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. 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 do it every time now. It’s worth it!
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. We’ve also jazzed them up as crab pretzels. There’s no wrong way to shape a pretzel, but let’s stick with tradition 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 guarantee each one is in your kitchen right now. Warm water, 1 packet yeast, melted butter, brown or regular granulated sugar, salt, and flour.
Let the yeast foam in the warm water for a few minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, a hand mixer, or—like you’ll notice in the video below the recipe—no mixer at all. 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.
Guess what? You don’t have to wait to let this dough rise. YES! Well, we’ll let it rest for 10 minutes while you get the baking soda + water boiling on the stove but that’s it. Don’t have any patience? This is the recipe for you. By the way, did you know that some pretzel recipes call for rising overnight? They’re remarkable pretzels but I’m satisfied with this ultra quick dough!
How to Shape Homemade Soft Pretzels
Now it’s time to shape.
Roll 1/3 cup of dough into a long 20-22 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 salt and bake in a hot oven. That’s it, you’re done.
And if you want to kick your soft pretzel status into major high gear, add some spicy nacho cheese sauce.
PrintEasy 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 and the results are extra delicious! The dough is a family recipe and 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!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (lukewarm– no need to take temperature but around 100°F (38°C) is great)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cool
- 3 and 3/4-4 cups (469-500g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
- coarse salt or coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Baking Soda Bath (See Recipe Note)
- 1/2 cup (120g) baking soda
- 9 cups (2.13L) water
Instructions
- Whisk the yeast into warm water. Allow to sit for 1 minute. Whisk in salt, brown sugar, and melted butter. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon (or dough hook attached to stand mixer) until dough is thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If it is still sticky, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup more, 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 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full 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 minutes. (Meanwhile, I like to get the water + baking soda boiling as instructed in step 6.)
- 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 1/3 cup sections (about 75g each).
- Roll the dough into a 20-22 inch rope. Form a circle with the dough by bringing the two 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 more 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. Sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. Repeat with remaining pretzels. If desired, you can cover and refrigerate the boiled/unbaked pretzels for up to 24 hours before baking in step 7.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm with spicy nacho cheese sauce.
- Cover and store leftover pretzels at room temperature for up to 3 days. They lose a little softness over time. To reheat, microwave for a few seconds, or bake at 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked and cooled pretzels freeze well for up to 3 months. To reheat, bake frozen pretzels 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 before the baking soda bath and baking.
- 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 6): 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 7. Meanwhile, melt 4 Tablespoons (60g) of unsalted or salted butter (your choice). 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 are best served that day because due to the melted butter topping, they become soggy after a few hours.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
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.