Easy Beer Bread is a quick, no-yeast bread made with simple ingredients and your favorite beer. Perfect for any occasion, especially beer-centric holidays like St. Patrick’s Day and Oktoberfest!
Throughout my food blogging career, I’ve been fortunate enough to get steady freelance work. And some of those gigs have introduced me to some really great recipes. Back in 2020, Food.com hired me to shoot a how-to video for the site’s most popular beer bread recipe. It had only 5 simple ingredients, and used no yeast or eggs. So I wondered – how good could it really be? The answer: absolutely delicious! Better than I ever expected.
Since then, I’ve probably made this bread 20 times. But I often tweak the flavor by adding different herbs and cheeses. This extra-sharp cheddar and chives version is a favorite, so I’m sharing it with you today. It’s so good with hearty soups and stews. And with St. Patrick’s Day on the horizon, it would also be good with corned beef and cabbage. Or, bookmark it for later this year when Oktoberfest rolls around – it’s delicious made with a German pilsner. But really, you can use just about any beer you have on hand. However, my favorite is an inexpensive lager – the kind you might add to a pot of chili – which gives the bread a yeasty, obvious beer flavor.
The Best Beers for Beer Bread
The beauty of beer bread is that any beer will work, but the type you choose will impact the final flavor. Beers like Budweiser or Modelo Especial produce a mild and slightly sweet loaf, while darker beers like Guinness or Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale add deep, malty notes. For the best balance of flavor, stick with a pilsner or lager – they provide just the right amount of yeastiness and crispness without overwhelming the other ingredients. If you want to stay on-theme for holidays, Harp Lager is an excellent Irish beer for St. Patrick’s Day, while Warsteiner German pilsner makes a delicious loaf for Oktoberfest.
Dry Pantry Staples
One of the best things about this recipe is that it relies on basic pantry ingredients you likely have on hand. Start by whisking together the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Once combined, add the shredded cheddar and chopped chives. Toss them gently in the flour mixture to coat, which helps distribute them evenly throughout the dough.
Add Beer
Once your dry ingredients are mixed, it’s time to add the beer. Pour the beer into the flour mixture and stir until a thick batter forms. The carbonation in the beer helps create a light texture while adding lots of yeasty, rich flavor.
Butter and Bake
Transfer the batter to a greased loaf pan and pour the melted butter over the top. YES – instead of being mixed into the batter, the butter goes right on top before baking. This step helps develop the crispy, golden crust that makes beer bread so rich and buttery-tasting. Bake in a preheated oven at 375°F for about an hour until the loaf is well-risen and golden brown.
Cool
Once the bread is done baking, let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack. You can see in the image above that I’ve made two loaves: the cheddar and chive version, and a plain one. To make a plain loaf, simply omit the cheddar and chives. The plain loaf is slightly more versatile, as it can be smothered in sweets, like honey, jellies, and jams.
Use a serrated knife to cut into thick, hearty slices. Since the crust is so wonderfully craggy, use sawing motions as you cut to prevent compressing the soft interior.
Beer Bread Video Tutorials
To view the original video I made of the plain loaf, visit this link to Food.com and click the ‘watch’ button over the image of the bread. Also, check out the video in this blog post (just before the recipe card) to see how the cheddar and chives version is made
Beer Bread Serving Suggestions
This bread is so flavorful on its own that you can enjoy a warm slice with just a smear of salted butter. But if you’re looking for serving suggestions, try it with soups, stews, corned beef and cabbage, bratwurst, or arranged on a cheese board as a base for cheeses, cured meats, and spicy mustards.
This recipe is proof that baking bread doesn’t have to be complicated. With Easy Beer Bread, you get all the satisfaction of homemade bread with none of the fuss. So grab your favorite beer, mix up the batter, and enjoy a warm, buttery loaf in just about an hour. If you try it, let me know in the comments what kind of beer you used in your batter – and how it turned out! I feel sure that most of you will love it as much as I do.
Related recipe: Five Ingredient Guinness Brownies
Easy Beer Bread
Bread
- 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese such as Kerrygold or Tillamook
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives dried or fresh
- 12 oz. beer 1 can
- 1/2 cup salted butter melted
Optional toppings
- 2 tablespoons shredded extra-sharp cheddar
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped chives dried or fresh
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Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
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Add the shredded cheddar and chives. Toss in the flour mixture to coat and disperse evenly.
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Pour in the beer and mix with a rubber spatula until combined. The mixture will form a thick batter/dough.
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Transfer the dough to the greased loaf pan. Pour the melted butter over dough in the pan. Immediately transfer to the preheated oven.
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Bake for 1 hour or until the loaf is well risen and the center is set, with a craggy and golden top crust. (Or, for sticklers, check that it registers 190-200°F on an instant-read thermometer.)
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Remove from the oven and sprinkle with additional cheese and chives, if desired. Tent with a small piece of foil to encourage the cheese to melt, remove after 5 minutes.
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Let cool in the pan 10 minutes then turn out to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Slice bread using sawing motions using a serrated knife. Serve with your favorite soups or stews, or enjoy slices alone with lots of salted butter.
- Plain Loaf: For a classic loaf of beer bread, simply omit the cheese and chives. Bake time will still be about 1 hour.
- Self-Rising Flour: Self-rising flour can be used in this recipe – omit the baking powder and salt if using self-rising flour.
- Sugar Content: The sugar content in this bread can be reduced to 2 tablespoons, if desired.
- Butter Integration: As written, pouring the butter before baking helps create the craggy crust. If you prefer a softer crust, you can mix the melted butter into the batter instead of pouring it on top. (I prefer the crusty crust for soups and stews.)
- Butter Amount: Some reviewers reported that 1/4 cup of butter is plenty for dousing the batter in the pan, instead of using the full 1/2 cup. I prefer to use the full 1/2 cup for the richness and buttery flavor. But 1/4 cup will work if you’re conserving ingredients or trying to reduce fat content.
Credits: This recipe was adapted from a recipe on Food.com submitted by Gerald Norman.
