Cheese, Herb & Garlic Quick Bread (No Yeast)

This is a bread loaf that, true to its name, is quick to make because there’s no yeast, no kneading, no rising. It’s a Cheese, Herb and Garlic Quick Bread with swirls of herbs and ribbons of melted cheese. Excellent for afternoon tea or dipping into soups!

A terrific no yeast bread recipe

This is one of those recipes that isn’t actually a bread in the traditional sense, it’s a muffin batter baked in a loaf pan. So it doesn’t have that chew you get with proper yeast bread, but it’s irresistible in its own right, with a soft fluffy crumb loaded with garlicky, herby goodness and cheesy ribbons running through every slice.

But the best part is possibly that you’re already eating it while all those yeast-bread-making-people are still waiting for their dough to rise! 😈

I first shared this in 2015, but over time I tweaked it – mainly because the original recipe called for buttermilk which is not a fridge staple for me, and also to make the crumb softer and last longer. I’ve been enjoying this better version for a while… time to fess up and share!

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this:

Flavourings – cheese, herb and garlic

The cheese is cut into strips to bury in the batter, while the herbs, garlic and oil are used to make a “pesto” like mixture that is dolloped and swirled throughout. (PS Yes, you can totally use homemade or store-bought pesto!)

• Cheese – I like to use cheddar, colby or tasty cheese (a type of cheddar popular here in Australia). However, you can use any melting cheese you want though I don’t recommend using mozzarella (flavour and salt too mild) or hard cheeses like parmesan, pecorino (too salty).

• Fresh herbs – I love the combination of rosemary for earthy, herby flavour (and also because I have abundant supplies from the garden) and parsley for fresh green flavour. Rosemary is quite strong and for this loaf, I feel like using more than 2 tablespoons is too much.

  Feel free to experiment with combinations you like! I originally used equal amounts of dill, thyme, rosemary and parsley, because I had remnants of these at the time.

• Dried herbs – The ever reliable, always-on-hand combination of thyme and oregano! I used to just use fresh herbs but grew to prefer using both fresh and dried herbs in this particular loaf, for a mix of fresh and earthy herb flavour.

• Garlic – Fresh, crushed with a garlic crusher or grated, so the flavour infuses better into the oil than finely chopping with a knife.

• Olive oil – To bring the herb and garlic mixture together.

• Salt – Brings out the flavours of the herbs.

Batter

The ingredients of this no yeast bread are similar to a muffin, but I altered the recipe to make it less crumbly, making it suitable to slice and even to toast. Here’s what you need.

• Yogurt – A bakers’ trick to make crumbs moist and stay fresher for longer (this stays fresh in the pantry for 5 days!). Use any plain, unsweetened yogurt – regular or Greek – preferably full fat. Low fat does work but the crumb is a bit less plush.

• Milk – Regular cow milk, full fat recommended though low fat can be used. (The yogurt plus milk essentially replaces the buttermilk that was in the original recipe).

• Flour – plain / all purpose flour.

• Baking soda / bi-carbonate – The leavening agent that makes this loaf rise. It’s stronger than baking power and makes this loaf rise better with a softer crumb. However, if you’re out, you can substitute with 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder.

• Eggs – Make sure you use large eggs which are 50-55g / 2oz each in the shell, sold in cartons labelled “large eggs”. If you only have jumbo or XL eggs, see this post for how to measure out the correct amount.

• Butter and oil – The fat in this loaf. I use a combination because butter adds better flavour than oil, but oil makes the crumb of the loaf more moist, and keeps it fresher for longer.

• Garlic – With garlic in both the herb garlic mix AND in the batter, there’s unmissable garlic flavour here!

• Salt – Brings out the flavour in everything.

How to make Cheese and Garlic Quick Bread

I like to wedge chunks of cheese in the batter and swirl through herb and garlic oil so you get lovely pockets of cheese and streaks of herby colour, and the lovely textured crust on top. But you could just mix the herb mixture and shredded cheese through the batter – even faster to prepare!!

1. Herb garlic mixture – Just put everything into a bowl and mix together. It should be dollop-able, so if it’s a little on the dry side just add a smidge more oil.

   💡TIP: Instead of finely chopping the herbs with a knife, you can blitz it up with a stick blender. It makes it a bit finer and pesto-like so it is not quite as green once baked, but it works perfectly and is faster to make! Directions in recipe card notes.

2. Dry ingredients – Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl.

3. Wet ingredients – Whisk the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Combine wet and dry – Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients in and mix just until you can no longer see any flour. The batter will look a little lumpy and that’s totally fine. Don’t keep mixing to try to make it smooth – the lumps bake out and overmixing makes your loaf crumb less soft.

5. Cheese, herb and garlic – I like to do the herb and garlic swirls and cheese ribbons in 3 layers, using a 21 x 11 x 7 cm pan (8.3 x 4.5 x 2.75″) which makes a nice tall loaf.

   Spread 1/3 of the batter in the loaf tin. Dollop 1/3 of the herb garlic mixture over and randomly push in and drag the knife through – there are no rules or art about this. You could just spread the mixture across the surface. Then wedge the cheese slices in, upright, like pictured above, sticking out is fine.

   Then repeat this twice more. It’s fine for the cheese to be sticking out the top – makes the surface golden and cheese crusted!

6. Bake 30 minutes uncovered at 180°C/350°F (both fan-forced and standard ovens).

   If you’re wondering why the temperature is the same for both types of ovens, because you’re used to seeing the fan oven temp 20°C lower – good question! Please see FAQ – too lengthy to explain there. 🙂

7. Bake covered 20 minutes – Remove from the oven and loosely cover with foil. Then bake for a further 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

8. Cool 5 minutes in the loaf tin then at least 10 minutes on a rack before slicing (it’s very fragile when hot, straight out of the oven).

Butter isn’t needed.

But it’s always welcome.

Serve this for afternoon tea, take it to picnics, as a side for meals. It’s also fantastic for dipping into soups and slow cooked stews!

 – Nagi x

PS It’s terrific eaten at room temperature but if you can get to it within the first couple of hours after taking it out of the oven and you do the pretend-optional-butter-slather, it may well be the best thing you eat all week.

Watch how to make it

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Cheese, Garlic and Herb Quick Bread (no yeast)

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 50 minutes mins

Cooling: 15 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Bread

Western

4.94 from 74 votes

Servings8 – 10 people

Tap or hover to scale

Print

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Recipe video above. A bread made without yeast with swirls of herb and pockets of cheese throughout with addictive garlic flavour. Slices well and especially great toasted!

Enjoy for morning tea, take to picnics, serve on the side of meals, dunk into soups and slow cooked stews! Serve warm for the best eating experience, preferably with lashings of butter.

PS You can totally use homemade or store-bought pesto instead of the herb & garlic swirl. Use 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Bear in mind the flavour will only be as good as the pesto you use 🙂

Ingredients

CupsMetric

• ▢ 7 oz / 200g block of cheese (cheddar or tasty), cut into 3mm / 0.1" thick slices, different widths for random ribbons throughout! (Note 1)

Herb and garlic swirl

• ▢ 2 tbsp fresh rosemary , finely chopped
• ▢ 2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves , finely chopped
• ▢ 1 tsp dried oregano
• ▢ 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves , crushed using garlic press or finely grated
• ▢ 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for fine table salt)

Dry Ingredients

• ▢ 2 1/4 cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• ▢ 1 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate soda), sub 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt)

Wet Ingredients

• ▢ 1/2 cup plain yogurt , Greek or regular (full fat, unsweetened)
• ▢ 3/4 cup milk , full fat best, low fat ok
• ▢ 2 large eggs (~50-55g/2oz each)
• ▢ 3 1/2 tbsp (50g) unsalted butter , melted
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 2 small garlic cloves , crushed with garlic crusher or grated

Cook ModePrevent screen from sleeping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (both fan and standard ovens).
• Loaf tin – Grease a 21 x 11 x 7 cm loaf pan (8.3 x 4.5 x 2.75") lightly with butter or oil spray then line with baking paper (parchment paper). (Note 3)
• Herb and garlic swirl – Mix the ingredients in a small bowl, it should be a thick dollop-able mixture.
• Dry ingredients – Whisk the Dry Ingredients in a bowl.
• Wet ingredients – Whisk the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
• Combine – Make a well in the centre of the Dry Ingredients. Pour the Wet Ingredients in and mix until just combined.
• Swirls and cheese Layer 1 – Pour 1/3 of the batter into the bread tin. Dollop 1/3 of the herbs across the top then use a knife to "swirl" it into the batter up and down, and also turning the batter over (refer photo below). Use 1/3 of the cheese slices and push them randomly into the batter. Push some all the way in and leave some poking out of the batter.
• Layers 2 and 3 – Repeat twice more. Don't worry about herb mixture exposed and cheese slices sticking out the surface, looks amazing when baked!
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden. Remove from oven and cover with foil, then bake for a further 20 minutes (total baking time 50 minutes). Check to make sure the centre is cooked by inserting a skewer – it should come out clean.
• Cool in the loaf tin for 5 minutes then turn the bread out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool for at least another 10 minutes before cutting thick slices. Butter is optional but always welcome!

Recipe Notes:

1. Cheese – pre sliced can be used but they’re thinner so you can’t see them as well once baked. I like to cut into 3-4mm / 0.1″ thick slices, half about 2.5cm/1″ wide and others half that width for random cheese ribbons throughout. Rules are – there are no rules!

Shredded cheese sub – 2 cups tightly packed / 200g, just mix into the batter after combining the wet and dry ingredients just before scraping into the loaf tin.

Cheese types – colby, cheddar and tasty (popular type in Australia) are my go-tos, though you can use any you want except I don’t recommend mozzarella (not enough salt or flavour for this recipe).

2. Herbs – Experiment with combinations! You can substitute the fresh herbs with 1 tbsp dried herbs. See intro above for using pesto instead (1/3 – 1/2 cup).

Blitzing option – Instead of chopping the fresh herbs with a knife, you can just blitz everything up with a stick blender. Becomes finer so not quite as green as chopping (once baked) but works perfectly and is faster. Put everything in a jug that is just big enough to fit the head of a stick blender (you’ll need 1/2 cup lightly packed parsley and 1/4 cup rosemary leaves) and blitz. Don’t put garlic in whole, takes more effort to blitz than herbs. You might need an extra tablespoon of oil to loosen it up. 

3. Loaf pan size – Larger pan will just produce a flatter loaf, but it works fine!

Keeps 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Beyond this, keep in the fridge and can be toasted to freshen up. 

Originally published September 2015, updated 6 June 2025 with new and improved recipe (see FAQ for details), plus a recipe video added, sparkling new photos and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!

Nutrition per serving. 

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 104gCalories: 271cal (14%)Carbohydrates: 29.5g (10%)Protein: 10.5g (21%)Fat: 12.3g (19%)Saturated Fat: 5.1g (32%)Cholesterol: 62mg (21%)Sodium: 512mg (22%)Potassium: 230mg (7%)Fiber: 1.2g (5%)Sugar: 1.7g (2%)Vitamin A: 300IU (6%)Calcium: 240mg (24%)Iron: 2.2mg (12%)

Keywords: cheese herb garlic quick bread, cheese loaf, garlic cheese loaf, no yeast bread recipe, quick bread, quick bread recipe

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Life of Dozer

Very large dog under a wobbly tripod with a very expensive camera. What could go wrong??😅

This was early today, in the shoot room. Filming and photographing a sparkling new recipe for next week! Dozer doesn’t realise yet that it’s vegetarian. 😂