How many calories are in a pretzel?
One medium soft pretzel weighs 120 g and carries 414 calories. Per 100 g the dough runs 345 calories, which puts it in bread territory rather than pastry territory. Almost none of that is fat: 4.8 g in the whole pretzel. The number that moves is sodium — 930 mg, 40% of a day.
You'd need to walk about 83 minutes to burn the 414 calories in one medium pretzel (120 g).
How long does it take to burn off a pretzel?
One medium pretzel (120 g) is 414 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 414 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 1 hr 23 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 52 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 59 min |
| Jogging | 49 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 1 hr 32 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (120 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Pretzel quick facts
- US servings, from one bite to a large pretzel
- Salted, buttered, cinnamon sugar and hard pretzels
- Sodium is the row to watch
- How does a pretzel compare?
- Most popular soft pretzel brands
- FAQ
Pretzel quick facts
The record on this page is FNDDS 2708268, "Pretzels, soft, ready-to-eat, NFS" — the plain soft pretzel as it is handed over a counter, salt crust and all. That is the pretzel most people are holding when they look this up, and it is the only soft-pretzel record that ships a full set of household measures: one bite, one small, one medium, one large, one cup of nuggets. Hard snack pretzels are a different food with a different record, and they get their own section below.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 medium pretzel (120 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 345 | 414 | — |
| Total fat | 4 g | 4.8 g | 6% |
| Saturated fat | 1.28 g | 1.5 g | 8% |
| Carbohydrate | 69.38 g | 83.3 g | 30% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.7 g | 2.0 g | 7% |
| Total sugars | 0.24 g | 0.3 g | — |
| Protein | 8.01 g | 9.6 g | 19% |
| Sodium | 775 mg | 930 mg | 40% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows you would see on a package are missing here: added sugars and trans fat. This FNDDS edition does not publish either figure for the record, so guessing them would be worse than leaving them out. Cholesterol is negligible at 2 mg per pretzel, 1% of the Daily Value, and potassium comes in at 103 mg, about 2%.
The shape of the label is the story. A medium pretzel is 30% of a day's carbohydrate and 19% of a day's protein, but only 6% of the fat allowance. Practically everything in it is flour and water baked hard on the outside — which is why the sodium line stands out the way it does.
US servings, from one bite to a large pretzel
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bite size nugget | 14 g | 48 kcal |
| 1 small pretzel | 62 g | 214 kcal |
| 1 medium pretzel | 120 g | 414 kcal |
| 1 large pretzel | 143 g | 493 kcal |
| 1 cup, nuggets | 147 g | 507 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28.35 g | 98 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 345 kcal |
Everything from the bite to the cup of nuggets is a USDA household measure attached to the record itself, so those weights are not our invention. The 1 oz row is: that one is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving, and it is there because packaged pretzels are sold by the ounce.
Watch the gap between the medium and the large. Twenty-three extra grams of dough is 79 more calories, and nothing about the pretzel in your hand tells you which one you got. Mall and stadium pretzels are often heavier than the 120 g medium; if yours looks closer to the large, use 493.
The cup of nuggets is the trap. It looks like a side, not a meal, and at 507 calories it outweighs a whole medium pretzel. Store-bought soft pretzels sit lower because they are smaller: USDA's Branded rows put a Signature Select or Essential Everyday frozen pretzel at 64 g and 160 calories, and a SUPERPRETZEL six-bite serving at 54 g and 140 calories — between a third and two-fifths of a fresh mall pretzel either way.
Salted, buttered, cinnamon sugar and hard pretzels
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft pretzel, salted, no butter | 340 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 408 kcal |
| Soft pretzel, unsalted, buttered | 350 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 420 kcal |
| Cinnamon sugar soft pretzel | 374 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 449 kcal |
| Soft pretzel bites | 345 kcal | 1 cup nuggets, 147 g | 507 kcal |
| Hard pretzels, plain, salted | 384 kcal | 1 cup, 40 g | 154 kcal |
| Chocolate-coated hard pretzels | 467 kcal | 1 oz, 28.35 g | 132 kcal |
The butter brush is worth 12 calories on a medium pretzel: 408 without it, 420 with it. That is the smallest decision on the whole page, and it is the one people agonize over.
Cinnamon sugar is a bigger move — 449 calories for a 120 g pretzel, which is our own arithmetic scaled from the USDA 100 g figure of 374 rather than a listed serving. The sugar column is where you see it: 19.74 g per 100 g against 0.24 g for the plain pretzel, over eighty times as much.
Hard pretzels are the interesting reversal. Per 100 g they are denser than soft ones, 384 against 345, because the water has been baked out of them. But nobody eats 100 g of hard pretzels in one sitting. A cup is 40 g and 154 calories — just over a third of a medium soft pretzel. The hard pretzel record also carries the most protein of any pretzel here, 10.04 g per 100 g.
Coating flips it back. Coated hard pretzels carry 38.8 g of total sugars per 100 g against 2.21 g for plain ones, and a cup of them, 86 g, is 402 calories. The pretzel underneath barely changed; the shell around it did all the work.
Sodium is the row to watch
One medium soft pretzel is 930 mg of sodium — 40% of the FDA's 2,300 mg Daily Value, before any mustard or cheese sauce. In kitchen terms that is about two-fifths of a teaspoon of table salt sitting on one snack.
Here is the part that surprises people: the soft pretzel out-salts the snack bag. Hard pretzels run 1,120 mg per 100 g, which sounds worse, but a 28 g single-serving bag comes to about 314 mg by our own arithmetic from that figure — a third of what the soft pretzel delivers. Density on the label and sodium in the portion are two different questions.
If sodium is what you are managing, the unsalted buttered record is the useful one: 250 mg per 100 g, roughly 300 mg in a 120 g pretzel by our own scaling, against 930 mg for the salted default. Scraping the crystals off the crust changes the number far more than skipping the butter does.
The other line worth reading is fiber. A medium pretzel gives 2.0 g, 7% of the Daily Value, because it is refined white flour. MyPlate asks that at least half your daily grains be whole grains, and a pretzel is not one of them. That does not make it a bad snack — it makes it a bread-shaped one that should be counted as bread.
How does a pretzel compare?
| Pretzel | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft pretzel, NFS | 345 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 414 kcal |
| Soft, salted, no butter | 340 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 408 kcal |
| Soft, unsalted, buttered | 350 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 420 kcal |
| Hard pretzels, NFS | 384 kcal | 1 cup, 40 g | 154 kcal |
Our take: if you are counting calories, the hard pretzels win by a mile, and it has nothing to do with the food and everything to do with the serving — 154 against 414 for the same snack occasion. If you are eating for fullness on a walk-around afternoon, the soft pretzel is the better buy, because 9.6 g of protein and 83.3 g of carbohydrate actually hold you, and a cup of hard pretzels will not. The three soft versions are within 12 calories of each other, so pick by taste, not by math. Sodium is the only line where the choice really matters: salted 930 mg, unsalted about 300 mg.
Most popular soft pretzel brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Dutch Country Foods Soft Pretzels | 358 cal |
| Kim & Scott's Bavarian Soft Pretzels | 263 cal |
| SUPERPRETZEL Soft Pretzel Bites | 259 cal |
| Signature Select Soft Pretzels | 250 cal |
| Essential Everyday Soft Pretzels | 250 cal |
| Weis Soft Pretzels | 276 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Pretzel FAQs
How many calories are in a soft pretzel?
A medium soft pretzel weighs 120 g and comes to 414 calories, or 345 calories per 100 g. A small one at 62 g is 214 calories, and a large 143 g pretzel reaches 493. The dough is nearly fat-free, so almost all of it is carbohydrate: 83.3 g in the medium.
How many calories in a hard pretzel?
Hard pretzels run 384 calories per 100 g, but the portion is small: one cup weighs about 40 g and delivers 154 calories. That is roughly a third of a medium soft pretzel. The trade is sodium at 1,120 mg per 100 g, the highest figure on this page.
How much sodium is in a pretzel?
A medium soft pretzel carries 930 mg of sodium, 40% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, before any mustard. The unsalted buttered record is 250 mg per 100 g, about 300 mg in a 120 g pretzel by our own arithmetic, so the salt crust matters far more than the butter.
Are pretzels healthy?
They are low in fat, 4 g per 100 g, and free of the sugar most snacks carry at 0.24 g per 100 g. The weak spots are fiber, 2.0 g in a medium pretzel or 7% of the Daily Value, and sodium at 40%. Treat one as bread, not as a light snack.
How many calories in pretzel bites?
One cup of soft pretzel nuggets weighs 147 g and comes to 507 calories, more than a whole medium pretzel at 414. A single bite-size nugget is 14 g and 48 calories. It is the same dough as the big pretzel, only in a shape that is much easier to keep eating.
How many calories in chocolate covered pretzels?
Chocolate-coated hard pretzels run 467 calories per 100 g, so a 1 oz handful, 28.35 g, is about 132 calories by our own arithmetic. The coating is the whole cost: coated hard pretzels carry 38.8 g of total sugars per 100 g against 2.21 g for plain ones.
Do pretzels have protein?
Yes, 8.01 g per 100 g, which is 9.6 g in a medium soft pretzel and 19% of the Daily Value. Hard pretzels are higher still at 10.04 g per 100 g. It is wheat protein rather than a complete meal, but it explains why one pretzel holds people longer than candy does.
Are pretzels better than potato chips?
On fat, yes: hard pretzels carry 2.93 g per 100 g and soft ones 4 g, low for a snack because pretzels are baked rather than fried. The catch is sodium. Hard pretzels sit at 1,120 mg per 100 g, and a medium soft pretzel alone is 40% of a day's Daily Value.
Similar foods
- Onion Rings — 282 cal for 8 rings
- Funnel cake — 318 cal per cake, 6-inch
- Fries — 452 cal per medium fast food order
- Fudge — 70 cal per piece
- Churro — 189 cal each
- Cannoli — 227 cal per cannoli
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the pretzel and BodyPal counts it for you, salt crust and all.
