How many calories are in a Wetzel pretzel?
One medium soft pretzel, buttered and salted the way a mall stand sells it, weighs 120 g and carries 414 calories. Per 100 g the dough runs 345 calories. The butter barely registers. What costs you is the size of the pretzel and the 930 mg of sodium riding on the crust.
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 414 kcal of Wetzel 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 from unsalted to cinnamon sugar
- Sodium is the row to watch
- How does a soft pretzel compare?
- Most popular soft pretzel brands
- FAQ
Soft pretzel quick facts
USDA does not publish a record for the Wetzel's chain itself, so the honest match is the generic one: FNDDS 2708269, "Pretzels, soft, ready-to-eat, salted, buttered". That is exactly what comes off a mall pretzel counter — hot dough, a brush of butter, coarse salt on top. The 120 g medium below is the USDA household portion closest to a chain's original size.
Everything in the middle column is the USDA figure per 100 g. The right-hand column scales it to that 120 g pretzel.
| 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 will not find here: added sugars and trans fat. FNDDS does not publish either field for soft pretzels, so listing them would mean inventing numbers. Cholesterol is trivial at 2 mg per pretzel, 1% of the Daily Value, and potassium comes to 103 mg, about 2%. The FDA Daily Value reference sets every percentage on this page.
One thing worth knowing before you log it: a mall pretzel and a supermarket pretzel are not the same food. USDA Branded lists SUPERPRETZEL Original at 160 calories for a 64 g pretzel and Eastern Standard Provisions Wheelhouse at 310 for a 113 g one. Both are smaller and lighter than the hand-rolled, buttered thing in the photo above.
US servings from one ounce to a cup of nuggets
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 97 kcal |
| One small pretzel | 62 g | 214 kcal |
| One medium pretzel | 120 g | 414 kcal |
| One large pretzel | 143 g | 493 kcal |
| 1 cup pretzel nuggets | 147 g | 507 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 345 kcal |
The small, medium, large and cup weights are USDA household measures for this record. The 1 oz row is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving — it is there because people weigh a torn-off piece rather than a whole pretzel.
Look at the gap between the ends of that table. A small pretzel is 214 calories. A large is 493. Same recipe, same counter, same word on the menu board, and a 279-calorie spread — bigger than most people's entire snack budget. Nobody asks which size they were handed, and that single question moves the log more than any ingredient swap on this page.
A cup of nuggets is the quiet one. It looks like a shareable side, weighs 147 g, and lands at 507 calories, more than the whole medium pretzel it was cut from.
Soft pretzel variants from unsalted to cinnamon sugar
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buttered and salted | 345 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 414 kcal |
| Salted, no butter | 340 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 408 kcal |
| Unsalted, buttered | 350 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 420 kcal |
| Cinnamon sugar coated | 374 kcal | 1 medium, 147 g | 550 kcal |
| Pretzel nuggets, salted and buttered | 345 kcal | 1 cup, 147 g | 507 kcal |
| Hard pretzels, for contrast | 384 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 108 kcal |
Skipping the butter saves 6 calories. That is the whole story: 414 buttered against 408 unbuttered on the same 120 g pretzel. If you ever asked for it dry to save calories, you saved about as much as one bite of an apple. Ask for it dry because you prefer it dry.
Unsalted is the one that changes something, and it is not the calorie count. The unsalted buttered record runs 350 calories per 100 g, so a 120 g pretzel is 420 — slightly more than the salted version, since the dough is a touch richer. Sodium is where it moves: 250 mg per 100 g against 775 mg, which works out to roughly 300 mg on that pretzel by our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure. That is a 630 mg cut for six extra calories.
Cinnamon sugar is the real upgrade in cost. The USDA record weighs 147 g and comes to 550 calories, with about 29 g of total sugars where the salted pretzel has 0.3 g. Sodium drops to roughly 365 mg, so it trades salt for sugar rather than adding both. USDA does not publish added sugars for this record, so the 29 g figure is total sugars and cannot be read against the 50 g added-sugars Daily Value.
Nuggets are a portion problem, not a recipe problem. They use the same buttered, salted dough at 345 calories per 100 g. A cup is 147 g, so 507 calories and about 1,139 mg of sodium — our scaling from the 100 g row, not a printed label.
Sodium is the row to watch
Butter, sugar and size all matter less than the salt. One medium pretzel delivers 930 mg of sodium, 40% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, roughly a little under half a teaspoon of table salt sitting on a single snack. A large pushes that to about 1,108 mg, 48% of the day, and a cup of nuggets to about 1,139 mg, close to half.
For scale, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans put the limit at 2,300 mg a day for adults, and most Americans already run above it. A pretzel eaten at 3 p.m. is not a health crisis, but it is not a neutral snack either — it can be a third to a half of your sodium before dinner is on the table.
The nutrient nobody expects is protein: 9.6 g in a medium pretzel, 19% of the Daily Value, from bread flour alone. Fiber does not keep up. At 2.0 g, or 7% of the Daily Value, this is refined-grain territory, and MyPlate counts a pretzel toward the refined half of your grains rather than the whole-grain half. If you are watching sodium, the unsalted version is the better pick; if you are watching calories, the small pretzel is.
How does a soft pretzel compare?
| Pretzel | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft, buttered and salted | 345 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 414 kcal |
| Soft, salted, no butter | 340 kcal | 1 medium, 120 g | 408 kcal |
| Soft, cinnamon sugar | 374 kcal | 1 medium, 147 g | 550 kcal |
| Hard pretzels | 384 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 108 kcal |
Our take: per 100 g, hard pretzels are the densest food in this table at 384 calories, and the buttered soft pretzel is the second-lightest of the four. Then real portions turn the ranking upside down. Nobody eats 100 g of hard pretzels on purpose — a 1 oz handful is 108 calories — while a soft pretzel is sold as one object you are expected to finish, and that object is 414. If you want the pretzel taste for the smallest number, the bagged hard ones win on arithmetic, not on virtue. If you want the warm one, buy the small size and skip the cheese sauce; that decision is worth more than every butter-versus-no-butter question on this page.
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) |
|---|---|
| SUPERPRETZEL Original Fully Baked Soft Pretzels | 250 cal |
| SUPERPRETZEL Bavarian Soft Pretzel Sticks | 250 cal |
| Eastern Standard Provisions Wheelhouse Soft Pretzels | 274 cal |
| Wicked Toisted Bavarian Style Soft Pretzels | 248 cal |
| Hanover Baked Sourdough Soft Pretzels | 258 cal |
| Meijer Baked Soft Pretzels | 250 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Soft pretzel FAQs
How many calories in a large soft pretzel?
A large buttered, salted soft pretzel weighs 143 g and comes to 493 calories, our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure of 345. That is 279 calories more than the 62 g small at 214. Same pretzel, same recipe, two very different logs.
Does the butter add many calories to a soft pretzel?
About 6 calories per medium pretzel. USDA lists the buttered, salted soft pretzel at 345 calories per 100 g and the salted, no-butter version at 340, so a 120 g pretzel goes from 408 to 414. The brush of butter is the cheapest thing on the pretzel.
How much sodium is in a salted soft pretzel?
930 mg in one medium 120 g pretzel, which is 40% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value and a little under half a teaspoon of table salt. A large 143 g pretzel carries about 1,108 mg, 48% of the day, before you touch the cheese sauce.
Are soft pretzels healthier than hard pretzels?
Per 100 g, hard pretzels are heavier: 384 calories against 345 for a buttered soft pretzel. Portion size flips it. A 1 oz (28 g) handful of hard pretzels is 108 calories and about 314 mg of sodium; one medium soft pretzel is 414 calories and 930 mg.
How many calories in cinnamon sugar pretzel bites?
550 calories for a 147 g cinnamon sugar soft pretzel, the USDA row that also covers a cup of cinnamon sugar bites, at 374 calories per 100 g. Total sugars run about 29 g against 0.3 g in the salted version, while sodium falls to roughly 365 mg.
How many carbs are in one soft pretzel?
83.3 g in a medium 120 g pretzel, 30% of the 275 g Daily Value, from 69.38 g per 100 g. A large 143 g pretzel takes it to about 99.2 g. Fiber is small at 2.0 g, so almost all of it is starch from white flour.
Is a soft pretzel a good pre-workout snack?
One medium pretzel gives 83.3 g of carbohydrate, 30% of the Daily Value, with only 4.8 g of fat and 2.0 g of fiber - a fast-digesting load if you are heading out to train. The catch is 930 mg of sodium, which suits a sweaty session more than a desk day.
How many calories in a cup of pretzel nuggets?
507 calories for a 1 cup (147 g) serving of soft pretzel nuggets, using the same 345 calories per 100 g as the whole pretzel. That is more than one medium pretzel at 414, and about 1,139 mg of sodium, close to half the 2,300 mg 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, butter and size included.
