absorbed. The dough will be really light and airy, and super delicate. It's really more like a very thick batter.
- Gently turn out the "dough" onto the parchment paper and shape into a round, about 2" (5cm) high.
- Bake for 1 hour, remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before attempting to dig in.
Notes
Nutrition
I’m going to hop on a tiny soapbox for a minute to respond to a question no one really asked: why do we care so much about Irish heritage? I’m not actually Irish – I’m 100% American. I was born here, raised here, and with the exception of a handful of years living in Quebec, Canada, I’ve lived here all my life. I do have Irish heritage, though, through my mom’s family. In fact, a sweeping majority of my mom’s ancestors came from Ireland (some through Scottland, but the Scotts-Irish are a story for another day). So, I identify with the 22% of New Englanders who claim Irish heritage.
I frequent Reddit a lot, and there seems to be a bit of confusion amongst Europeans as to why those of us stateside are so keen on recalling the heritage of people we know only through photographs or family trees. I totally get that – if I were to find out that there was a staunch diaspora of people claiming to be American, despite being the grandchildren of Americans living abroad, I’d probably be confused as well. I’d like to offer up some thoughts about this phenomena.
While we celebrate Irish heritage in America now, that wasn’t always the case. Irish immigrants made a dangerous journey (so many died, that the vessels used carry them to the states were called “coffin ships”) to a country that didn’t want them to escape hellish starvation and oppression in their homeland. They took the worst jobs at the worst pay, faced signs that said “No Irish Need Apply,” were attacked in the streets, had their churches and homes burned by nationalist zealots, saw newspapers liken them to apes and lived their daily lives “at the lowest rung of society” (source). And yet, they persevered.
After more than half a century of mistreatment (yes, not as long as other cultures have experienced, but this isn’t the Oppression Olympics), the Irish found their footing at the polls and eventually gained the political capital to be considered acceptable to society. And now, here we are, nearly a century later, celebrating our shared heritage.
I celebrate Irish heritage as a way to remember the struggle this population experienced. I think it’s important that we all reflect on the experiences of our ancestors coming to America and what they had to (and still have to, in many unfortunate cases) endure in order to feel accepted. I think for many of us, this admiration drives a feeling of pride.
This persecution throughout the years also forced large populations of Irish immigrants to live in close proximity and disincentivized assimilation. Generations have grown up eating traditional Irish food, attending Irish Catholic masses and hearing stories about the homeland. Like many other immigrant groups in the US, denied the privilege of being allowed to integrate into the larger society, Irish families retained their identity and passed it down throughout the generations. While each passing generation experiences a more dilute version of this, the feeling of community remains strong.
7/8 cup non dairy milk? Do you know how many grams?
Hi Tracey! 1 cup of liquid is 240ml, so 7/8 would be 210ml. While the actual weight of this measurement will depend on the density of the non-dairy milk, the approximate weight will be 210g. 🙂
I hope this helps!
Hola liz soy de españa. El valor nutricional es para 1/4 de carga??? No lo entiendo. Si salen 4 raciones. Deberia ser para una racion !¡
Gracias
Hola Laura, gracias para el commentario. El valor nutricional es para 1 racion, o 1/4 de la barra de pan. Lo siento si eso es confuso o si algo ha sido perdido en la traducción. También, perdón por mi mal español :/
Liz, i love your book and this website. Yesterday i baked your sourbread. Delicious! So good but so petit. I’d like to make regular loaf size sandwich bread, cut it up and freeze. Maybe i am doing something wrong that it does not rise and alongate.
what do you suggest?
I refer to your recipes regularly. Hope someday you”ll be inspired to write a book just on Keto vegan instant pot recipes.
Please put me on your mailing list. Every time i send my email in I never receive your newsletter.
Thanks,
Beth
Liz, i love your book and this website. Yesterday i baked your sourbread. Delicious! So good but so petit. I’d like to make regular loaf size sandwich bread, cut it up and freeze. Maybe i am doing something wrong that it does not rise and alongate.
what do you suggest?
I refer to your recipes regularly. Hope someday you”ll be inspired to write a book just on Keto vegan instant pot recipes.
Please put me on your mailing list. Every time i send my email in I never receive your newsletter.
Thanks,
Beth
I have whole psyllium husk powder and I always feel like I have to cut the amount in half for recipes as it soaks up liquid soooo quickly. Is this normal psyllium behavior? Is the psyllium powder you use in your recipes whole psyllium husk powder or something different? I followed the above link and I wasn’t able to figure it out. Trying this recipe right now, and I’ll see if it works out, but the dough looks really dry. Should I find a different psyllium?
Hi Liv, good question! Psyllium is pretty absorbent, but shouldn’t make things that dry. Of course, the coconut flour used can impact that, as well as the humidity in the air (though, that’s not a huge factor).
If it looks crumbly, you may want to add in another tbsp of water to make sure all of the flour and psyllium are incorporated. 🙂
Update: It turned out really wet inside and I ended up baking it for another hour. But for the first keto bread loaf I tried it was really awesome!! Thank you so much, I am absolutely in love with your blog and your recipes are a godsend. I’ll be gifting myself your cookbook this Christmas.
Hm, if it took that long, it does sound like something is up with that psyllium. What brand is it?
I’m glad you’re enjoying everything else! And I appreciate the feedback – it’s good to know when certain brands of things just don’t work!
This is what I’m using: https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/psyllium-whole-husk-340-g-powder/vs-1653
Your recipe says psyllium husks. Psyllium husks and psyllium husk powder absorb differently. Which do you use in this recipe? I’ve found using the powder makes larger baked keto breads gummier inside. Looks like a keeper though! Thanks
Hi Stacey, this is a great question! The recipe uses whole psyllium husk, as noted. You can use the powder, but reduce the volume by 3 (so, 1 tbsp of whole husk = 1 tsp powder). The weight stays the same, though. So if you use a scale and measure things, it doesn’t make a difference. 🙂
I’ve updated the recipe to reflect both the whole husks and the powder as you make a great point that it can be confusing. Thank you! I hope this helps. 🙂
Hello! I tried this recipe twice. Both times it rose very much, I got a hollow loaf, the crust was dry on the outsiide and slimy on the inside (texturee of boiled chickken skin a friend of minne said). The flavour was nice tthough.
Any idea what went wrong?
Hi Rebecca! I’m sorry it turned out so strangely. It sounds like there might be a bit too much leavening agent. I know “a scant teaspoon of baking soda” is a little subjective.
It could also be a bit too much psyllium, which might cause the dough to rise unevenly.
The only other thing I can think of is one time I saw this happen when someone used baking powder instead of baking soda. With the soda, there shouldn’t be any additional rise in the oven, as the reaction has already taken place before cooking, but with baking powder, it will react once with the water and once again in the oven with heat.
I hope this was helpful!
Love this recipe. I have successfully quadrupled this recipe to get 4 large loaves. Funny thing is, I just realized I had been making it with baking powder, not soda…which I guess makes it a happy #fail? Haha, it still turns out delicious, and I add a little herbs de provence and garlic powder when I know it’s for a savoury preparation. When you enjoy this bread, there is something about it that makes you feel like you’re eating an ancient recipe, must be all the whole ingredients, like it’s bread you would find from a monastery in Quebec. 😉
Hi, Paige! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Haha, I love when a fail still actually turns out successful!!
I love the herbes de provence and garlic seasoning, and will definitely be trying that next time! 😀
Also, that description makes me so happy.
Thank you for the recipe, it looks delicious! I am wondering how long it is supposed to take for the non-dairy milk (I used cashew) to coagulate; mine does not appear to be doing so and I’m trying to decide if I should use it anyway. Maybe cashew milk doesn’t coagulate? I tried apple cider vinegar; when that didn’t work, I tried rice vinegar; it sizzled a little, then nothing. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Hi Amelia, good question! If the cashew milk doesn’t coagulate, this is totally fine! Some brands may not coagulate depending on what additives are or are not included in the milk. I should make a note to say that. 🙂
It should take between 5 and 15 minutes. Lemon juice or Braags apple cider vinegar with plant milk usually does the trick. Not sure if it matters which plant mylk works best.
To answer the question of why we celebrate the Irish heritage, it’s not just because of the Saint Patrick ridding the snakes out of Ireland, but also I think to celebrate life after the Potato famine. Ireland lost over half it’s population with starvation and England was hopeful for the rest.
So, I think that, with the Americans loving any sort of celebration, St. Patty’s became a reason for festivities (and Irish whiskey!!)
Much of of father in laws side came on the boat from Ireland, and yes, many landed in Boston….so that’s the other reason you celebrate big there.
Interesting tidbit……corned beef and cabbage is NOT an Irish dish persay…but Americanized.
Anyhow, thank you again for all your recipes. About to go and try to find tempeh….a very hard commodity to come by on my island. **eye roll** Otherwise I’m having colcannon made of cauliflower rice and cabbage with soda bread ((shrugs))
Yes, exactly! I elaborated a bit about this at the second half of the post (though it looks like it got messed up with the formatting…whoops), and completely agree with your points. My mom’s family is Boston Irish, and I grew up eating colcannon and soda bread and cabbage (we weren’t a corned beef family, though friends of mine were, and that makes sense, given the tidbit of info you just shared!). I’m definitely a big fan of celebrating our heritage. 😀
I always appreciate your comments and hope that you had a lovely celebration!
If you don’t mind my asking, which island are you on?
Harstine Island in Washington State. It’s 30 minutes to a regular store, and over an hour to a Trader joe’s for tempeh, but when you don’t drive….it’s just forever away.
However, all of us “islanders” are enjoying the tucked away social distancing currently….
Oh, wow, what a cool place to live! Goodness, I bet you are relieved to be a bit further out from the rest of society right now. It’s crazy how much normal patterns have been disrupted. I’m only about 30 minutes from a Trader Joe’s, but definitely haven’t been recently.
i have made this bread twice now and both times, it doesn’t cook in the center. the first time i made a regualr loaf. today, i made buns and they still didn’t cook in the center. i had the same problem with the milk not coagulating. I used unsweetened almond milk and acv and left it longer than 5 mins. then added another 1/2 tsp and waited and nothing. no coagulating. so i used it anyway, but the dough was more dense than last time i made it. i made 5 rolls and they still didn’t cook in the center, even tho they were smaller than the loaf. i really enjoy the flavor, but how do i get them to cook without burning????
Hi, there! So sorry, just seeing this now. Your oven may run a little hot (or have a hot spot). You could try reducing the heat a bit and see if that helps!