What makes these keto soft pretzels so special is the inclusion of yeast. They are soft and chewy with a beautiful yeasty aroma of freshly baked bread and very low carb with just 2g net carbs.
Why makes this recipe so good
- Flavor: The addition of yeast to the recipe creates a slightly sour and yeasty flavor that is similar to that of traditional soft pretzels.
- Texture: Using yeast in the dough helps create a lighter and fluffier texture characteristic of traditional soft pretzels.
- Authenticity: Using yeast in the recipe helps create a more authentic soft pretzel experience that resembles traditional pretzels’ texture, flavor, and aroma.
- Low-carb and keto-friendly: Like other keto soft pretzel recipes, low-carb flour (almond flour) with no added sugar makes this recipe an excellent option for those following a low-carb or keto diet.
- Versatility: Keto soft pretzels can be enjoyed as a snack or served with dipping sauces like mustard or cheese sauce. They can also be used as a bread substitute for sandwiches or sliders.
This Keto Pretzels recipe makes 12 pretzels. 1 serving is one low-carb pretzel that has 2g net carbs.
Note: The keto soft pretzel dough is very sticky. It is easiest to roll the dough out on a plastic cutting board wearing food-safe gloves to prevent it from sticking to your hands.
You can make variations of our keto pretzels recipe, like these keto cinnamon pretzels that remind me a lot of hot cinnamon donuts.
Keto Pretzels Ingredients
The ingredients for Keto Soft Pretzels are readily available at most supermarkets, health food stores, or Amazon.
- Dried yeast. Yeast not only makes the pretzels fluffy but gives them a delicious aroma. Aroma is directly correlated to taste, its a game changer.
- Inulin. Helps the yeast rise. You can also use honey and allulose, but we haven’t tried it, so you’ll need to test the required amount.
- Warm water.
- Almond flour.
- Xanthum gum. It binds ingredients and gives the pretzels that chewy texture.
- Mozzarella cheese.
- Cream cheese.
- Eggs. Organic free-range eggs are best.
- Salted butter. We use grass-fed butter, but any salted butter will do.
- Pretzel Salt. Flaked sea salt can be substituted if you cannot find pretzel salt.
How to make the best keto soft pretzels
The best bit about making these soft pretzels is the aroma as they bake in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Place the yeast, inulin, and warm water in a bowl. Mix well and set aside to proof for 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the almond flour and xanthan gum. Mix well and set aside.
- Place a nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat and add the mozzarella and cream cheese. Keep a close eye on it as it melts, frequently stirring to prevent browning. Heat until the cheese is thick and pourable.
- Add the proofed yeast and melted cheese to the almond flour and mix for 1 minute before adding the eggs.
- Mix until a smooth and sticky dough has formed. I recommend putting on food-safe gloves and mixing by hand. Leave to sit for 5 minutes to rest.
- Split the dough into quarters, each into three pieces, so you have 12 balls. The dough is easiest to work with while it is warm and wearing food-safe gloves.
- Roll each ball into a long skinny log and twist it into a pretzel shape. Place on a lined cookie sheet and give a little space with the side as the pretzels will rise.
- Brush the pretzels with butter and sprinkle with pretzel salt.
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
- When the pretzels are golden brown, remove them from the oven. Don’t burn your fingers trying to eat them immediately.
- Leave them to cool for 5 minutes before enjoying them.
Keto Soft Pretzels
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Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Dried Yeast
- 1 teaspoon Inulin
- 2 tablespoons Warm Water
- 5.5 ounces Almond Flour
- 2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum
- 11 ounces Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- 4 tablespoons Cream Cheese
- 2 large Eggs at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons Salted Butter melted
- 1 tablespoon Pretzel Salt flaked sea salt can be substituted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Place the yeast, inulin and warm water in a bowl. Mix well and set aside to proof for 5 minutes.2 teaspoons Dried Yeast, 1 teaspoon Inulin, 2 tablespoons Warm Water
- In a large mixing bowl, add the almond flour and xanthan gum. Mix well and set aside5.5 ounces Almond Flour, 2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum
- Place a nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat and add the mozzarella and cream cheese. Keep a close eye on it as it melt, stirring frequently to prevent browning. Heat until the cheese is thick and pourable.11 ounces Mozzarella Cheese, 4 tablespoons Cream Cheese
- Add the proofed yeast and melted cheese to the almond flour, mix for 1 minute before adding the eggs.2 large Eggs
- Mix until a smooth and sticky dough has formed. I recommend putting on food-safe gloves and mixing by hand. Leave to sit for 5 minutes to rest.
- Split the dough into quarters, and each quarter into 3 pieces, so that you have 12 balls. The dough is easiest to work with while it is warm and whilst wearing food-safe gloves.
- Roll each ball into a long skinny log and twist into a pretzel shape. Place on a lined cookie sheet and give a little space with side as the pretzels will rise.
- Brush the pretzels with the butter and sprinkle with pretzel salt.2 tablespoons Salted Butter, 1 tablespoon Pretzel Salt
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
- When the pretzels are golden brown, remove them from the oven. Don’t burn your fingers trying to eat them immediately.
- Leave them to cool for 5 minutes before enjoying.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
How To Store Pretzels
Store pretzels in the fridge for up to five days or freeze them for up to three months.
Pretzels can easily be refreshed. Just heat them in the oven for 5 minutes. Put the pretzels in a 170C/340F oven to crisp the outside and soften the inside. Alternatively, 30 seconds in the microwave if you like them soft.
Try our glazed pretzels if you’re looking for a sweet version of these keto pretzels. Our glazed pretzels taste like a low-carb donut.
Try these Low Carb Baked Recipes:
- Low Carb Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- Low Carb Lemon and Poppy Seed Cupcakes
- Low Carb & Dairy Free Vanilla Coconut Friands
- Low Carb Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adjust the serving amounts above to make a larger batch of this Keto Pretzels recipe.
I have never found a dough recipe that I actually enjoyed. It was more like tolerating them.
This dough is fantastic and tender. I made a half batch since I was not sure I’d like it…never again. My cheese never got pourable but it was soft enough to mix. I couldn’t form the shape so I have circles and logs. Thank you for this great recipe.
Hello Tammy, thank you so much for your feedback on the pretzel dough. You made our day.
This makes a great pizza dough. I cooked it for 10 minutes and then added sauce and cheese.
Thank you, Janice we’ve actually made pizza out of this pretzel dough and it was delicious.
I don’t have insulin. I Googled a substitute and it said psyllium husk. Do you agree that will work?
I meant inulin. Dang autocorrect!
Hi Amber,
The inulin is used as “food” for the yeast to help it rise, unfortunately, psyllium will not work in its place. Others have commented to say that they have used a little sugar or honey with great results, but as we don’t own either of those ingredients, I personally haven’t tried it.
Made these today.. boy are they delicious and just like the real thing.. the dough is extremely sticky, and I didnโt have food safe gloves, so I sprayed my finger tips with nonstick spray. It worked out just fine.
Also I mixed this in my kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment.. No mess.. no fuss..
Will definitely keep making these..
Those look amazing!
Hi- I canโt wait to make these pretzels! However, I was trying to locate the same exact yeast that you used from Amazon, but itโs currently unavailable.
Can โany dry yeastโ work such as Fleischmann’s Instant dry Yeast?
Thanks!!
Hi Celeste,
Yes, any dry yeast should work fine ๐
What is inulin and can it be eliminated or replaced with something in the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Marianne,
The inulin is the “food” for the yeast that helps the bread rise, so I don’t recommend leaving it out. There are no low carb substitutes for inulin.
Hi,
was this recipe recently updated?
We used to make these and this time it seems the recipe looks different and also the end result differs.
If so, do you keep track of changes ? cause obviously I didn’t ๐ – this is an old pin we keep returning to.
They are super delicious and a special treat and would love to be able to make them again in the formula that never failed us before.
Thank you very much for the help.
Hi Raluca,
Yes, the recipe was updated in July – along with a video being added. The only change in the ingredients was the addition of inulin to help the yeast rise for fluffier pretzels – I left a note under the recipe card in the post, just in case the change upset anyone! The previous recipe also included using a stand mixer, but it was not essential to use so I removed it from the method, and we added the weights of the ingredients alongside the original cup measurements.
I hope that helps ๐
I am allergic to nut, can I used something other than almond flour
Hi April. Not for this recipe. So sorry. We do have other recipes that use coconut flour, though. Try these coconut macaroons. Hope that helps.
Hi, I canโt wait to try these. I have all the ingredients except.. pretzel salt. I canโt find that anywhere. I guess I could use regular salt but it just wouldnโt be the same.
Hi Mary,
Pretzel salt is incredibly difficult to find! We have used flaked sea salt before and found it works well as a substitute.
It’s super delicious. Excellent texture. Thank you
These are amazing! Even my kiddos (who are extremely picky eaters) LOVED them! I will be making these again for sure!
Hi there, I’ve been dying to make these but cannot find yeast!! I know lemon and baking soda are a substitute for yeast as well as double acting baking powder in some cases, but I don’t think they will be a good substitute in this recipe. Any suggestions??
Desparate!!
Alexis
Hi Alexis,
I’m so sorry but there are no substitutions for the yeast – without that yeasty flavor the recipe is just not the same! Hopefully, it will be back in stores soon!
Anxious to try this. We generally tend to avoid dairy. Do you think using Daiya dairy-free cheese would work in this? It has 6 grams of fat. It comes in both cheddar and mozzarella. Thanks if you can shed any light on this.
Hi Christal,
I’m not familiar with dairy-free cheeses and how they react when melted, so I can’t give you a definite answer. If you have used the dairy-free cheese in a regular fathead dough with success, then it might be worth an experiment. Please let me know if you do decide to try it.
Yet another brilliant recipe from you guys! I have made these pretzels many times and everyone loves them (even non-Keto people).
For the last few days, I have been pondering over how to make a better keto pizza crust. Your pretzels came to mind and I knew I struck gold, or rather, gold had stuck me.
I rolled the dough out into the crust, folded the edges over, added some oregano, painted on a bit of olive oil and put in the oven for a few minutes and there it was: perfect pizza crust. From there, I added my sauce, cheese, and toppings. Needless to say: it was amazing.
You guys are awesome.
These are great. Made into bagels topped with everything bagel spice mix. I mixed by hand my first batch… that was rough but then I used a plain old food processor with the regular blades and it worked perfectly.
Could nutritional yeast be used instead of dry yeast?
Hi Andrea,
No, nutritional yeast will not have the same effect or flavor.
THIS IS BRILLIANT! I have looked at soooo many recipes using Psyllium husk and I dont like to use those because it makes the bread very rubbery but this recipe is just fantastic!! I love that the quantity of egg used doesn’t make the recipe taste eggy and the addition of yeast was truly a stroke of genius! I did need to use more almond flour than was mentioned in the recipe as my dough was too sticky to work with but it turned out just fine.
I didn’t shape the dough into pretzels because I didn’t know how (lol) but I made dough balls and twisted buns which turned out amazing! Going to try adding some herbs and spices to the next batch. Thank you so very much!
Thanks for this gem of a recipe! I don’t much care for pretzels (or the fiddly work of twisting them into proper shape) and simply divide the dough into 16 balls I slightly flatten and bake as buns. This has been a game-changer allowing my wife to stay on keto.
What a great idea Vernon! I’m so glad you and your wife enjoy the recipe.
By far the best low carb bread (ish) recipe I’ve tried. These are incredible. If you’ve done the fathead dough, this is fairly similar, but it’s even better.
Thank you for your kind words, Katrina!
I was slightly hesitant to tackle this recipe as I have never cooked with xantham gum and donโt own a stand mixer. But I was intrigued. And determined.
So I found a grocery store that carried xanthum gum ($16/bag!) and used a hand sifter for the xanthum gum almond flour portion of the recipe. Broke out the wooden spoon for the melding of the egg, yeast butter portion. But when it came to incorporating the melted cheeses I had to get hands on. Messy, but …
It worked!
Whole family loved the recipe! Thank you!
That’s great, Aberdeen! Thank you for stopping by ๐
I LOVE these pretzels! I LOVE the related donut recipe!
FYI – this pretzel recipe makes AWESOME pizza crust. I usually multiply all the ingredients by 1.5 & make 2 12-inch pizzas with the dough (so 4.5 cups mozzarella cheese instead of 3, etc) the thickness and texture come out just right. I parbake each crust for 8 minutes at 425ยฐ, then top them and bake 10-12 minutes more (check every couple minutes toward the end.) YUM! THE best fathead recipe out there – hands down.
What a great idea! Thank you for sharing ๐
Can you please tell me how many servings are in this recipe. The nutritional information doesn’t show the number of servings. Thanks.
Hi Jeff,
If you read through the post the serving information is listed there, the recipe makes 12 serves.
Gerri
These are so delicious, my non-keto family members love them, too. They lasted great in the fridge for the 3 days before they were gone, and I enjoyed them with just a 15 sec warm-up in the microwave. One warning – I forgot that the water can’t be too hot for the yeast and I had to start the yeast again. Without a fancy mixer, I mixed with a wooden spoon and kneaded by hand with no problem.
In my haste to get the first taste of something like bread on Keto, I misread the recipe and used 4 *ounces* of cream cheese instead of 4 Tbsp. Oops. They came out golden and soft, and very bread-like with a slightly sweet flavor. Now that I realized the mistake, I will try with the smaller amount of cream cheese in my next batch, but it is hard to believe they could taste any better!
Hi Deb,
Thank you for your kind words. It’s great when non-keto eaters enjoy our low carb recipe!
Gerri
Hey! First off these were amazing coming right out the oven while still warm. After they cooled I found they have a more cheese like flavor. Is there any way to tone down the cheese flavor? Maybe add more yeast? I know adding more yeast will raise the carb count but it shouldnt be too bad. Any advice is appreciated and TIA
Hi Joni,
You could try adding some other flavorings; herbs, spices, sweetener. We made some sweet glazed pretzels that barely have a cheese flavor at all.
Or maybe try another brand of mozzarella with a milder flavor. I hope that helps ๐
Whstโs the best way to store these pretzels?
Hi Laura,
We store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
These are amazing!!! Thank you for helping my pretzel craving!!
These are my favorite keto recipe!!!! They are amazing. I use a donut pan to make them in and itโs so easy! One thing Iโve noticed is my macros are different. I get 3 net carbs per serving. Iโm using pre-shredded cheese and wondering if thatโs the difference? What do you use?
Hi Jonna,
Thank you for your kind words. And using a donut pan is such a great idea!
We add the nutritional information just as a guide, differences in the numbers can be down to using different brands of ingredients, or incorrectly added ingredients in the app you use to count them.
Hi there! What type of yeast do you use? I have three different types and want to make sure Iโm using the right kind. Thanks!
Hi Kyla,
The yeast is just added for flavor so any dry yeast that you have is fine ๐
Has anyone tried with coconut flour instead? I unfortunately had a reaction to almond flour and canโt use it!
Hi Beth,
We’ve been working on a coconut flour version, but they haven’t turned out well at all! Join our mailing list and you’ll be the first to know when we create a recipe that we’re proud to share.
Gerri
Hi Paco,
The yeast you have should be fine to use. I’m not sure if there are flavor difference between yeasts ๐
Gerri
These are great on my second try I made them savory adding 1 tsp each of onion & garlic powder. I eat them with a salad replaceing the croutons.
Hi Kim,
That is such a great idea. I normally break up some Cheese Chips to add to my salads.
These are delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe. I dusted them with garlic after baking and they were ridiculously tasty!
Hi Nicole,
Thank you for your kind words! We have a delicious Garlic & Parmesan version coming soon ๐
Gerri
How long do these keep for? And what is the best way to store these?
Hi April,
If there are any leftover we recommend storing them in the fridge inside an airtight container and keep them for up to 1 week. Once baked they can also be frozen and kept up to 3 months.
Gerri
Gerri, thank you so much for this wonderful recipe, love it.
I am going to use it to make bagel dogs bur don’t want to use the entire recipe today. Can I cool it, wrap in plastic wrap then refrigerate?
Thanks again. Loranna
Hi Loranna,
Thank you for your kind words.
I haven’t tried using the dough after it has been chilled. I think that the cheese would really firm up the dough when chilled and reheating it to make it more pliable could cause the egg to cook. You could always cook the extra dough and freeze the baked extras. If you do try to chill it, please let us know how it turns out once cooked.
Gerri