These easy homemade buttery soft pretzels are so simple to make at home. They're chewy, fluffy and better than any food chain! Whip up a batch of my easy and delicious beer cheese dip to dip them in for a yummy treat!
I have a slight obsession with soft pretzels. Where ever I am, if they are being offered, there's a good chance I'm getting one.. or three. Call it a guilty pleasure but now that I can make the best homemade soft pretzels at home that are even better than any chain, my life is practically made! You guys are going to love these.
Want to make more homemade dough? Try this EASY pizza dough recipe or a recipe without yeast, my homemade pie dough.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Perfect texture: These pretzels have that ideal balance of a soft center with a chewy exterior.
- Easy to follow recipe: The recipe breaks down each step, making it simple for beginners and seasoned bakers alike! This is also a great kid-friendly recipe!
- Topping combinations: There are so many ways to customize these pretzels from sweet to savory. Get creative with some of the variations I mention below!
- Great for any occasion: Perfect for an afternoon snack, party appetizer, or even a game-day treat.
Ingredients For Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Active dry yeast: It helps the dough to rise and makes the soft pretzels puff up as they bake. Want to make a sweet yeasted treat that also uses active dry yeast? Try my strawberry cinnamon rolls or mixed berry sweet rolls.
- Water: Make sure your water is warm (not boiling), about 105°-115°F to best activate the yeast. You will also use boiling water for the baking soda bath later in the recipe.
- Baking soda: Used for the baking soda "bath" which is the most important steps in making homemade soft pretzels. This gives the pretzels their iconic golden, chewy outer exterior. It's the ingredient that basically makes a pretzel, taste like a pretzel! And not a buttery, salted bread stick.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter in the dough and salted butter brushed on top of the pretzels just after baking. To simplify, you can just use unsalted since they are getting sprinkled with salt anyway. I like mine salty!
- Fine and coarse sea salt: Fine is used in the dough - you can also just use regular table or kosher salt - and coarse sea salt is sprinkled on top of the pretzels before baking.
- All-Purpose Flour: Measuring the flour correctly is crucial. Too much flour and your dough will be dry and crumbly creating tough pretzels. Too little, and it will be wet, sticky and unworkable.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions.
Substitutions & Variations
To use any of these variations, you will omit the coarse salt sprinkled on top after baking. Use your imagination! There are so, so many more variations you can come up with!
- Cinnamon sugar: After baking, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Everything but the bagel seasoning: Brush with melted butter after baking and sprinkle with seasoning.
- Cheese: Before baking and while pretzels are still wet from baking soda bath, sprinkle with your desired flavor of cheese. Parmesan, asiago would both be absolutely delicious!
- Garlic & herb: Brush with melted butter after baking and sprinkle with garlic salt and italian seasoning.
How to Make Quick and Easy Soft Pretzels
- Mix and knead the dough: Combine yeast with warm water and sugar. Once mixture becomes "frothy" your yeast is ready. Stir in salt and melted butter. Add flour 1 cup at a time until dough is no longer sticky. You may need more or less than the recipe calls for. If you press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it's ready to knead! Knead dough for 5 more minutes until smooth and pliable.
- Let the dough rest: Shape dough into a large ball and place in a lightly-oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let it rest for 15 minutes. This is not to be confused with rising, it does not need to be doubled in size, the dough is just "resting."
- Preheat oven: To 475°F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Prepare the baking soda bath: Combine the water and baking soda in a large pot and bring mixture to a boil. Take off heat and allow it to come down to a lukewarm temperature.
- Shape the pretzels: Flatten rested dough slightly with the palm of your hand into a circle. Cut dough into 8 sections (like a pizza). Roll each triangle into a long ¾ inch rope, about 19-20 inches long. Shape dough into pretzel shape and place in baking soda bath for 2 minutes. Carefully pick pretzel up either by hand or spatula and transfer to prepared baking sheets.
- Add salt: Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt while still wet. Repeat these steps until all 8 pretzels are prepared and on the baking sheets.
- Bake: You want to bake the pretzels until golden brown, about 8-9 minutes.
- Brush with butter: Straight from the oven, brush the pretzels with melted butter. I like to use salted but you may use unsalted.
- Best served warm: Enjoy them fresh and hot out of the oven! These pair perfectly with my easy beer cheese dip!
Recipe FAQ
Once cooled completely, wrap them up individually and tight in plastic wrap for up to two days. To reheat, pop them in the microwave for about a minute or so. Good as new!
I recommend preparing the dough only one day in advance. Prep the dough the day before following the recipe through to step 3 and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. When you are ready to make the soft pretzels, continue on with the recipe starting with shaping the dough then the baking soda bath, etc.
Once baked and cooled completely, wrap each pretzel individually in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil. Be sure to cover them completely! For extra protection and to ensure freshness, place them in a large ziplock bag before freezing.
Yes! Place raw dough into an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Yes, yes, yesssss. When you get to the shaping step of the recipe, when you roll the dough into long ropes, just cut them into 4 inch pieces instead of shaping into a pretzel shape to make homemade soft pretzel sticks. Cut them into 1 inch pieces for bites. Continue with the recipe as written. I also have this included in my recipe notes at the bottom of the recipe.
When you place the shaped pretzels into the baking soda bath, this causes the dough to puff slightly. This is what will help to create the chewy exterior that we associate with soft pretzels. Baking soda is an alkaline which will cause a browning reaction in the oven, creating perfectly browned pretzels. The baking soda bath also gives the soft pretzels their distinct flavor. Don't skip this step!
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📋 Recipe
Homemade Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
Pretzel dough
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast, 1 standard packet
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tbs unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour + up to ¾ cup more if needed
Baking Soda Bath
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbs baking soda
Topping
- 1 tbs coarse salt, for sprinkling on top
- 6 tbs salted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475°F and line a large baking sheet or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine yeast with warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with hook attachment. Once mixture becomes "frothy" your yeast is ready. Stir in salt and 1 tbs of melted butter.
- Add flour 1 cup at a time and knead on lowest setting until a dough forms and is no longer very sticky. You may need more or less depending on temperature differences. If you press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it's ready to knead. Knead dough for 5 minutes or until smooth and pliable.
- Form dough into a ball by hand. Lightly grease the bowl used previously and place the dough back in to rest for 15 minutes. Cover with a damp towel.
- In a medium sized pot, boil 2 cups of water with 2 tbs of baking soda. Once the baking soda is mostly dissolved, take mixture off heat and pour into a shallow dish.
- After 15 minutes, take dough out of the bowl and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Cut dough into 8 sections (like a pizza). Roll each triangle into a long rope, about 19-20 inches long. Shape dough into pretzel shape and place in baking soda bath for 2 minutes. If the whole pretzel isn't covered by the water, spoon it on top of the areas is doesn't reach. Once the 2 minutes is up, carefully pick pretzel up either by your hand or with the help of a fork or spatula and place on prepared baking sheet. You may have to re-shape slightly.
- Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt while still wet. Repeat these steps until all 8 pretzels are prepared and on the baking sheets.
- Bake pretzels for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately from the oven, brush (heavily) with 6 tbs of melted butter.
- These homemade soft pretzels are best served hot and fresh out of the oven but will keep for about 2 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Pop them in the microwave and they're good as new!
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepared dough can be made one day in advance. Shape the pretzels and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before popping them into the oven. Prepared dough can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator.
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked and cooled pretzels for up to 3 months. To reheat, bake (frozen) at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until center is warmed through. You can also microwave for a few minutes until heated through.
- Pretzel Bites: When rolling dough into a long rope in step 4, instead of shaping pieces into a large pretzel, cut the dough into 1-2 inch pieces. Follow the rest of the recipe instructions.
Nutrition
The provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amy says
Super delicious!! This recipe is a keeper.
Jessica says
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Amy!! ?
REBECCA BUTTORFF says
So Delicious!!! Everyone LOVED them. We put a little cinnamon and sugar on one batch too!
Jessica says
YUM! Cinnamon sugar pretzels are so delicious!
Kelsea says
Hi! These were delicious. My husbands co-workers would love me to send some in. However, I’d like them to be as fresh as possible. Would I be able to make them the night before and then do the baking soda bath and baking right before he leaves for work? If so, how would you suggest I store the pretzels overnight before the baking soda bath? Thanks!
Brigid Carman says
I just made these and they are awesome!!! Thanks! I linked your website to my facebook post too. 🙂
Jessica says
That's so great to hear! And thank you!
Gwendolyn says
These pretzels were delicious! My roommate and I have followed a variety of soft pretzel recipes, as its a great way for us to destress after a long week, and we both agreed this was the best! The baking soda bath was extremely low stress, especially because the water was cool enough it wouldn't burn us if we got splashed, so we already knew this was a great recipe, but the butter coating at the end just made it perfect! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this recipe, I'm looking forward to trying out some of your others 🙂
Also, we used vegan butter for this recipe and had no issues, for others who are interested.
Frank says
Just made them. Amazing! I was skeptical of not letting them rise, just rest, but they turned out great. Nice and chewy with brown outside. The 6 TBSP of butter (melted) to brush with was about 2tbsp too much I had a lot leftover, and I even drowned them. But alas, my 13 y/o said, "Hey, butter dip!" And it all worked out well!! I also used 4TBSP soda and it was too much. It precipitated out when it cooled and I did have a slight taste of soda after they were done but it wasn't really that bad and I didn't find it strong enough to be objectionable.
One question, my dough was very elastic and difficult to roll out. I think I may have added too much flour (about 3C + 2 tbsp). Do they normally take a lot of work to roll out? They just kept springing back. I really had to work at it to get long, thin ropes.
Overall great recipe and my family thinks I'm a genius!! Thanks Jessica
Jessica says
Yes, it does sound like too much flour was added. Next time, try adding a little at a time until the dough is no longer super sticky but soft and elastic enough to roll out. Temperature does plays a large roll in dough making and so this may have played a factor when you added the flour - something to think about! 🙂
Betz says
Hi! I’m a New Yorker who loves soft pretzels, but I love ve in New Zealand where they’re hard to come by. I have not made pretzels since I was a brownie and that was basically my mom making them and me sprinkling salt.
This recipe was easy (and I’m dough-fearing) and the pretzels are delicious. Thank you!!
Jessica says
Aw, such a cute memory! I'm glad you loved them, Betz! 🙂
Tracey says
This recipe is amazing!! I wasn’t too sure if it was going to turn out right but they are soooo good. My dough was a little tough to roll into pretzel shapes, so I ended up cutting it in little bite sizes and doing some pretzel bites. (Mostly because I was too lazy to work with the dough) Thankyou so much for sharing this recipe. Will be using it again for Super Bowl appetizers 🙂
Jessica says
Bite size pretzels are great too! These would make the perfect Super Bowl appetizers - I will probably be making them for that too! 🙂
Kaylyn says
Made the pretzels would not recommend leaving them in the baking soda wash for 2 minutes gave it a really bad taste would just dunk and pull out of wash next time.
Heather says
Mmmm!!! I saved this pin ages ago, and finally got around to making this recipe! I wish I hadn’t waited so long!!! Simply delicious!! We had a homemade Oktoberfest at our place this weekend, and this was a huge hit! I need to work on my pretzel shaping, but the taste is spot on! Thank you, Jessica!!
Jessica says
Woo! Thank you for letting me know!