Air Fryer Pretzel Dogs

Air fryer pretzel dogs are tasty appetizers prepared with a simple homemade pretzel dough wrapped around your favorite brand of hot dogs!

Could there be a a more perfect mix of party foods than pretzels and hot dogs? I don’t think so! These air fryer pretzel dogs are great for parties or family gatherings! Kids love them and the adults will too, plus you can serve them with just about any kind of dipping sauce. They make excellent game day appetizers too if you’re watching the big game! We love dipping these in honey mustard.

These salted pretzel hot dogs are made with a quick and easy homemade pretzel dough that has all the traditional flavor and chewy interior that soft pretzels are known for. The dough is wrapped around the hot dogs and air fried until golden brown.

These are a bit like air fryer pigs in a blanket except we’re using homemade pretzel dough instead of canned crescent dough. It’s a little more work but definitely worth it! You’ll want to serve these pretzel dogs with some other great party food too like air fryer onion rings or maybe some air fryer mozzarella sticks!

Ingredient Notes:

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Pretzel Dough – To prepare the homemade pretzel dough you’ll start with some warm water. You’ll also need sugar, active dry yeast, all purpose flour, butter, and kosher salt. This is a standard yeast dough – nothing too complicated.

Hot Dogs – You can use any brand of hot dog that you like for these but I’d probably avoid jumbo or mini dogs unless you plan on adjusting the amount of pretzel dough being used. Beef hot dogs, pork hot dogs, or any variety or brand is fine! We like Hebrew National.

Pretzel Salt – You could use kosher salt or sea salt for this instead as it is pretty similar, but if you can find pretzel salt it’s usually in a size and shape that works better for pretzels. Everything But The Bagel seasoning is another good choice and if you’re watching your sodium intake a good substitute for all that salt would be sesame seeds!

Baking Soda Bath – The baking soda doesn’t go into the dough but is instead mixed with water for quickly boiling the pretzel dogs prior to air frying. The baking soda bath creates an alkaline solution that will improve the flavor, texture, and appearance of the pretzel dogs. That means more pretzel flavor, perfectly chewy pretzel dough, and a nice deep brown pretzel color!

Egg Wash – A simple mix of egg yolk and water will make an egg wash for brushing the pretzel dogs before air frying. It’ll hold the pretzel salt in place, and help give it more of a deep brown color. You could substitute melted butter for the egg wash if you don’t have any eggs or just prefer to use butter.

How to Make Air Fryer Pretzel Dogs:

• Pretzel Dough – Combine water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let it sit for 5 minutes or until it begins to foam. You’ll know when it’s ready! Add the flour, butter, and salt and mix on low speed using a dough hook until the mixture is well combined. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can knead the dough by hand. When the ingredients are well combined increase the mixer speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl. You may need to add extra flour to help it pull from the sides of the bowl. Some days you’ll need quite a bit more flour than others – it depends on the humidity levels. Just add it in a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is pulling away from the bowl.
• Rise – When finished mixing remove the dough to a large bowl that is oiled and cover it with plastic. Let it sit in a warm place for approximately 50 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size! We usually put it in our oven with the light turned on. Perfectly warm spot for dough to rise.
• Shape – Cut the dough into 10 equal chunks and roll them each into a long snake.

• Wrap – Twist one pretzel rope around each of the hot dogs, leaving just a little bit of the hot dog sticking out at the ends. Press the dough together at the ends to hold it in place.
• Quick Boil – You can start preheating your air fryer now. While it warms up add each of the pretzel dogs, one at a time, to the boiling water for 30 seconds. Note: Don’t boil more than can fit in the basket of your air fryer at one time!
• Egg Wash – Remove the boiled pretzel dogs with a slotted spoon to a parchment lined baking sheet. Beat together the egg yolk and water to make an egg wash. Brush the tops of each pretzel dog with the egg wash and then sprinkle on the pretzel salt! The egg should help it stick in place.
• Air Fry – Spritz the air fryer basket with oil spray and arrange the pretzel dogs in one layer with enough space between each for a bit of air flow. The pretzel dogs will take about 6 to 7 minutes to air fry. Let them cool for at least 5 minutes on a cooling rack before serving! Repeat the boiling/air frying for the remaining pretzel dogs while the others are cooling.