This easy lemon bread is soft, chewy and has a nice lemon flavor. The bread is just 3 ingredients and doesn’t require any yeast, eggs, butter or oil. The bread takes only about five minutes to prepare. It’s a great bread to make when you need a quick and easy bread.
a loaf of lemon bread with two slices sliced off.

This loaf of lemon bread is not a cake-type bread. It is soft and chewy like traditional yeast bread and also flavored with lemon. The lemon makes the bread taste lemony but without any tartness. You can eat the bread plain or you can also sweeten the bread with a simple lemon glaze.

Ingredients

  • Lemonade
  • Self-Rising Flour
  • Lemon Yogurt

Lemonade: I used store-bought lemonade. Make sure to use regular fresh lemonade. Avoid using lemonade from concentrate and lemonade with reduced sugar.

Self-Rising Flour: Self-rising flour is all purpose flour already mixed with baking powder and salt. If you don’t have self-rising flour on hand, you can also just make your own by mixing together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.

Lemon Yogurt: This bread is also made with lemon Greek yogurt. The Greek yogurt helps with the texture of the bread and using lemon yogurt adds more lemon flavor to the bread. You can use vanilla Greek yogurt as well but I would recommend you also then add some fresh lemon zest to it so that you have enough lemon flavor in the bread.
three slices of lemon bread.

How to Make Lemon Bread

The three ingredients are mixed together until a wet dough forms and no flour lumps remain. The dough is then poured into a prepared loaf pan and it’s ready to bake.
sliced lemon bread.

Bread Texture and Flavor

Unlike most lemon bread which are sweet and have a cake-like texture, this bread has a texture more like traditional yeast bread. This bread is soft but also chewy and sturdy, similar to European bakery-style bread loaves. It is not like American white sandwich bread. You can eat it plain or add a spread. If you prefer a cake-like bread, I also have a sweet lemon quickbread.

This bread has a nice fragrant lemon flavor but is not tart or zesty.

You can also customize this bread. With a simple lemon glaze on top, the bread becomes sweeter, while still maintaining its soft and chewy texture. The lemon glaze also adds a zesty lemon flavor for those wanting that zesty flavor in their bread.
two slices of bread with the rest of the loaf.

More Easy Bread Recipes

3.93 from 13 votes

3 Ingredient Lemon Bread

This easy lemon bread is soft and chewy and has a texture like yeast bread but doesn't need any yeast. It is just 3 ingredients and takes about five minutes to prepare.
Servings: 10 slices
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 3 cups (375 g) self-rising flour, see note regarding flour amount
  • 1 cup (8 oz/ 237 ml) lemonade
  • 1/2 cup (119 g) lemon Greek yogurt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Line an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
  • Add flour, lemonade, and yogurt into a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until you have a very wet dough and no lumps of flour remain.
  • Add dough into the prepared loaf pan. Use your spatula to evenly spread the dough across the pan and level the surface.
  • Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the surface is browned and bread is fully cooked. When you apply pressure to the surface, it should bounce back. Let bread cool before slicing and serving. If adding a glaze, let bread cool before pouring glaze over bread.

Notes

  • This recipe was originally tested with White Lily's self-rising flour which has a lower protein content than some other brands of self-rising flour. Please check the protein content of your flour before starting. If your self-rising flour has 2 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, then you can use the amount stated in the recipe. If your self-rising flour has 3 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, then remove 6 tbsp of the flour from the amount in the recipe and replace with 6 tbsp of cornstarch.
  • Homemade self-rising flour: If your all purpose flour has 3 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, use the following measurements: Add 2 cups + 10 tbsp all purpose flour, 4.5 tsp baking powder, 6 tbsp cornstarch and 3/4 tsp salt to a bowl. Whisk until evenly combined. If your all purpose flour has 2 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, use the following measurements: Add 3 cups all purpose flour, 4.5 tsp baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt to a bowl. Whisk until evenly combined.
  • To properly measure flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level off with a knife. Do not directly dip the measuring cup into the flour because this results in too much flour. Use this method of measuring whether you are measuring self-rising flour or measuring all purpose flour to make your own self-rising flour.
  • I used Simply Lemonade. Try to use fresh lemonade (not from concentrate) and with regular sugar (no reduced sugar).
  • I used Chobani Lemon & Cream Greek Yogurt. You can also use vanilla Greek yogurt and 1/2 tbsp of fresh lemon zest as a substitute.
  • Optional lemon glaze: Add 1 cup of powdered sugar to a medium bowl. Add 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice and whisk until powdered sugar is completely dissolved. Start with just 1 tbsp of lemon juice and if the glaze is too thick, add another tbsp. If you prefer an even thinner glaze add more lemon juice or make the glaze thicker by adding more powdered sugar. Spoon the glaze all over the surface of the bread after it has cooled. I also sprinkled some fresh lemon zest over the glaze.
  • Nutrition estimate does not include optional glaze.
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 144kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 0.4g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Sodium: 428mg, Sugar: 4g, NET CARBS: 31
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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