Name: How To Reheat Soft Pretzels [Tried And Tested Methods]
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 portion soft pretzels; 1 drizzle water

Table of Contents

In my search for the best way to reheat soft pretzels, I tried out the four most popular methods.

Here’s the best way to reheat a soft pretzel:

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Drizzle a little water over the pretzels or mist them with a spray bottle as the oven heats up. Wrap the pretzels in foil and heat them in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Another option is to put the pretzels in a wet paper bag in the oven.

A note on my experiment

One Sunday, I baked a batch of pretzels and left them to cool.

Well, except for the ones I devoured for my quality testing.

The next morning, I tried out the following reheating experiment:

In the oven – great for warming fresh pretzels
In the microwave – best for refreshing stale pretzels
In the air fryer – good if you want a crisp outside
In the toaster – quick and easy

The oven put a just-baked crispness and chewiness into my fresh pretzels, while the air fryer gave them added crisp.

Avoid the microwave if you’ve got fresh pretzels or ones you’ve stored properly and aren’t stale.

Heating fresh pretzels in the microwave will give them a gummy texture, but it’s a good option for stale ones.

How to reheat soft pretzels in the oven

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Drizzle a little water over the pretzels or mist them with a spray bottle and wrap them in foil. Alternatively, place the pretzels in a wet paper bag.
Heat the pretzels for 5-10 minutes. You can unwrap the foil to check on them.
If you want a slight crisp, remove the foil for the last 1-2 minutes of baking.

While the oven is great for fresh pretzels that only require a little heating, they can dry out a bit.

This is where the water comes in. It creates steam which helps keep the pretzels moist.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you could also use butter or even beer!

Pros: the oven is great if you’ve got lots of pretzels to reheat at once, they heat well and keep a good texture. My pretzels were soft and warm (and yum).
Cons: not the best at re-moisturizing really stale pretzels, the microwave is better for this.

How to reheat soft pretzels in the microwave

Place one pretzel on a microwave-safe dish.
Cover the pretzel with a damp paper towel.
Heat the pretzel in 10-second intervals until warm.
Serve immediately after removing them from the microwave.

The damp paper towel will create steam which helps bring moisture back to dry or stale pretzels.

Check the pretzels frequently to avoid overheating. And eat the pretzels as soon as possible after taking them out of the microwave, because they will get stale very quickly when they start to cool.

Pros: the microwave was the best method for softening stale pretzels
Cons: but it gave the fresh pretzels a stodgy texture.

How to reheat soft pretzels in the air fryer

Preheat the air fryer to 300°F (150°C).
Drizzle butter over the pretzels or spritz with water or beer.
Arrange the pretzels in the basket and heat them for 2-3 minutes.
Remove the pretzels when warmed through and serve.

The air fryer will heat the pretzels quickly, so keep an eye on them to prevent them from drying out.

You may find that you need to reduce the temperature a bit depending on the size of your pretzels.

Pros: the air fryer was quick and gave the pretzels a nice crunch on the outside.
Cons: you’ll need to avoid the air fryer if your pretzels are a bit stale – they won’t soften.

How to reheat soft pretzels in the toaster

If your pretzels fit in your toaster, you can pop them in for a minute or two to warm up. If the pretzel doesn’t fit, consider cutting it in half. Then when the pretzel is warm, you can smother it with butter for a decadent treat.

How to reheat pretzel bites

Despite their smaller size, pretzel bites are just as easy to reheat as regular-sized soft pretzels. My go-to method would be the oven. Set your oven to 325°F (160°C) and place the pretzels bites on a baking tray. Spritz them with water or drizzle a little butter over them, cover them with foil, and heat for 2-3 minutes.

The microwave is another option and good if your pretzel bites are stale. Cover the pretzel bites with a damp paper towel and microwave them in 10-second intervals.

How to store soft pretzels

Allow the soft pretzels to cool to room temperature before wrapping them in plastic wrap or in a dish towel inside an airtight container to keep them soft. Store them at room temperature for up to 2 days. You should freeze any pretzels you plan on keeping longer than 2 days.

Avoid packing pretzels that haven’t cooled down sufficiently. The excess moisture will condense inside the container or wrapping and make them soggy.

I’ve got a whole article on storing soft pretzels and keeping them fresh. Check it out!

Can you freeze soft pretzels?

Soft pretzels freeze well if you freeze them while they’re still fresh. The freezing process stops them from going stale, so they’ll still be fresh when you reheat them. The pretzels must be cooled to room temperature before being wrapped and frozen. Pretzels will last up to a month in the freezer.

How to freeze soft pretzels:

Allow the pretzels to cool to room temperature.
Wrap them in plastic wrap followed by a layer of foil (or put them in a freezer bag).
Freeze the pretzels and aim to eat them within one month.

It’s important to make sure the pretzels are completely cool before freezing them.

If they’re still warm, the condensation will turn to ice and ruin their texture.

To freeze pretzel bites, first flash freeze them on a parchment-paper-lined baking tray before transferring them to a freezer bag. Remove the air from the freezer bag and place it in the freezer.

Flash freezing the pretzel bites means they won’t stick together in the bag.

How to reheat frozen soft pretzels

Frozen pretzels do not need to be thawed first before reheating. You can reheat them from frozen. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Cover the pretzels with foil and heat for 7-10 minutes, depending on size. You can also reheat them in the microwave on 50% power, but they might get a bit mushy.

How To Reheat Soft Pretzels [Tried And Tested Methods]

In this short recipe, I show you the best way to revive and reheat your leftover soft pretzels.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Snack

Cuisine: German

Keyword: reheat soft pretzels, soft pretzel

Prep Time: 0

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings: person

Calories: 380kcal

Ingredients

1 portion soft pretzels
1 drizzle water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Drizzle a little water over the pretzels or mist them with a spray bottle and wrap them in foil. Alternatively, place the pretzels in a wet paper bag.
Heat the pretzels for 5-10 minutes. You can unwrap the foil to check on them.
If you want a slight crisp, remove the foil for the last 1-2 minutes of baking.

Notes