What Do You Put on Irish Soda Bread? [9 Tasty Ideas]

You can make Irish soda bread with sodium bicarbonate as a leavening agent instead of yeast. It also contains flour, salt, and buttermilk, giving this bread a fantastic flavor. However, it isn’t meant to be had plain, so you absolutely need to smear something on it. So, what do you put on Irish soda bread? 

This type of bread tastes somewhat like a cookie; it is delicious but ultimately neutral-flavored. Therefore, topping it is necessary so that you can enjoy it to the fullest. In the following paragraphs, I will give you some ideas on the best combinations so that you can experience it as intended. 

Butter and Marmalade

Butter and marmalade seem like the most obvious suggestion here, but believe me, many forget about it, trying to think of a more extravagant spread to put on their Irish soda bread. As a breakfast idea or a midday snack, you cannot go wrong with butter and marmalade. 

The soft and gentle texture interior texture of the bread sitting cozy under the delightfully crunchy crust gets even richer with a nice generous layer of butter and marmalade spread. Moreover, since Irish soda bread contains buttermilk, it is already milky, and the added butter makes it even softer. 

Avocado Spread

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If you are looking for a more original snack option, the avocado spread is the one you should be using as your topping of choice. Rich avocado spread goes excellently with Irish soda bread, especially if you toast it. You will love the crunchiness beneath a thick layer of avocado spread. 

Moreover, you can enrich this idea by adding parmesan on top of the avocado spread or perhaps some leftover meat, such as chicken or turkey. Another great option is to simply slice a fresh avocado and arrange it over your toasted slice of joy.

Sour Cream

A nice thick layer of sour cream spread over your slice of soda bread is a simple yet marvelous idea to enrich your meal. The creamy, milky, and tangy sour cream will add edge and zest, giving you a unique meal experience.

The best thing about this idea is that you can add almost anything on top of the sour cream. I would also suggest adding some cured meats, cheese, or fresh vegetables. Moreover, you can spice things up, sprinkle some herbal spices on top, and enjoy your little piece of heaven. 

Cream Cheese

Cream cheese spread over a warm piece of Irish soda bread feels like a fairy tale and tastes like an even better fairy tale. The warm bread will melt the fatty and rich cream cheese absorbing the delicious fattiness, becoming even richer and more delicious than you could imagine. 

Since cream cheese is salty, it will enhance the flavors already included in the bread, making it taste even milkier and more buttery. This combination is also great even when the Irish soda bread is cold. Even though you may have some trouble smearing the cream cheese on it, you will definitely have no trouble eating it. 

Honey and Nuts

If you are looking for a great dessert option, you can mix with your favorite tea, look no further and grab the honey jar. This combination will charm you with its simplicity and overtake you with its deliciousness. 

Mix the nuts and honey in a separate bowl and just spill it all out onto your slice of bread.l The sponginess of the bread will do its job and absorb the sweetness of the honey, trapping some of the nut pieces inside its tiny holes. When you take a bite, you will feel a slight and delightful crunch followed by the honey’s magical spur of sweetness and discrete floral notes. 

To further enrich this experience, you are welcome to add some dried fruits such as raisins, figs, dates, or cranberries. You can also top everything with a thin layer of chocolate topping and let yourself be taken away by the abundance of flavors this piece of bread offers you. 

Bacon And Eggs

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Better known as the breakfast of champions, bacon and eggs have no haters in the world of cooking and food as they go with virtually anything. You can cook your eggs thoroughly or leave a little bit of soft yolk spread through the surface of the bread. A meal in itself, bacon and eggs can serve you well as Irish soda bread topping in this case. 

The bacon will release its delicious grease, further softening the carrier piece. To make this idea work to the fullest, I recommend you fry the eggs sunny-side-up, crisp up the bacon nicely, and layer the bacon first. However, this is an open-end idea; you can expand and modify it any way you like. 

Smoked Salmon 

A synonym for elegance and refinement, smoked salmon is an excellent topping for Irish soda bread. If you prefer the finer things in life, but you also enjoy a rustic meal, this merger of both worlds is a delicious way to satisfy both sides of your personality. 

Smoked salmon is the king of elegant toppings, and it makes everything look upscale. Known as an excellent ingredient for sandwiches, hence the smoked salmon sandwich, it fits here too. You can continue layering with thinly sliced fresh vegetables or go another way and add olives and herbal spices. 

Either way, you will definitely have a fine dining experience in your kitchen. 

Tuna 

If you feel particularly peckish but not as creative, a simple can of tuna can do an excellent job here. Just take the tuna and smear it onto the surface of a toasted piece of Irish soda bread, and you have yourself a delicious meal. However, if you feel a bit creative, you can do wonders with tuna.

Here’s a great idea – make a tuna salad and smear it onto a piece of bread. You could also make a tuna pasta sauce and cover your piece of bread in it. Anything goes, from plain tuna to rich and decadent tuna spread. 

This is an excellent idea as you can be very lazy and still get a yummy meal, or you can be creative and productive and have a decadent meal. 

Roasted Vegetables 

If you are looking for a lighter option and you want to have a healthier meal, add some roasted vegetables. Roasted vegetables are soft and creamy, and you will have absolutely no trouble smearing them. Still, only some vegetables are suited for this idea. 

You can season your roasted vegetables with your favorite spices and gently smear them onto your Irish soda bread. I would suggest peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, or zucchini. Don’t go with carrots, potatoes, or any vegetable that has a full and robust consistency. 

You can also make a spreading mix, mashing all the vegetables together and smearing them like butter onto your Irish soda bread.