This is one of the easiest ways to prepare homemade soft pretzels and the results are extra delicious. The soft pretzel dough only needs to rest for 10 minutes before shaping. The quick baking soda boil gives the pretzels their traditional flavor. Make sure you watch the video for how to shape pretzels!
Homemade soft pretzels are nothing new around here because this recipe has been a reader favorite for years. This recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101 (which has become a New York Times Best Seller!).
The dough requires just 6 ingredients and there’s hardly any rise time, so not only are these easy, they’re pretty quick too. In fact, I remember feeling pleasantly surprised at the ease and speed the first time I made them—it took us only 30 minutes to make 1 batch!
Over the years, I’ve added a smidge of melted butter to the dough for improved flavor. Furthermore, we’ve introduced the baking soda bath. While it sounds strange, this step is what gives pretzels that iconic flavor, chewy texture, helps deepen their golden color in the oven, and locks in the super soft interior. If you get the water boiling ahead of time, it really only adds 5 minutes to the entire process.
We’ve also made them soft pretzel bites, soft pretzel knots (with various toppings), jalapeño cheddar pretzels, and soft pretzel rolls from this simple dough. There’s no wrong way to shape a pretzel, but let’s stick with the classic today. I promise you’ll no longer feel intimidated working with yeast, shaping pretzels, or the baking soda bath.
Even if you have zero skill in the kitchen, you can make these homemade soft pretzels.
Step-by-Step Photos
Let’s chat about the dough. You need the simplest, most basic ingredients possible and I bet each one is in your kitchen right now. Warm water, 1 packet of yeast, brown or regular granulated sugar, melted butter, salt, and flour.
Mix the yeast and sugar in the warm water, let it sit for a minute, then whisk in the butter and salt, then add the flour. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment a big bowl and wooden spoon. Work with what you have in the kitchen. And if you need extra help with kneading, see my full How to Knead Dough video tutorial.
You don’t have to wait to let this dough rise for an extended period of time. Just 10 to 30 minutes does the trick. Don’t have a lot of time on your hands? This recipe is for you. If, however, you want to extend the rise time, you certainly could. Doughs that leave time for bulk fermentation (when the dough rises before shaping), typically have a more enhanced, developed flavor. In fact, some pretzel recipes require an overnight rise in the refrigerator. If you have the time for that, do it! However, I find a brief rise suitable for today’s pretzels, especially if I’m making them with younger bakers.
How to Shape Homemade Soft Pretzels
Now it’s time to shape.
Roll about 1/3 cup (75g) of dough into a long 20- to 22-inch rope.
Twist the ends and bring the ends down. That’s a pretzel!
Now drop the pretzels into the boiling water + baking soda. Let them boil for 20–30 seconds each, then place onto a baking sheet. This pretzel dough makes 12 regular-size soft pretzels, so I use 2 baking sheets. 6 on each.
Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake in a hot oven. That’s it, you’re done.
Make-Ahead Tip
If you are making pretzels in advance, do not top them with coarse salt before baking. The salt draws the moisture out of the pretzels, and once you’ve placed the baked and cooled pretzels in an airtight container or bag, it doesn’t take long before you’ll notice water droplets forming inside and the pretzels become soggy and wrinkled. Yuck!
If you won’t be serving the pretzels the same day you bake them, omit the salt-topping step. Bake as directed, then allow to cool completely before placing them in an airtight container, and store at room temperature. When you are ready to serve them, place the pretzels on a baking sheet and brush them lightly with water, then sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake them in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 5–10 minutes, or until warmed through.
Same goes for freezing homemade soft pretzels: wait to top with salt until you’re ready to serve them. Cool the unsalted baked pretzels completely, then freeze in an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, brush frozen pretzels (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes or until warmed through.
And if you want to kick your soft pretzel status into major high gear, add some spicy nacho cheese sauce.
Print
Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 pretzels
- Category: Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is one of the easiest ways to prepare homemade soft pretzels for beginners, and the results are extra delicious! The dough is a family recipe and only needs to rest for 10 to 30 minutes before shaping. The quick baking soda boil gives the pretzels their traditional flavor, and I do not recommend skipping it. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (around 100°F/38°C)
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 3/4–4 cups (469–500g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- coarse salt, for topping
Baking Soda Bath (See Recipe Note)
- 1/2 cup (120g) baking soda
- 9 cups (2.13L) water
Instructions
- Whisk the yeast and sugar into warm water. Cover and allow to sit for 1 minute.
- Whisk in the melted butter and salt. Add 3 cups (375g) of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon (or dough hook attachment if using a stand mixer) until combined. Add 3/4 cup (94g) more flour until the dough is slightly tacky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it is still sticky, add up to 1/4 cup more (31g) flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, as needed. Poke the dough with your finger—if it bounces back, it is ready to knead.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 3 to 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 3 to 5 minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Shape the kneaded dough into a ball. Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rest for 10 to 30 minutes. (Meanwhile, I like to get the water + baking soda boiling as instructed in step 8.)
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Silicone baking mats are highly recommended over parchment paper. If using parchment paper, lightly spray with nonstick spray or grease with butter. Set aside.
- With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 75g sections, which is about 1/3 cup of dough each.
- Roll the dough into a 20–22-inch rope. Form a circle with the dough by bringing the 2 ends together at the top of the circle. Twist the ends together. Bring the twisted ends back down towards yourself and press them down to form a pretzel shape.
- Bring baking soda and 9 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Drop 1–2 pretzels into the boiling water for 20–30 seconds. Any longer than that and your pretzels will have a metallic taste. Using a slotted spatula, lift the pretzel out of the water and allow as much of the excess water to drip off. Place pretzel onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels. If desired, cover the boiled, unbaked pretzels with lightly oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before baking (step 9).
- Sprinkle the tops of the pretzels with coarse salt. Bake for 12–15 minutes or until dark golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and, if desired, serve warm with spicy nacho cheese sauce.
- Cover and store leftover pretzels at room temperature for up to 3 days. See Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions in recipe Notes below for more storage info. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds, or bake at 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: If planning to freeze fully baked pretzels, do not top them with coarse salt before baking. Cool completely, then freeze in an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, brush frozen pretzels (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes or until warmed through, or microwave frozen pretzels until warm. The prepared pretzel dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to one day or frozen in an airtight container for 2–3 months. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight. Refrigerated dough can be shaped into pretzels while still cold, but allow some extra time, about 1 hour, for the pretzels to puff up at room temperature before continuing with the baking soda bath and baking. You can also freeze the boiled, unbaked pretzels and here’s how: after boiling the pretzels in step 8, place them on a lightly greased parchment paper- or silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet. Freeze the pretzels for about 1 hour, then transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag (squeeze out as much air as possible from the bag before sealing) and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, brush frozen pretzels (no need to thaw) with water and sprinkle with coarse salt, then bake at 400°F (204°C) for 15–20 minutes or until dark golden brown.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl | Wooden Spoon | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pizza Cutter | Large Pot (such as a Dutch oven)
- Baking Soda Bath (Step 8): The baking soda bath is strongly recommended because it helps create that chewy texture and distinctive pretzel flavor. If skipping, brush the shaped and unbaked pretzels with a mixture of 1 beaten egg + 1 Tablespoon of dairy or nondairy milk. This is known as an egg wash. Sprinkle the brushed pretzels with salt. The egg wash will help the salt stick. If you don’t have an egg, simply brush with 2 Tablespoons of dairy or nondairy milk.
- Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels: Skip the coarse salt topping (and skip the egg wash, see note above, if you aren’t doing the baking soda bath step). Bake as directed in step 9. Meanwhile, melt 4 Tablespoons (56g) of unsalted or salted butter. Brush the baked and warm pretzels with melted butter, then dip the tops into a mix of cinnamon and sugar. I usually use 3/4 cup (150g) of granulated sugar and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Cinnamon-sugar pretzels taste best the day they’re made because the melted butter topping causes them to become soggy after a few hours.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Reader Comments and Reviews
If we do not soak it in the boiled water bath, will it still bake until golden brown? I’m baking it right now, and it looks quite pale. I did the egg wash method instead.
Hi Lucy, the bath definitely helps deepen their golden color in the oven.
Do you think you could make the dough in a bread machine? Btw, I am a long-time baker and I love your recipes!
Hi Jenny, we haven’t tried these in a bread machine, but let us know if you do. Enjoy!
A family favorite!!
When boiling, I wanted to push them down to keep them under. Should I be doing that?
Hi Josh! We don’t usually find it necessary, but it doesn’t hurt!
Okay, so the first time I made these I misread the recipe and cut the dough into literally 3 portions. Needless to say, they were HUGE lol. I laughed so hard when I realized my mistake and took them out of the oven.
Anyways, I made them again tonight and holy guacamole they are delicious. I love the recipes from this site, and I will definitely be making them again when I buy more butter and cheese.
I’m new to baking (this is my first attempt at any breadstuff), and it looked like, in the video, that the baking soda is poured into boiling water. So that’s what I did, and I scalded myself. If the baking soda is supposed to be in the water before it gets that hot, why does it bubble up in the video when it’s added? What should I do differently? I really do want to know so I can try these again.
Never mind, I tried it again and this time I put the baking soda in before boiling. They were amazing! I feel like some kind of food genius! Thanks, S!!!
I had never made pretzels before, and these were great! I used the same recipe to make three huge beer pretzels to tear into pieces for a beer fondue! Same ingredients; Dough rest 20 minutes; Rope 28″ long (maybe even longer next time); Baked at 190C/375F for 23 minutes.
These were so easy to make and so tasty! We ended up just rolling into pretzel sticks and leaving them that way instead of the typical pretzel shape. These homemade pretzels paired with some beer-cheese dip were a massive hit at our holiday party! Thanks, Sally for an amazing recipe!
I must be missing something since I don’t see any other question about this. In Step 4, you cut the dough with a knife or pizza cutter into 1/3 cup sections. How do you know/measure as you’re cutting what a 1/3 cup section looks like? How many sections?
Hi Norma! You divide the dough into 12 1/3 cup sections – see the video in the blog post for a helpful visual!
I had a craving for a soft pretzel . . . but no desire to leave my humble abode. I did a quick google search and after perusing the results, decided to give your recipe a try. I could cry, these are so good. This was *exactly* the taste I was looking for! Your recipe and instructions are straightforward, concise, and easy to follow. Mine don’t look nearly as pretty as yours … but that taste is spot on!! Thanks so much!! 🙂
I tried this particular recipe because I was short on time, and expected the pretzels to turn out okay. Super surprised they were so GOOD because they were so GOOD. I had to add a bit more flour but they still turned out great. Loved them! Thank you 🙂
^^should say surprised they were so GOOD because they were so EASY
Hi Sally, I made these pretzels today and they were amazing! May i know if i want to double the recipe, do i have to double the yeast, or can i just use one packet?
We are so happy you enjoyed these, Marina! Yes, simply double all of the ingredients including the yeast. We would let the dough rest for closer to 20-25 minutes in step 2 since there’s more volume.
Hello Sally!
I use your recipes as a go-to for food and wine events I hold at our family’s Finger Lakes winery. I made these pretzels this morning and used your spicy cheese sauce, subbing some milk with our Chardonnay and it was delicious! Thank you for testing and providing us with so many great recipes!
What did I do? When I put the pretzel into the baking soda bath, it was like one of those volcanos you see in grade school. Foam immediately sprung up from the water and over the pot. Big mess.
Fantastic! Super easy to make. So few ingredients. Had delicious soft pretzels out of the oven in an hour! Made a double batch and froze a bunch for easy, quick snacks! Highly recommend this recipe!
Fantastic recipe! They are super quick, easy to make, and delicious!! I will absolutely be making these often in the future!
Great recipe for homemade
This is going to join our list of family favourites!
Hello! Sally! I don’t have a large saucepan. Can I boil them one at a time in a small saucepan instead? Thanks!
Hi Charla, that should work!
Can the dough be left out in a room temp place over night? In the fridge?
Could I divided the recipe to just make 1 pretzel?
I’m wanting to do this with my students for as a lab for fermentation, but our time is limited and it would need to be divided into a 2 day process.
Hi Haley, You can refrigerate the dough overnight. Enjoy!
May I ask what the cheese sauce recipe is? I would love to make it along with the pretzels. I’m a cheese fanatic!!!
My first time making pretzels, and now I’m thinking of opening a food truck. Absolutely scrumptious, and easy to make. The soda bath was not hard at all, and it helped the salt to stick. I used coarse kosher salt. There are none left, so I’m off to buy more flour tomorrow. Thanks!!
Well I should start by saying I went into this knowing the recipe would be good because every recipe of yours that I have made has been on point…
But I had no idea it would be this easy!! I have never made anything with yeast and quite frankly have been nervous to try but this recipe was so easy and I am amazed at how delicious they are!
The only thing I did differently was brush them with butter a couple minutes before pulling them out of the oven.
Only complaint is that I drastically under salted mine because I thought for sure I was adding too much. Now I know to salt away!
I made them last weekend and EVERYONE loved them!!! I’ll make a double batch next time because I thought I would be able to have one the next day lol. I did add half all purpose flour and half bread flour and they were great. I added pepperoni and cheese to a couple, salt to other and made some pretzel bites. I served them with nacho cheese. I’m waiting for our next family movie night to make more. Thank you for the great recipe
Can the dough be frozen to bake at a later time?
Yes it can! See Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions in the recipe notes for details.
These turned out beautiful and very easy to make. Work loved it.
These were not soft, fluffy soft pretzels that everybody loves. They are more like the “Super Pretzels” that you buy in the frozen department, but better simply because you eat them fresh. I have made a better recipe, but couldn’t find it. I tried this one because Sally usually has excellent recipes, but this one missed the mark for me.
Learn how to bake Kristin, cause these turned out amazing. They are no where even close to those frozen crap pretzels. I’ve made these a few times already and they always turns out great and they are always a huge hit with everyone. Thanks Sally for this great recipe.
Tried doing bites, were a full on hit. Although I noticed that the longer they awaited the oven, the more the cracked , or split the top. The ones that came out of the bath last are chewier. Will most certainly make again. Thanks for the recipe!
These turned out really well, they taste and smell heavenly. Don’t be intimidated- they are very easy and fun to make.
I also tried the spicy nacho cheese sauce and it pairs very well.
This is the best homemade pretzel recipe!! My husband doesn’t even like pretzels but he loves these! They are so moist and delicious, a great game day snack.
Thank you for not giving the full family/personal story of how to bake pretzel and saving us from all the scrolling down to what we wanted to read. You are a treasure of a blogger.
New baker here….was skeptical about making them. HO-LEE-COW! These are absolutely amazing….and so easy to make. Thanks!
So easy, and so tasty!
I’m planning to make 8 batches for an upcoming party.
Can I use the same water bath for a couple batches? Or will the baking soda lose its umpf?
Hi Theodosia, for best results, we recommend swapping out the water bath between each bath.
These pretzels are to die for! Can’t make enough! Thank you for all of your amazing recipes! You are always my “go to” for the very best recipes.