Sourdough Pretzels Recipe (2024)

These sourdough pretzels without yeast are soft, delicious and easy to make – a great way to use up an abundance of sourdough starter!

Pretzels – who doesn’t love them? Even I will admit that they are hard to pass up – when I make them I feel like stuffing my face silly. The smell just intoxicates the house and the paralyzes everyone that walks into the front door.

Having a great pretzel recipe that you can make with your sourdough starter is a must. While you can make pretzels with yeast if you are in a pinch, there isn’t anything quite as satisfying as maintaining your starter (in this case, ours is named “Sid”..).

A starter needs love and attention on a regular basis. It’s almost like having another person to care for in the house (except a starter is unemployed & lives with his or her parents). 😉

Really though ~ a sourdough starter can help you make popovers, beer bread, bagels & english muffins. The discard can be used to make sourdough crackers (which are delicious with homemade cheese).

Which almost leads me to ask – what can’t it be used for?

Sourdough Pretzels

These sourdough pretzels come together pretty quickly and require a much smaller prep window than the typical sourdough bread.

Add the warmed milk, butter, sugar, sourdough starter and flour in your KitchenAid. Use the dough hook and mix just until a soft ball of dough forms.

Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 2-3 minutes. Then form the dough into a smooth ball of dough and place into a lightly-oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest/rise for 2 hours.

The dough should double in size.

Once the dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured counter. Punch the dough down and knead lightly for a brief minute or two.

Then separate the dough into 12 equal pieces.

Roll out each piece into a long strip 26-30″ in length. If you are slow to roll out the pieces, then cover the balls of dough with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out.

Once the dough strips have been rolled out, shape them into a pretzel (YouTube is great for this!) and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. You will need to use 2-3 cookie sheets to fit all the pretzels nicely.

Once they are all shaped, place the cookie sheets in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. The goal is to allow the pretzels to harden just enough that they can be dunked in the water bath. Though you can bypass the freezer step, it’s quite a challenge to dunk them in the water bath without them coming “undone”.

With the pretzels in the freezer, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Fill a large gallon stockpot 3/4 of the way with water; bring to a strong simmer. Add 1 tbsp baking soda allow to dissolve.

Remove the pretzels from the freezer; add them to the water (4 at a time), and allow to simmer until they float to the top. Gently remove from their bath and place back on the cookie sheet.

Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with your choice of toppings. Bake at 450 degrees F for 14-15 minutes until lightly brown. They will be hard when tapped (but will soften as they cool).

Remove and allow to cool before enjoying.

Enjoy your pretzels with melted cheese or marinara sauce, or simply as-is. Keep them in a large gallon Ziploc bag.

If you make these pretzels, please please rate the recipe a 5 and leave a comment – I’d love to know how they turned out!