How many calories are in a soft pretzel?
A medium soft pretzel weighs 120 g and carries 414 calories. Per 100 g the dough runs 345 calories, which is dense for something that eats like bread. The bigger surprise is the salt: that one pretzel brings 930 mg of sodium, 40% of a day's limit, on 21% of a day's calories.
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 soft 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
- Soft pretzel quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a cup of nuggets
- Soft pretzel variants and what they cost
- Sodium moves faster than calories here
- How does a soft pretzel compare?
- Most popular soft pretzel brands
- FAQ
Soft pretzel quick facts
The row that matches the thing in your hand is FNDDS 2708267, "Pretzels, soft, NFS" — a ready-to-eat pretzel with coarse salt on top, the kind sold from a warmer at a mall, a ballpark or a gas station. It is the record to use because USDA also attaches small, medium and large household portions to it, so you can size your own pretzel without weighing it. The separate salted-and-buttered record carries identical numbers, which means this one already covers the buttered pretzel too.
| 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 →
There are no rows here for added sugars or trans fat, because this edition of FNDDS does not publish either value for soft pretzels. Cholesterol is trivial at 2 mg per pretzel, 1% of the Daily Value, and potassium comes to 103 mg, about 2%. Protein is the quiet winner: 9.6 g in one pretzel is 19% of a day, roughly what you get from a large egg and a half.
US servings from one ounce to a cup of nuggets
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 97 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 |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 345 kcal |
Small, medium, large and the cup of nuggets are USDA household measures for this record, so those four weights are not guesses. The 1 oz line is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving, and it is mostly useful as a mental yardstick: about 97 calories per ounce means a pretzel the size of your hand is already 300 or more.
The trap is the cup. A cup of soft pretzel nuggets looks like a snack portion next to a full pretzel, but at 147 g it is the heaviest serving on this page — 507 calories, 93 more than the medium pretzel it replaced. Nuggets pack tighter than a knotted pretzel does.
Soft pretzel variants and what they cost
| Version | Per 100 g | One medium pretzel | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salted no butter | 340 kcal | 120 g | 408 kcal |
| Salted and buttered | 345 kcal | 120 g | 414 kcal |
| Multigrain | 337 kcal | 120 g | 404 kcal |
| Cinnamon sugar coated | 374 kcal | 120 g | 449 kcal |
| Topped with cheese | 339 kcal | 120 g | 407 kcal |
| Gluten free | 297 kcal | 120 g | 356 kcal |
Four of these six sit inside a 10-calorie band per 100 g. Butter, cheese sauce and multigrain flour barely move the total, which is the opposite of what most people expect at the counter. The cinnamon sugar version is the only one that climbs, and even then only by 29 calories per 100 g against the buttered pretzel. What changes is the sugar: 19.74 g per 100 g instead of 0.24 g, so a 120 g cinnamon pretzel carries 23.7 g of sugar where the salted one carries 0.3 g.
Gluten free is the lightest row at 297 calories per 100 g, 48 fewer than the standard pretzel, but it is not the healthier pick by default — its sodium runs 839 mg per 100 g, which works out to about 1,007 mg in a 120 g pretzel by our own arithmetic from that USDA figure. That is more salt than the regular salted pretzel delivers.
Retail packs run lighter than the mall counter because the pretzels themselves are smaller. USDA's Branded data puts Dutch Country Soft Pretzels at 340 calories for a 95 g pretzel and Signature Select at 160 for a 64 g one, while SuperPretzel Soft Pretzel Bites come to 140 calories for six bites (54 g). The chains that sell pretzels in malls do not publish to USDA, so their numbers will not match these rows.
Sodium moves faster than calories here
One medium pretzel uses 21% of a 2,000-calorie day and 40% of the 2,300 mg sodium Daily Value. That gap is the whole story of this food. In teaspoon terms, 930 mg is roughly two-fifths of a teaspoon of table salt, sitting on the outside of the dough where you taste every grain of it. A large pretzel pushes it to about 1,108 mg, our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, or 48% of the day.
The CDC notes that most US adults already take in more sodium than recommended, so the pretzel is landing on top of a total that is usually high before lunch. If sodium is what you're watching, the fix is not a smaller pretzel: the unsalted record is 345 calories per 100 g, identical to the salted one, but 252 mg of sodium instead of 775 mg. You keep every calorie and lose two thirds of the salt.
Saturated fat is a non-issue by comparison — 1.5 g per pretzel, 8% of the Daily Value, even with butter brushed on. Fiber is the weak row: 2.0 g, 7% of a day, from 83.3 g of carbohydrate. Nutrition guidance at nutrition.gov leans on whole grains for that reason, and the multigrain pretzel does not fix it either.
How does a soft pretzel compare?
| Soft pretzel type | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft pretzel NFS | 345 kcal | one medium 120 g | 414 kcal |
| Salted no butter | 340 kcal | one medium 120 g | 408 kcal |
| Multigrain | 337 kcal | one medium 120 g | 404 kcal |
| Topped with meat | 349 kcal | one medium 147 g | 513 kcal |
Our take: the topping is a rounding error and the size is everything. Three of these four sit within 10 calories per 100 g of each other, yet the meat-topped pretzel finishes 99 calories ahead of the plain one purely because the serving weighs 147 g instead of 120 g. For weight loss, order the small pretzel at 214 calories and skip the cup of nuggets. For staying full, the plain medium at 414 calories with 9.6 g of protein does more work than the cinnamon sugar one at 449, which trades that protein down to 7.5 g per pretzel and hands you 23.7 g of sugar instead.
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 Soft Pretzels | 358 cal |
| SuperPretzel Pub Cheese Filled Soft Pretzel Bites | 267 cal |
| Kim & Scott's Bavarian Soft Pretzels | 263 cal |
| SuperPretzel Soft Pretzel Bites | 259 cal |
| Nice! Cheese Filled Soft Pretzel Bites | 270 cal |
| Signature Select Soft Pretzels | 250 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Soft pretzel FAQs
How many calories are in a soft pretzel?
A medium soft pretzel of 120 g has 414 calories, at 345 calories per 100 g. A small one at 62 g is 214 calories and a large one at 143 g is 493. USDA lists these as household portions for the same plain salted pretzel, so pick by size, not by topping.
How many calories in a large soft pretzel?
A large soft pretzel weighs 143 g and comes to 493 calories, 79 more than the medium. It also carries about 1,108 mg of sodium, our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure of 775 mg, which is 48% of the daily limit before you touch any cheese dip.
How much sodium is in a soft pretzel?
One medium pretzel has 930 mg of sodium, 40% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, or roughly two-fifths of a teaspoon of table salt. Unsalted versions drop to 252 mg per 100 g, about 302 mg per pretzel, without changing the calorie total at all.
How many carbs are in a soft pretzel?
A medium soft pretzel has 83.3 g of carbohydrate, 30% of the Daily Value, with just 2.0 g of fiber and 0.3 g of total sugars. Per 100 g that is 69.38 g of carbohydrate against 0.24 g of sugar, so nearly all of it is starch from white flour rather than sweetener.
Are soft pretzels healthy?
At 414 calories a medium pretzel fits inside a normal lunch, so calories are not the problem here. Sodium is: 930 mg in one snack is 40% of a day, and the CDC reports most US adults already run over the limit. If you're watching salt, the unsalted row at 252 mg per 100 g is the better pick.
How many calories in soft pretzel bites?
A full cup of soft pretzel nuggets weighs 147 g and comes to 507 calories, more than a medium pretzel. Retail bites are smaller: USDA Branded data lists SuperPretzel Soft Pretzel Bites at 140 calories for six bites (54 g), and the cheese-filled version at 160 calories for three.
How many calories in a cinnamon sugar pretzel?
A cinnamon sugar soft pretzel is 374 calories per 100 g, so a medium 120 g one lands at 449 calories, 35 more than the salted version. The real change is sugar: 19.74 g per 100 g against 0.24 g, which works out to 23.7 g in a single pretzel.
Do unsalted soft pretzels have fewer calories?
No — the unsalted, unbuttered USDA row is 345 calories per 100 g, exactly the same as the plain salted pretzel, so a 120 g one is still 414 calories. What changes is sodium: 252 mg per 100 g instead of 775 mg, a drop of about two thirds with no calorie saving at all.
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, butter and all.
