After making Uncle Pete's Beer Bread, I wondered how a no-alcohol beer bread would work. But I couldn't find any alcohol-free beers that I thought would be substantial enough to make a flavorful bread. So I decided to try soda "beers" instead. And you know what? They came out great!
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Is it Soda, or is it Beer?
Root beer and ginger beer have been sold as "soft drinks" (without alcohol) for decades. But ginger beer was originally a fermented, alcoholic drink. Today you can buy a variety of "hard" drinks like hard cider, hard lemonade, and of course hard ginger beer and root beer.
Ginger ale is a milder beverage, with less spice and more carbonation than ginger beer. I wouldn't use it from making this bread, I don't think it has enough body. I recommend using a good craft root beer or ginger beer for more flavor!
Ingredients You'll Need
- self-rising flour
- sugar
- root beer or ginger beer
- vanilla extract (for root beer bread)
- ground ginger (for ginger beer bread)
If you don't have self-rising flour, you can make your own! Whisk together 1 cup flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
Mix it up!
You can easily make this bread with other sodas, like a cola. What kind of "soda" bread will you make? Dr. Pepper? Cream soda? Mountain Dew?
Make These Soda Quick Breads
This couldn't be easier!
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Fold together with a spatula until you get a slightly lumpy and sticky batter.
Pour the batter into a greased bread pan and bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.
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📖 Recipe Card
Ginger Beer and Root Beer Breads
Special Equipment Needed
- 1 loaf pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
For Root Beer Bread
- 12 ounces root beer room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Ginger Beer Bread
- 12 ounces ginger beer room temperature
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients. The batter will be slightly sticky/lumpy.
- Transfer the batter to a loaf pan greased with butter. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes. Insert a knife or toothpick into the center to check for doneness.
Nutrition Estimate
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Sue Maasch says
Hi ! I am making an Asian soy marinade type of Sea Bass..Do you think this would go well with dinner, as when sometimes bread is on the dinner table. I was thinking of ginger beer bread as my main course does not have ginger,, thoughts?
Chef Grey says
Hi, and sorry for the delayed response, I've been buried in another project for the past month. I hope this isn't too late for your dinner! I do think this bread would go well with an Asian dish. The ginger flavor is rather mild, but you could increase the amount of ground ginger, or even add some chopped candied ginger to boost the flavor.
Elaine says
I'm cheating a little here because I've made the beer bread recipe a few times, so I jumped right in and got creative with the soda version. Instead of root beer or ginger beer, I used Green River soda, and the loaf came out a lovely shade of green. I thought that a combination of green and red breads would be fun for the holidays, so I tried a strawberry soda. It came out a sort of scary shade of pink, possibly even too pink for Barbie! Using soda gives the bread a slightly sweet flavor, like a cake donut. I found that soda might not moisten the flour as much as the same volume of beer. You can adjust that with water, but if you happen to have soda water on hand, even better! Its simplicity makes it easy to experiment with this recipe.
Grey says
Hi Elaine, thanks for the review! I remember Green River soda from when I lived in Chicago. (In case any readers are thinking, "What is Green River soda?", here's some history: Green River Soda.)
Maybe next time you can try Mountain Dew in regular and Code Red flavors. They might even glow in the dark!