This delicious homemade pretzel bites recipe is the PERFECT party or game day food! Don’t be intimidated by the cooking process. It’s way easier than it looks! You will not be disappointed.
Original recipe: February 2012 | Updated: January 2022
Why This Recipe Works
Back in my poor, single years, I was a waitron at Timberwolves games. Isn’t that a funny word? Waitron?
Anyhow, before the madness began each night, we had the option to eat either a free hot dog or a free soft pretzel. I usually opted for the pretzel, along with a container of warm, gooey cheese for dipping and never got tired of it.
I have not sunk my teeth into a soft pretzel since my waitron days, so when I bit into these my tastebuds did cartwheels! Reunited with the beloved soft pretzel!
Recipe Ingredients
- Dough ingredients – If desired, forego making dough with yeast by either purchasing no-yeast frozen pizza dough from the store or by making a quick no-yeast dough at home. Scroll down for instructions!
- Cheese – Use any variety of melty cheese, such as mozzarella, cheddar, cojack, provolone or muenster.
- Ham – If desired, replace ham with cooked bacon crumbles or cooked ground meat of any variety.
How To Make Soft Pretzel Bites
Step 1
In a small bowl, combine:
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 cup warm milk (110-115 degrees F)
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
In a large bowl, combine:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- Warm milk mixture
- 1 package (1/4 oz.) instant dry yeast
Stir until a soft dough forms. Add more flour as needed (up to 1/2 cup). Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times, forming a smooth ball.
Step 2
Brush the inside of a large clean bowl with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
Allow it to rise in a warm, draft-free area for about 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size and bubbles appear on the surface.
Step 3
Turn the pretzel dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide it into 4 equal pieces.
Lightly dust a rolling pin with flour and roll each piece of dough into roughly a 12×4-inch rectangle. As you can see, my rectangles are not quite rectangles.
Step 4
With the long sides facing you, place the following ingredients onto the bottom third of each piece of dough:
- A quarter of 1/2 cup finely chopped ham
- A quarter of 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Roll the dough as tightly as you, starting with the long edge holding the ham and cheese.
Cut each roll into 12 equal pieces.
Transfer the pieces to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let them rest, uncovered, at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 5
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add 4 teaspoons of baking soda to the boiling water and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Boil the pretzels in batches, cooking for about 20 seconds each and turning once. It is totally normal to have a few casualties during this step in the process.
They should look slightly puffed when done. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them back to the baking sheet.
Step 6
Bake in the preheated oven until they are puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.
Brush with 4 tablespoons of melted butter and sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of coarse kosher salt.
Serve warm! Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Use a thermometer such as the Thermapen to ensure your milk reaches the proper temp (110-115 degrees F).
- Buy pre-cooked, pre-diced ham to make this recipe even easier.
- Any melting cheese works great. Mozzarella, cheddar or provolone are all delicious options.
- Simplify the recipe by making your own quick dough. Skip steps 1 and 2 in the recipe card entirely.
Easy No Yeast Pizza Dough Recipe
With just 20 minutes of prep and 5 ingredients, this no yeast pizza dough is ready to be put in the oven! No yeast, rising or waiting is required and it produces a perfect pizza (or pretzel bites!) every time.
Dips For Pretzel Bites
- Seasoned sour cream
- Ketchup
- Honey mustard dipping sauce
- Cheese dip
- BBQ sauce
- Marinara sauce
- Cilantro lime sauce
- Ranch dressing
FAQ About Pretzel Bites
Pretzel bites are bite-sized version of that delicious, salty soft pretzel snack we all know and love.
Making pretzel bites without yeast is easy! Simply create your own easy no-yeast pizza dough and substitute for any dough called for in the recipe.
Pretzel bites can be reheated in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes or in the microwave on 1-minute bursts.
What is a Pretzel?
There are two ways to prepare pretzels, but our version is similar to the original breaded treat from Germany. Maybe you’re familiar with them from a street cart vendor or a mall shop that entices you to buy one from the smells wafting around you.
While it can be served in a variety of ways, the treat was often twisted into a knot and salted with a chewy exterior and a soft bread interior. Using lye was one way to prepare pretzel’s and a baking soda bath is a more simpler way, that we use in our recipe.
Pretzels can be prepared with salt, sugar, dipped into cheese or chocolate and also served hard like a chip or soft like the bread made in this recipe. It is fun to create different shapes and flavors to enjoy this old school treat!
Party Food Recipes
- Instant Pot Cake made with a BOX MIX is super moist and flavorful and much less porous than its oven-baked counterpart. Make this easy dessert for your next party!
- Fries or chips served with Seasoned Sour Cream makes the perfect party food.
- This EASY 3 can chili recipe requires is a super comforting dish that is packed with flavor and requires only 30 minutes of your time. Great for gatherings!
- Pickle Rollups are most perfect appetizer for any type of gathering! Only THREE ingredients, ten minutes of your time and guests will be raving!
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Homemade Pretzel Bites Recipe with Ham and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cup warm milk (110-115 degrees F)
- 2 1/2-3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package instant dry yeast 1/4 oz.
- 1/2 cup ham finely chopped
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 6 cups water
- 4 tsp baking soda
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1-2 tbsp coarse kosher salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and warm milk until dissolved. In a large bowl, combine 2 ½ cups flour, the milk mixture and the yeast. Stir until a soft dough forms. Add the remaining flour as needed. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times, forming a smooth ball.
- Brush the inside of a large clean bowl with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm, draft-free area for about 2 hours, until dough has doubled in size and bubbles appear on the surface.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Lightly dust hands and rolling pin with flour. Roll one of the four sections into a 12×4-inch rectangle. With the long side facing you, gently press ¼ of the ham and cheese into the bottom third of the dough, and roll as tightly as possible, starting with the end that has the filling. Cut into 12 1-inch pieces and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining 3 portions of dough.
- Let rest, uncovered, at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add the baking soda and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Boil pretzels in batches, cooking about 20 seconds each, turning once. They should be slightly puffed. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them back to the baking sheets. Bake until puffed and golden-brown, about 15 minutes. Brush warm pretzel bites with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. Serve warm.
Notes
- Use a thermometer such as the Thermapen to ensure your milk reaches the proper temp (110-115 degrees F).
- Buy pre-cooked, pre-diced ham to make this recipe even easier.
- Any melting cheese works great. Mozzarella, cheddar or provolone are all delicious options.
- Simplify the recipe by making your own quick dough. Skip steps 1 and 2 in the recipe card entirely.
I'm making these tonight for my family and was wondering if anyone had a good recommendation for a good side dish to go with these yummy bites 🙂
Haven't heard the word "waitron" forever… that never caught on so well! And, hey, Timberwolves? You must be a MN girl.
These look delicious. I would want to skip the boiling step… but that probably makes them chewy and delicious. I'm pretty sure mine would fall apart in the water…. but… I am willing to try this… once my house isn't close to 80 degrees inside!
Thank you for the recipe! A picture really is worth a thousand words. 🙂 I made these for the kids today. They LOVED them! I used a wok type pan to boil them in. I was able to boil the long roll all at once. I just pinched the ends like someone mentioned in a prior post. They turned out really good. Thanks again!
Hi Ashley, I would think reheating them in the oven would be ideal. As far as storage, wrap them tightly in foil and keep in the fridge.
Megan
I'm making these as I type and I'm just curious if anyone has recommendations as to the best way to store/reheat these so my husband can take some for lunch tomorrow?
I am making these tonight, will post the pictures on my blog tomorrow 😉
I absolutely love this recipe. I did change a few things also: I mixed my yeast with the milk/sugar mixture and let it sit 10 minutes before adding flour. (I tried it your way first, but my dough didn't rise the way I wanted it to, so I tried it again my way!) I also skipped the boiling part altogether. I used canned ham flakes with a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Very delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Can these be made ahead and then frozen prior to baking?
Having worked at a pretzel place as a teen, I can tell you the only purpose of the baking soda solution is color. We always dipped the tops of the pretzels in a similar solution before sending them through the oven.
We have these pretzel bites for dinner (with cheddar instead of mozzarella) almost weekly now!! But I totally skip the boiling baking soda solution entirely. It doesn't make a difference really in terms of anything but color.
Hey, Cass! Thanks for your post. I was totally with this recipe until I read the boiling part, then it felt a bit shaky. Your modifications tie up all the loose ends I was feeling. Now it's one I'll keep and use.
These look like little bites of heaven. I would have to eat the whole plate. I am going to have to pin these. Thanks for sharing.
I made these last night, with some minor alterations. First, when making the dough I mixed the milk and sugar, then bloomed the yeast for about 10 minutes before adding the flour. I used Boars Head Honey Maple Coat Ham, which is delicious, but I used Boars Head Swiss cheese instead of mozzarella. I squirted a line of honey mustard down the meat and cheese of each log as well.
Before rolling them up, I folded the ends in like rolling a burrito. Then I rolled up my four pieces. I cut each log in HALF and pinched the open end shut before boiling. Once they cooled for a minute after boiling, I cut off the closed ends and sliced them up. This meant my boiling time was about 6 total minutes, and I didn't lose any filling at all. I threw the lumpy end bits in a ziploc and shoved it in the freezer. I figure one day I may want a snack and I can just bake them up then.
Mine turned out beautifully, and since boiling BEFORE slicing worked so well for me, I'll probably put in more filling next time and try a variety of options. I will say that this pretzel recipe was easier and better than the one I've been using!
Great googly moogly! These are totally cartwheelable! I'm gonna bookmark this for when we have our housewarming party. So good.
Heh. Waitron.
wow. these look like the ultimate party appetizer. they look sooooo good. love all the photos!
I love the idea, Matt! Boiling them individually was time-consuming. If you try boiling in smaller batches, please let me know how it goes! Thanks for the suggestion.
Megan
Would there be any value in cutting them up after boiling? It seems like it would be easier to boil, let's say, eight longer sections than 48 short ones. What do you think?
what a great idea!
I made these last night and they were so fun, and yummy!!! This dough was wonderful and the pretzel bites were a super hit at my house!
Those look so good!!! I am definitely going to try them!
Thanks for sharing,
Charlie, 13 year old food blogger
http://www.charliebakes.blogspot.com
These bites looks so delicious and yummy! Perfect appetizer for a party because the recipe makes so many. Thanks for sharing.