Home-style Soft Pretzel Bites

These from-scratch soft pretzel bites have the chewy, golden outside you want from a pretzel, with a soft, puffy middle and plenty of coarse salt on top. A quick soda bath before they go into the oven is what gives them that real pretzel texture rather than leaving you with little pieces of baked bread dough. Put them out warm for football Saturday, game night, or an afternoon snack with a bowl of cheese dip and watch how quickly they disappear.

From-scratch Pretzel Bites That Actually Taste Like Pretzels

We first published this recipe back in 2015, and the part we wouldn’t skip is the baking soda bath. It only takes about 30 seconds per batch, but it changes what happens to the outside of the dough so you get that darker, chewy pretzel crust while the inside stays soft.

The other thing that matters here is not getting carried away with the flour. You need enough that the dough isn’t sticking to everything when you knead and shape it, but adding too much is an straightforward way to turn a soft pretzel into a dense one. Start with the amount in the recipe, then only add more if the dough is still sticky.

Why Soft Pretzel Bites stay in the rotation

• Soft inside, chewy outside. The short baking soda bath leaves you with the texture that makes a pretzel a pretzel.
• They’re made for dipping. The bite-size pieces are right for beer cheese, honey mustard, or your favorite cheese sauce.
• You don’t need special equipment. The dough can be mixed by hand and kneaded right on the counter.
• They’re good party food. One batch makes about 50 bites, so they work especially well for football Saturdays and game-day spreads.

Ingredients for Pretzel Bites

Warm water: You want it warm enough to activate the yeast, but not hot. Water that’s too hot can kill the yeast.

Active dry yeast: This is the yeast we use for this recipe.

Sugar: Gives the yeast a little something to work with and adds a touch of sweetness to the dough.

All-purpose flour: Regular all-purpose flour works well here and keeps the inside of the pretzel bites soft.

Baking soda: This goes into the boiling water before baking and is responsible for a lot of that classic pretzel color, flavor, and chewy exterior.

Egg: Mixed with water for the egg wash, which helps the pretzel bites get glossy and nicely browned in the oven.

Coarse kosher salt: You want a coarse salt here rather than fine table salt so you get those salty little bites across the tops.

How to cook Pretzel Bites

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
2. Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
3. Let the yeast bloom. This will take about 5 minutes. You’ll know it’s blooming when you see little puffs of expanded yeast float to the top and it gets nice and foamy.
4. Add the salt and mix to combine.

1. Begin adding the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing to combine fully before adding in the next cup. We recommend using a large plastic or wooden spoon for this step.
2. After the flour is fully added, make sure the dough is no longer sticky. If it is sticky, continue adding in a little more flour (¼ cup at a time) to the dough until it is no longer sticky.

1. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for about 4-5 minutes.
2. Using a knife, cut the dough into 4 sections.
3. Roll each section into a long rope.
4. Cut the rope into 1” x 1” squares.
5. Prep them all and set them aside.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (about 8 cups).
2. Slowly add in the baking soda. It’s important to do this slowly, or it will cause it to boil over.
3. Add about 15-20 pretzel bites at a time to the boiling water and let them cook for about 30 seconds.
4. Remove them from the water (draining the excess) and place them on the parchment lined baking sheet. Make sure the bites aren’t touching.
5. Continue this process until all of the pretzel bites have been done.

1. In a bowl, beat the egg and add 1 tablespoon of water.
2. Brush each of the pretzel bites with the egg wash and then sprinkle them with coarse kosher (or sea) salt.
3. Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes.
4. If they aren’t fully browned on top, you can switch to broil and leave them in for about 1 minute. Keep your eye on them! They can burn quickly under the broiler.

Our Tips

• Use the dough as your guide with the flour. Humidity and how you measure flour can change how much you actually need. Add extra flour only if the dough is still sticky rather than automatically adding more.
• Don’t crowd the pot. Boiling 15 to 20 bites at a time gives them room and makes it much easier to get them back out at the 30-second mark.
• Add the baking soda slowly. Baking soda makes boiling water foam aggressively. Use a large pot and pour it in gradually rather than dumping the whole amount in at once.
• Keep an eye on the last minute. If you use the broiler to deepen the color, stay right there. That beautiful deep brown pretzel top happens quickly.

What to Serve with Pretzel Bites

Warm pretzel bites belong on the snack table. We especially like them for football Saturdays when there are a few things sitting out and everyone is grabbing food whenever they walk through the kitchen.

Try them with:

• Beer Cheese Dip For the classic warm pretzel-and-cheese situation
• Honey mustard for something sweet and tangy
• Chicken wings As part of a game day spread
• Marinara if you want a plain kid friendly dipping option

Pretzel Bite Variations

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites: Skip the coarse salt. After baking, brush the warm pretzel bites with melted butter and coat them in cinnamon sugar.

Full Size Soft Pretzels: Instead of cutting the dough ropes into bites, shape them into pretzels. Because the size changes, the bake time may need to be adjusted, so watch for a deeply golden exterior rather than relying only on the timing for the bites.

How to keep Pretzel Bites

Room Temperature

Let the pretzel bites cool completely, then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Freezer

Let the pretzel bites cool completely, then place them in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature, then reheat using one of the methods below. For a house favorite texture, we recommend the oven or air fryer.

How to Reheat Pretzel Bites

Oven: For a house favorite texture, place the pretzel bites on a baking sheet and warm them at 350°F for about 5 minutes, or until heated through. This keeps the inside soft without making the outside soggy.

Air Fryer: Reheat at 325°F for 2 to 3 minutes. Check them early since pretzel bites can dry out quickly in the air fryer.

Microwave: For a few, microwave for 5 to 10 seconds at a time until warm. The microwave will soften them, but the outside won’t have quite the same chewy texture.

Soft Pretzel Bites FAQs