Beer Bread is an easy, buttery bread without yeast to serve with dinner tonight! Enjoy a warm slice fresh from the oven, or slice it into cubes to serve with all your favorite dips.
Easy Beer Bread Recipe
I called this Beer Bread recipe a homemade bread without yeast, but that’s not technically true. The beer just brings its own yeast to the party so you don’t have to.
This recipe creates a loaf of bread with a hearty crust that yields to a soft interior.
- Maybe yeast is in short supply at your grocery store.
- Maybe you’re all out of yeast and don’t want to make a special trip out.
- Maybe you’ve never baked bread from scratch before and you’re looking for an easy fool proof (and yeast proofing free!) method.
You will love how easy it is to make perfect bread using a can of beer!
Move over Boxed Mixes
For many years, I ordered beer bread mix from a specialty foods company (Tastefully Simple). I learned about using beer instead of a packet of dry yeast.
This is so much more affordable than premade mixes and just as easy.
Unlike traditional yeast breads, Beer bread also requires no kneading and no rising time! You just mix everything up, bake and enjoy.
Ingredient Notes
- Flour – I use all-purpose. You can also substitute bread flour or white whole wheat, but the loaf will be a little chewier and denser.
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Sugar
- Beer – No need to get fancy. Any can of light beer will do just fine.
- Butter – Unsalted and melted, for topping the loaf.
Add shredded cheese for a twist of flavor!
How to Make Beer Bread
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix the bottle of beer into the dry ingredients. Use as few strokes as you can and stop when combined.
Pour thick batter into loaf pan. Pour melted butter over the top. Bake for 50 minutes, remove from oven and cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and serve warm!
Tips and Tricks
- Not a fan of beer? Swap it out for 7up or Sprite. The carbination will help create air bubbles, although, the bread will be a little more dense (and sweet).
- For more flavor, check out my Cheesy Onion Beer Bread recipe on the blog from years ago for some ideas and guidelines!
- I use a sharp, serrated knife to slice this bread. This helps prevent too much crumble. Sometimes, I get a perfect slice, and sometimes I don’t!
- Serve this recipe for beer bread as a side dish, or with a batch of spinach artichoke dip!
- Store bread in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freeze beer bread in ziploc freezer bag for up to one month.
Delicious Recipes to Serve
- White Chicken Chili
- Chili Mac
- Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
- Roasted Broccoli
- Cornbread Recipe
- Firecracker Chicken Wraps
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Beer Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 can beer 12 ounce
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease 9×5-inch loaf pan and line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using as few strokes as possible, mix in the beer until moistened.
- Pour thick batter into loaf pan. Drizzle melted butter over the top.
- Bake for 50 minutes, remove from oven and cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and enjoy!
Notes
- Not a fan of beer? Swap it out for 7up or Sprite. The carbination will help create air bubbles, although, the bread will be a little more dense (and sweet).
- For more flavor, check out my Cheesy Onion Beer Bread recipe on the blog from years ago for some ideas and guidelines!
- I use a sharp, serrated knife to slice this bread. This helps prevent too much crumble. Sometimes, I get a perfect slice, and sometimes I don’t!
- Serve this as a side dish, or with a batch of spinach artichoke dip!
- Store bread in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freeze beer bread in ziploc freezer bag for up to one month.
Nutrition
Crusty beer bread with no yeast, no kneading and no rising time is a recipe everyone should know how to make!
do you think i could make this with almond flour?? thx
I’ll bet it would be good baked in a silicone muffin pan…then you wouldn’t need to slice it – already individual size. Going to try it!
Love these receipes. Look forward to new ok nes.
I made this on 3/2/17 and we really enjoyed it. I am definitely going to make it again and look forward to trying different beer and perhaps adding some cheddar cheese, caramelized onions or both. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe! I made it tonight and it was absolutely delicious! My son is allergic to eggs, dairy, and soy. This was the first time he’s ever had BREAD! ????
I’ve never managed to make Beer Bread successfully. The last attempt, in a bread machine, caused the machine to attempt suicide by walking off the counter, followed by the pan falling out of the machine and the dough ball rolling across the floor!
I assumed this was a message from God not to try to make beer bread any more, but I’ll give you recipe a try!
Hi Aimee! I was excited to want to check out your recipe for beer bread, and the ingredients you listed are what I learned from to make this beer bread about 12 years ago. I would love to offer tips to everyone that I learned along the way for a tasty “beer” bread: 1.) If you want your bread to taste like it has beer in it, use a strong, dark ale – the final bake is delicious! And, of course, the alcohol content burns off during the baking process. 2.) I use all-purpose flour. I once used self-rising flour, omitting the baking powder, but I usually keep AP for other baking. 3.) YES, you really should add all the butter, it makes a huge difference in the taste and texture of the bread. I use 1/3 cup melted butter. 4.) This bread is extremely crumbly if you try to cut into it after it’s been baked and cooled – which is fine if you like it that way. But, I like to make 2-3 loaves one-day in advance and separately wrap each cooled loaf in plastic wrap to sit on the counter for 24-hours to let it permeate its moisture throughout for easy cutting. This also allows for the dark beer flavor to mellow nicely. 5.) What kind of dark beer is best to use? If you don’t have experience with dark beer, ask the liquor store manager who would LOVE to explain to you all the tasty virtues of dark beer, and which ale would work best for your bake. 6.) I usually add one cup of the large golden seedless raisins after soaking them until they’re plump in the same dark beer I would be using for the bread. 7.) And, finally, use a deep loaf pan (8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″) to accommodate the melted butter. This size will also make the loaf look larger than using a regular 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. So, those are my experiences with making beer bread – if you’ve never made this before, you will not be sorry, it’s so delicious! And, as you learn your way around making this bread to your liking, you can add other goodies when mixing the dough for some delicious experimenting. Happy baking!
These are some great tips!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I made Beer Bread for the first time. Actually, it’s my first bread recipe . It was so easy and great with butter! My husband loved with his pot roast gravy. I will definitely make this again!!
I used to buy the beer bread from Tastefully Simple as well. In order to save some money and wanting to know exactly what was in my food, several years ago my daughter and I figured out our own, which by the way is very similar to yours. I just don’t put in as much sugar or melted butter topping. I love tweaking the recipe…..I have used brown sugar and an apple ale in place of the granulated sugar and beer, added some grated cheese to the basic recipe, used white whole wheat flour for a change, and a variety of dried herb combinations when I want an herb-flavored version.
Hi Aimee! I have never had beer bread. Like EVER! First thing I thought of was: Does it taste like beer? which you addressed, lol. I love to make rolls for dinner but definitely want to try this out as it sounds delicious plus, I already have all the ingredients needed 🙂
Please send me the recipe for your onion cheese beer bread.
I am a senior citizen and would love this recipe but don’t know how to get it. Can it be sent to my email address please?
How to you find the beer bread recipe
I’ve made this many times and added variations of – 1+ C. sharp shredded cheese – nuke 1/2 C chopped onion for about 1.5 min – 1/2 C. chopped green olives – 1 tsp Italian seasoning – the recipes is yours to do whatever with – great recipe.
I used to buy the beer bread mix all the time too, but haven’t had it in ages! Love that you took it upon yourself to make it at home!