Our Most-Pinned Oktoberfest Recipe: A Pub-Style Favorite

Though I've never had the chance to experience Oktoberfest in person, I enjoy living through it on my phone each year. Many bars and restaurants across the U.S., especially Bavarian-themed spots, embrace the festival spirit, letting you catch a taste of the celebration.

For those wanting to bring the Oktoberfest vibe home, we’ve got tons of recipes perfect for the occasion. Our all-time most-saved Oktoberfest recipe is a classic German favorite: a soft homemade pretzel. It’s the ultimate party snack and one of our top dough recipes on Dinogo.

This recipe is rich, salty, and perfectly chewy. It captures everything you love about a traditional soft pretzel, and many home bakers claim it's even better than the pretzels you get at the mall.

A close-up of a black platter stacked with buttery, salt-coated soft pretzels.

DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS

How to Craft Your Own Soft Pretzel at Home

This recipe provides a complete guide on making the dough, shaping the pretzel, and baking it to golden perfection. While pretzels may seem tricky, they’re actually simpler than they appear.

The ingredients are all you need for perfect soft pretzels: warm water, active dry yeast, sugar, salt, flour, and, of course, a baking soda bath for that classic texture.

You'll find the full, step-by-step guide (with helpful photos!) in the recipe, but here’s a quick preview of what to expect:

Once the dough is ready and shaped into a ball, place it in a greased bowl and turn it to coat all sides in oil. Cover it and let it rise for about an hour.
Prepare the baking soda bath by mixing hot water in a large bowl until the soda dissolves. This is what you’ll use to dip your pretzels. When the dough is ready to be shaped, cut it into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a rope. If you cut the dough into rectangles first, it will be easier to shape them into ropes.
To shape, gently push down while moving your hands forward and backward, stretching the dough into a long strand. Once it’s long enough, twist it into a pretzel shape. Dip the pretzels in the baking soda wash, then bake them in the oven for about 8 minutes.

Dough pieces rolled into ropes and twisted into perfect pretzel shapes.

Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

There are endless ways to enjoy soft pretzels, but one of the best is with a delicious beer cheese dip. Since we’re celebrating Oktoberfest, a bit of beer in the dip feels just right. I’m a fan of soft pretzels with almost any dip, though, so if you’re in the mood for something fun, check out these five simple party dips to try.

Dinogo Community Tips and Applause

The Dinogo community can’t get enough of this recipe. With over 2,000 reviews and nearly 1,900 five-star ratings, it’s clear why. Who doesn’t love a soft pretzel? This recipe delivers a flavor that rivals some of the best pretzels you’d find at restaurants and pubs.

“WOW! These pretzels are absolutely amazing. They were soft and chewy on the inside, awesome flavor, with that great authentic thin "pretzel" crust on the outside,” says reviewer loves2cook. “I spooned the melted butter over them after baking which soaked in and was just perfect.”
“Very easy and good. I used to be a manager at a pretzel shop years ago and this is how we made them,” says reviewer EXALTADONAI. “After dipping the pretzel in the baking soda/water mixture, place on a dish towel or layer of paper towels to dry the bottom off, this will help prevent the bottoms burning… I use tongs to dip the face of the pretzel in a pie plate of melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven.”