Name: Deep Fried Pretzels
Ingredients: 1 cup canola oil or vegetable oil; ¼ tsp seasoned salt , garlic salt , or Italian seasoning; 2+ handfuls of pretzels

Why it works: Canola oil and garlic work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 979 recipes. Both carry 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, which smells roasted, nutty. The science ↓

Deep Fried Pretzels

Time2–3 seconds

Ingredients

1 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
¼ tsp seasoned salt , garlic salt , or Italian seasoning
2+ handfuls of pretzels

Directions

Prepare

Fill a deep saucepan partially full of canola oil.
Heat the oil.
Cover a paper towel with seasoning (the paper towel will help absorb moisture).
Set the paper towel on a plate.

Fry and season

Use a spatula to drop pretzels into oil.
Leave them in the oil for 2–3 seconds.
Remove pretzels from the oil.
Lay them out on a bed of seasoning to dry.
Reuse the oil for multiple batches.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

119Calories

0 gProtein

14 gFat

0 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 2 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Canola oil + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pretzels: Provide the crisp, salty base that the frying turns light and crunchy.
Canola oil or vegetable oil: Conducts heat quickly so the pretzels crisp in seconds rather than soaking up oil.
Seasoned salt, garlic salt, or italian seasoning: Adds savory flavor that clings to the warm, freshly fried surface.

The step that matters

Leave pretzels in the oil for 2–3 seconds. Pretzels fry very quickly; staying too long can scorch the surface and turn them bitter while the interior stays unevenly crisp. Brief immersion in hot oil drives off surface moisture and sets the crunch.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.