Craving a smoky, salty, crunchy snack with amazing flavor? Enjoy our Smoked Pretzels recipe for your next snack fix. Serve these tasty seasoned pretzels at your next big party. These spicy pretzels are bound to impress!
🍽️ Why This Works
Fast | When you are craving something smoky, this pretzels recipe can be thrown together and full of that flavor you love in thirty minutes flat.
Easy | Melt some butter, stir a few things together and throw it in the smoker. Walk away and when you come back thirty minutes later your seasoned pretzels are ready to eat.
Effective | Pretzels are very porous, so they absorb that smoky flavor easily in a short amount of time. It’s easy to overdo the smoke though, so make sure to use the recommended times.
🥨 Ingredients
Butter | Almost everything is better with butter. In this case you want to use real butter, and preferrably unsalted because the pretzels already have an intense amount of salt.
Minced Garlic | You can use minced garlic from a jar or mince your own. If you use garlic from a jar, make sure to strain the oil off to prevent a bitter flavor. Also, replace that jar after a few months if you don’t empty it on the regular.
Parmesan | Grated parmesan that is almost a powder will work great for this recipe. You don’t need anything fancy.
Granulated Garlic | This recipe calls for two different types of garlic because each serves a different purpose. The granulated garlic or garlic powder coats the pretzels more evenly with that divine garlic flavor. The minced garlic adds intensity and depth to the flavor.
Butter Snap Pretzels | The added butter baked into these pretzels is a fantastic flavor boost. If you can’t find this variety, use any pretzels you like.
Fruit Wood Pellets | It’s very important to choose your wood wisely for this recipe. Examples of fruity wood include cherry, apple, or pecan wood. We love the Traeger brand for the best wood pellets and they have all of these types readily available.
⏲️ Equipment and Tools
Smoker – Use a dedicated smoker such as a Traeger or a Masterbuilt with multiple racks, or use a Big Green Egg / Kamado with a plate setter. Technically you can use a gas grill with a smoking box, but I found it much harder to maintain a low temperature for this recipe.
Traeger Wood Pellets – Because pretzels are extremely porous and absorb crazy amounts of smoke flavor, stick with apple, cherry, or pecan for best results. Always follow the Wood Smoking Chip Cheatsheet if you aren’t sure.
Mixing Bowl – We used a large glass mixing bowl so that we could microwave the butter right in the bowl and still fit all the other ingredients to toss and coat the pretzels.
Mixing Spoon – Nothing fancy to see here. 😀
Sheet Pan or Cooking Tray – You need a metal tray that will fit in your smoker.
🔥 Instructions
Step One | Preheat the pellet smoker or grill to 250º. Use a fruit wood pellet or wood chips.
Step Two | Place the butter in a large bowl and microwave it until it is fully melted.
Step Three | Add the parmesan, minced garlic, and granulated garlic to the butter and mix well.
Step Four | Add the pretzels to the bowl and gently fold them until fully and evenly coated in the mixture.
Step Five | Spread on a baking sheet (it’s ok if they are piled on top of each other). Place the loaded sheet pan on your smoker grate.
Note: I typically use a raised baking rack on top of the sheet pan when smoking. That allows the smoke to get under the food as well. The drawback in this case is that the pretzels were piled up and started to slide off. So, I just stuck with the baking sheet.
Step Six | Smoke for 30 minutes, let cool, serve, and enjoy!
Oven Instructions
Step One: Heat up the oven to 250 degrees.
Step Two: Make the recipe as direction and put on a sheet pan for 30 minutes. Stir a couple times.
PRO OVEN TIP: Add in a little bit of liquid smoke to get a little bit of smoky flavor just like you would when making ribs indoors.
Storage
Once smoked, these seasoned pretzels can be stored in a sealed container for 6-8 weeks.
Substitutions
❗ Expert Tips
The pretzels may stick to each other and may need loosened up after smoking if they were all piled up together. It is easy to do using your hands.
If the pretzels are spread thin on a baking sheet and don’t overlap each other, check them early because they will smoke faster if they are all spread out.
Top the pretzels with another quick sprinkle of grated parmesan and minced, fresh parsley.
Use fresh grated parmesan for superior results. The pre-grated parmesan typically includes extra additives and it really impacts the flavor. Spend a few extra minutes to grate a whole block yourself. You won’t regret it!
Don’t let them sit in the liquid butter for too long because they will turn soggy, as is expected with introducing a liquid to a pretzel.
You can use other pretzel styles, if desired. I would stick with the smaller sizes for best results.
I used unsalted butter because the pretzels are already salted and you don’t want them to become too salty. This is totally up to preference though.
I love a little extra spice with these. Consider adding some red pepper flakes or chili powder to turn these into spicy pretzels.
Recipe FAQ
You can store your seasoned, smoked pretzels in an airtight container for up to ten days. If you want, they can be frozen for up to three months in a freezer-quality baggy.
Yes! Simply place them in the oven and bake them at 250º for thirty minutes. You won’t have the yummy smoke flavor we love, but you can add a tiny bit of applewood liquid smoke to your mixture to get a similar flavor. (It won’t be as good.) And go buy a smoker! You won’t regret it.
Any quality brand will work. We love the Traeger brand personally. I do not recommend generic brands as they have fewer quality controls, more fillers, and do not have the same result.
The answer is — as many as your smoker will hold. You can double, triple or quadruple this recipe as many times as you like, as long as it will fit in your smoker. You do not want the pretzels to soak in butter, so I recommend only mixing up what will fit in the smoker. As you increase the number of pretzels, you may have to increase the smoking time slightly. In this case, check your pretzels frequently after the 20 minute mark to prevent burning.
🎉 More Smoked Party Foods
If you are hosting a ball game get-together, these pretzels make a unique party snack. Make these earlier in the day so they have time to cool before the big event.
What are you using for a dip? I have three great options! Smoked Salmon Dip, Smoked Trout Dip, Beer and Smoked Cheese Dip, and a classic Smoked Cream Cheese.
Related Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
Smoked Pretzels
Equipment
- Smoker
- Sheet Pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb Butter Snap Pretzels
- ½ cup Butter unsalted
- ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1 tbsp Granulated Garlic
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
Instructions
- Preheat your pellet smoker to 250 degrees using a fruity wood pellet.Place your butter in a large bowl and microwave it for about a minute or until fully melted.Add the parmesan, minced garlic, and granulated garlic to the butter and mix well.Add the pretzels to the bowl and gently fold them until fully and evenly coated in the mixture.Spread on a baking sheet (it’s ok if they are piled on top of each other) and place on your smoker grate.Smoke for 30 minutes, serve, and enjoy!
- Preheat the pellet smoker to 250 degrees. Add a fruit wood pellet. Alternatively, set up a Kamado style grill with a plate setter or a gas grill with a smoking box. They all will work.
- Place the butter in a large bowl and microwave it for about a minute or until it is fully melted. Add the parmesan, minced garlic, and granulated garlic to the butter and mix well.
- Add the pretzels to the bowl and gently fold them until fully and evenly coated in the mixture. Do not let them soak in the butter as they will quickly become soggy.
- Spread on a baking sheet (it’s ok if they are piled on top of each other) and place on your smoker grate.
- Smoke for 30 minutes, let cool and then serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
