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    Home » Recipes » Snack

    Christmas Crack Pretzels Recipe

    Modified: Mar 7, 2025 · Published: Dec 18, 2015 by Tonia Larson

    This post may contain affiliate links.

    ↓ JUMP TO RECIPE ↓ JUMP TO VIDEO

    Christmas Crack Pretzels are no bake ranch pretzels with an irresistibly crunchy, salty, buttery taste. These seasoned pretzels are the perfect snack!

    Christmas Crack Pretzels on a white bowl

    When I searched for ranch pretzels online, I discovered that these ranch pretzels are referred to as Crack Pretzels because of how addicting they are, so that is what I decided to call them!

    Tonia Larson from The Gunny Sack with a green background.

    Tonia’s Notes

    I was shopping at a local grocery store and had the opportunity to visit with some lovely people while shopping. An elderly woman was reaching for a bag of Christmas pretzels at the same time as me and we struck up a conversation.

    I was buying the pretzels to make Peanut Butter Cup Pretzels, and she was buying them to make ranch pretzels. She told me that she makes them every Christmas and they are so amazing that you can’t stop eating them.

    She went on to explain how to make the pretzels. The woman told me to mix butter flavored popcorn oil, powdered ranch (she said to make SURE to use the salad dressing mix NOT the dip mix), garlic powder, and dill weed.

    You pour it over the pretzels (she noted that the bag of pretzels doesn’t have thirty ounces so she adds some pretzel sticks to the mix) and stir them every fifteen minutes for a few hours until the oil is absorbed. That’s it, no baking needed! She told me that she had already made one batch this year and was planning to make more.

    Well, after her description and our delightful chat, I had to try making the pretzels. I’m not sure where she got the recipe, so I decided to make a few changes to make it mine, just in case.

    Bite of pumpkin pancakes on fork.

    How To Make Christmas Crack Pretzels

    sauce for Christmas Crack Pretzels being whisked in a glass measuring cup

    Step One: Make Seasoning

    To make the seasoning for the Christmas Crack Pretzels, whisk together Orville Redenbacher’s Butter Flavored Popcorn Oil, Hidden Valley Ranch powdered salad dressing mix, garlic powder, and cajun seasoning.

    christmas crack pretzels being stirring in a roasting pan

    Step Two: Season Pretzels

    Pour the seasoning oil over the pretzels and stirred to coat. Then, sprinkle the pretzels with grated Parmesan and stir well.

    Step Three: Stir Pretzels

    Allow the pretzels to absorb the oil for about three hours, stirring every fifteen minutes. You don’t turn the oven on, just stir occasionally until the oil is absorbed!

    scoop of Christmas Crack Pretzels

    These Christmas Crack Pretzels were gobbled up by everyone we shared with. The crunchy, salty, buttery combination is fabulous!

    Christmas Crack Pretzels FAQs

    1. Can I use other kinds of pretzels? Any shape or style of pretzels will work, from twists to spirals and sticks to squares. Use the football shaped ones during football season. The mini twists for Valentine’s Day and the circles for Easter.

    2. What other seasonings can I add? Lots of readers left great suggestions for additional seasonings! Here are a few of them: lemon pepper, lemon crystals, dill weed, Old Bay, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, celery salt, seasoned salt, and creole seasoning.

    3. How can I turn it into a snack mix? To turn these crack pretzels into crack snack mix, use fewer pretzels and add other snack items instead. Try any combination of pretzels with Cheez-Its, oyster crackers, Chex cereal, Goldfish, Bugels, cashews, peanuts, oyster crackers, Cheerios, or Fritos.

    4. Do you have a substitute for the butter flavored popcorn oil? You can try canola oil or melted butter.

    Christmas crack pretzels.

    Christmas Crack Pretzels

    Christmas Crack Pretzels are no bake ranch pretzels with an irresistibly crunchy, salty, buttery taste. These seasoned pretzels are the perfect snack!
    4.46 from 66 votes
    ↑ Click stars to rate!
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    Prep Time: 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 30 servings
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    Ingredients

    • 30 ounces pretzels I used Old Dutch Holiday Pretzels but any pretzels will work
    • 12 ounces Orville Redenbacher’s Butter Flavored Popcorn Oil
    • 3 tablespoon powdered ranch salad dressing mix
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
    • ¼ cup grated Parmesan

    Instructions

    • Put the pretzels into a roasting pan.
    • Whisk together the oil, powdered ranch, garlic powder, and cajun seasoning.
    • Pour the mixture over the pretzels in the roasting pan and stir to coat.
    • Sprinkle with grated parmesan and stir to coat.
    • Stir the pretzels every 15 minutes for three hours, or until the oil is absorbed. (No need to turn the oven on!)

    Video

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    Notes

    The bag of pretzels I purchased contained 24 ounces of pretzels, so as the woman from the grocery store suggested, I added a few of handfuls of pretzels from another bag.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1/30 | Calories: 212kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 484mg
    Course: Snack
    Cuisine: American
    Author: Tonia Larson

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    About Tonia Larson

    Hi! I’m Tonia, the owner and recipe creator at The Gunny Sack, where I’ve shared easy recipes for busy people for 14+ years! My family-friendly meals, easy side dishes, and delicious desserts include mouthwatering photos, dynamic videos, and step-by-step instructions to help you cook at home.

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    Four Holiday Pretzel Treats »

    Comments

      4.46 from 66 votes (60 ratings without comment)

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      Recipe Rating




    1. JODY STRICKLAND says

      December 29, 2023 at 1:23 am

      This could be made in two half batches I assume? I would like to do one with cajun & one without.

      Reply
      • Tonia Larson says

        December 30, 2023 at 11:44 am

        Yes, that would work well!

        Reply
    2. Linda says

      November 19, 2020 at 2:20 am

      5 stars
      I have been make my gorbuears and give as gifts in Saran Christmas bags with a ribbon. A big hit

      Reply
    3. Linda Corkins says

      February 4, 2020 at 12:24 pm

      How many pretzels make a serving? It’s not listed in the nutrition section of the recipe.

      Reply
      • Tonia says

        February 4, 2020 at 12:31 pm

        Hi Linda,
        There are 30 servings when you use a 30 oz bag of pretzels making each serving one ounce. The nutrition facts on my bag of Rold Gold Tiny Twists pretzels says that 1 oz is about 17 pretzels.
        Best,
        ~Tonia

        Reply
        • Linda Corkins says

          January 24, 2021 at 12:37 pm

          Thank you very much.

          Reply
    4. Carol Mathias says

      October 16, 2019 at 12:57 pm

      Would baking this pretzel mix make for less salty?
      Do I bake at 250 for 15 minutes?
      Also not as oily.

      Reply
      • Tonia says

        October 16, 2019 at 10:16 pm

        Baking will not make them less salty but it will help the oil absorb. I would suggest baking them at 220˚F for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes, (or until the oil is absorbed). Enjoy!

        Reply
    5. Kelly S. says

      December 20, 2017 at 6:16 pm

      All recipes similar to this say to use the ranch dressing mix, not the dip mix. why? What’s the difference? I accidentally bought the dip mix 😓 can I still make this? Will it still turn out?

      Reply
      • Tonia says

        December 21, 2017 at 12:05 am

        Hi Kelly,
        While I’ve never tried using the dip mix, I think it would work just fine. The package of dressing mix also includes buttermilk so that flavor might be a little different when using the dip mix but still delicious! Let us know how it turns out if you do try it!
        -Tonia

        Reply
      • Amy Kristen Gillock says

        December 26, 2018 at 2:49 pm

        I have found from experience we only use the dip seasoning when we’re making the dip for vegetables for some reason it is different we were at Costco and they were selling the powder ranch dressing I bought a huge thing of it thinking it was the same big mistake it was not so the ranch regular seasoning powder is for meats and these pretzels. The dips is only to mix with sour cream in my Pinyan

        Reply
    6. Dee dee says

      December 15, 2017 at 9:35 pm

      These sound good; but also extremely salty. Is that correct? I don’t mind some salt; but this looks like a lot!! The parmesan cheese, ranch seasoning and cajun seasoning all contain a lot of salt. ???

      Reply
      • Gina says

        November 30, 2018 at 11:21 am

        I use epicure spices which don’t have the salt in and they are pure. I used ranch, curry, lemon dill, the different options are amazing especially if using epicure.

        Reply
      • Nancy says

        March 24, 2019 at 5:39 pm

        I made this as written and they were crazy salty. I don’t say this lightly, because I always use quite a bit of salt in my cooking. I expected these to be salty as a snack food, but it was too much even for me. I am going to make them again but will back off of the ranch dressing mix a bit to see how that works.

        Reply
        • Tammy Pruett says

          February 24, 2023 at 12:48 am

          Can you please provide your exact recipe – I’d like to test your “less salty” recipe and benchmark it. Thank you!

          Reply
    7. Jayna says

      December 4, 2017 at 12:37 pm

      5 stars
      A really interesting addition I’ve had to this recipe was lemon crystals! Sounds weird, but it gives it such an interesting, delicious, keep-you-coming-back-for-more flavor!

      Reply
      • WJewel88 says

        December 19, 2017 at 10:55 am

        I suppose that would make it similar to the slightly different Spicy Pretzels my mom likes to make. It has lemon pepper in it.

        Reply
      • Tammy Pruett says

        February 24, 2023 at 12:51 am

        Great – I have lime crystal salt and gonna add it to the original ranch recipe – it’s not salty enough for my tastes! Good idea! Thank you!

        Reply
    8. Judy says

      October 5, 2017 at 9:42 pm

      I have made the ranch pretzels for several years now. When I make the ranch pretzels, I use about 12oz of canola oil instead of the popcorn oil, worked great! I also used 2-one pound bags of pretzels. All the other ingredients were the same with the same amounts. I am going to make these Cajun Crack Pretzels, the recipe sounds awesome!

      Reply
    9. Judy says

      October 5, 2017 at 9:27 pm

      5 stars
      In an air tight container, I have had them last for several weeks, but usually they are long gone before then!!

      Reply
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    Tonia Larson from The Gunny Sack.

    Hi, I'm Tonia! Welcome to The Gunny Sack, where I’ve shared easy recipes for busy people for 14+ years! Meet Tonia Larson →

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