The Ultimate Ranking Of Dot's Homestyle Pretzels Flavors

I first saw a bag of Dot's Homestyle Pretzels at my mother-in-law's house. She had two of them, and my partner immediately fell in love at first bite. Since then, I've seen these bags everywhere — I even saw someone purchase an entire cart of them at the grocery store. Since then, I knew that I needed to see what all the fuss was about. But, then I discovered there were six different flavors of Dot's Homestyle Pretzels — original, cinnamon sugar, BBQ, honey mustard, parmesan garlic, and southwest. I found myself wondering which flavor was best and which ones may not be worth my time and money.

If you're in the same boat as me, you've come to the right place. After my initial discovery of these new snacks, I was given the opportunity to taste all six flavors and rank them based on taste, texture, and smell. To do this, I relied heavily on my food industry experience and a great love of snack food. Ready to discover which of the six flavors of Dot's Homestyle Pretzels reigns supreme? Let's get into it.

The Southwest Seasoned Pretzel Twists immediately stand out when I open the bag because they smell ... odd. It's almost an overly earthy smell that promises dirt and weeds rather than savory pretzels. Had I been eating this of my own accord, I likely would have skipped them because the smell of my food is so important to me — but I pushed forward for the purposes of this taste test.

Unfortunately, I was rewarded with a pretzel that just has a weird, mediocre taste. Truthfully, the taste isn't nearly as bad as the smell promised it would be. But, it's still a little earthier than I expected or wanted, with only the mildest kick of spice, and it's just nothing to write home about.

I won't be buying this again and can't recommend it. Honestly, you'd be better off making homemade soft pretzels instead and using your own preferred seasoning. Just make sure you don't make any of the mistakes everyone makes when making homemade pretzels if you choose to go this route.

I've always liked mustard with my pretzels, but I'd never considered eating them with honey mustard. With that in mind, I wasn't sure what to expect from this taste test. The smell started us off on the right foot, with a strong mustard scent accented by light sweet notes.

However, from the first bite, I wasn't a fan. I wanted to like these, but there's just something a little off about the flavor. It doesn't taste exactly like honey mustard — it also doesn't taste like either mustard or honey alone. Instead, it's almost a syrupy taste paired with herbs ... or at least, that's the closest descriptor I can come up with.

The aftertaste is a lingering herbal taste that isn't entirely unpleasant, but it's also challenging to get out of my mouth, which I don't like. I won't be purchasing the honey mustard flavor of Dot's Homestyle Pretzels again and can't recommend them in good faith.

This is where we get to the tasty flavors on the list — and the fact that four out of six flavors are really good says a lot about Dot's Homestyle Pretzels, in my humble opinion. The scent was strongly garlic, with only the faintest hints of parmesan cheese. Since I'm a big fan of garlic, this wasn't an issue for me.

My first bite shows me that the garlic taste isn't nearly as strong as the smell. In fact, the flavors of the cheese and garlic are perfectly balanced alongside faint buttery notes and a hint of salt. As odd as it might sound, I think these would be fantastic dipped in homemade marinara sauce — and this is something I'll be testing as soon as I buy another bag.

There's a pleasant aftertaste that's predominately parmesan cheese that fades away fairly quickly. I'll definitely be purchasing these again and highly recommend you grab a bag for yourself.

Here's another flavor combination I wasn't sure about, and after the way the first unexpected combination went, I was hesitant to try this one. However, I persevered for the purposes of this taste test — and ended up being glad I did. There's a sweet barbecue scent when you open the bag, which made me eager to dive in.

My first bite imparts a moderately sweet tomato with light notes of spice and the slightest hint of smokiness. The sweetness is a little exaggerated at first, but it quickly fades while I chew to allow the other flavor notes their time to shine. And, in fact, the sweetness is only so exaggerated on my first bite overall and not each individual pretzel, so this may have simply been some imbalance in the coating.

There is a light barbecue aftertaste that's not unpleasant and it doesn't last very long before fading away. Despite my initial hesitations, I'm a big fan of this barbecue flavor and will definitely be purchasing it again as a way to switch up my favorite options. I recommend the BBQ Flavored Seasoned Pretzel Twists to anyone who enjoys a sweet barbecue flavor.

The Original Seasoned Pretzel Twists are a bold, savory take on the standard salted pretzel. I was most excited to try these as I had already heard great things about them — and my hopes were not dashed. The smell is mostly salty, starchy, and buttery, with light hints of varying herbs and spices throughout.

Texturally, these pretzels feel a little harder than their counterparts, but it's not so hard that it ruined my enjoyment. Instead, it's just hard enough to provide a slightly more satisfying crunch when I bite into them. The taste is predominately what you'd expect from a standard pretzel except with thick buttery tones throughout. There's a heavy starchiness and moderate saltiness, but this is further accented by a light earth flavor and a tiny hint of spice.

There's a lingering starchy aftertaste that you'd expect from a pretzel that pairs with the faintest hints of buttery goodness. I find this taste pleasant, and it makes me want to eat more. No question — I'll be purchasing these again and highly recommend you try them for yourself.

Although it's hard to beat the original flavor, there was one that managed to accomplish the task — and that's this cinnamon sugar pretzel. Truthfully, I was most excited to try this flavor despite not hearing anything about it previously, and it lived up to (and even surpassed) every expectation I had. The smell when I open the bag is definitely cinnamon and sugar. It's a strong smell that reminds me of cinnamon and sugar toast I ate growing up.

Each bite offers the perfect amount of cinnamon, which is fantastic since I've had issues with other products nailing that balance — it's always either so much it burns my mouth or so little that it's hardly noticeable. There's a sugary sweetness paired with the spicy cinnamon, which overlays a starchiness. The texture here feels smoother than other options, which I think has to do with the sugary coating. Thankfully, there's still a nice crispness when you bite into it.

There's no defining aftertaste here, which is nice. I'll definitely buy this again when I want a sweet treat, and highly recommend you try it for yourself. Once you do, you'll have zero doubts as to why it ranks as our top Dot's Homestyle Pretzels flavor.

I included every Dot's Homestyle Pretzels flavor in this ranking — that's six flavors at the time of publication. Although more options may be released in the future. I judged each flavor based on their taste, texture, and smell. While the textures of all pretzels were very similar, there were slight variations in specific flavors that made this a reasonable choice for judgement. Each pretzel was eaten individually, without dipping sauces or similar, to best assess its quality.

To make my determination, I relied on more than 15 years of experience in the food industry, during which time I cross-trained in bakeries and hot foods. Although personal preference played a role in this ranking, I aimed to be as unbiased about product quality as possible.