Saltine Cracker Recipe

Buttery, crisp, and made with just 5 pantry staples, these easy homemade saltine crackers are ready in under 30 minutes—no yeast, no fuss, just old-school snack magic.

Total time for the recipe to be finished.Total Time 25 minutes minutes

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These homemade saltine crackers are buttery, crisp, and done in under 30 minutes—no yeast, no weird stuff, no store run required. Just five basic ingredients, an easy recipe, and a smug sense of superiority you can taste.

Whether you call them soda crackers or saltines, you've got to admit that a crispy cracker is the best accompaniment to homemade soup ever created! Learn how to make your own!

These homemade saltine crackers are everything—crisp, buttery, and ready in under 30 minutes with no yeast or weird ingredients required. They're my go-to with creamy tomato soup (or any soup, really), and I love that I can cut them into any shape I want. Beyond being ridiculously easy and delicious, they give me that smug little thrill of self-sufficiency—because if another toilet paper/cracker/bread crisis hits or the zombies roll in, guess who still gets to have soup with crackers?

Yep. This girl.

💁‍♀️ Why these homemade crackers just make sense

• 5 everyday ingredients you already have in the pantry—because we’re not playing “Chopped: Apocalypse Edition.”
• No yeast required so there’s zero waiting, proofing, or praying involved.
• Ready in under 30 minutes—quicker than your grocery delivery window and way more satisfying.
• Crispy, buttery, and customizable—cut ‘em into hearts, stars, or whatever passive-aggressive shape suits your mood.
• Freezer-friendly dough for those “Oh no, the book club’s actually coming over” moments.

🧾 What you’ll need to make homemade saltine crackers

• All purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to hold everything together without turning your crackers into chewy regrets.
• Egg helps the cracker crisp in the oven and also holds the salt on. If you have an egg allergy try this: Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch and ⅓ cup water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Simmer until thick. Brush thinly on the crackers in place of the egg.
• Butter adds richness and helps create those perfectly crisp, golden edges we’re all a little too proud of.
• Milk moistens the dough and gives it just enough structure without making it heavy—because dense crackers are just sad.
• Baking powder adds a touch of lift keeps the texture light and snappy, not flat and cardboard-like.
• Coarse salt adds the final salty sparkle that hits your tastebuds like a mic drop—don’t skip it unless you hate joy.

Get tips, faqs, and more on this downloadable Saltine Cracker Kitchen Cheat Sheet pdf. It's free and you don't even need your email to get it.

📖 Recipe

Homemade Saltine Crackers

4.64 from 358 votes

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Buttery, crisp, and made with just 5 pantry staples, these easy homemade saltine crackers are ready in under 30 minutes—no yeast, no fuss, just old-school snack magic.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings:36

Calories:68

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 ⅓ cup milk, you can substitute non dairy milk if you need to
• ▢ coarse salt, for sprinkling
• ▢ 1 egg white, OR egg yolk. The whites make them crisper.
• ▢ 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

• Blend the egg white with the water to make an egg wash. Set aside.
• Mix together the flour and baking powder.
• If you are adding seasonings mix those in with the dry ingredients.
• Cut butter into flour mixture until it forms coarse crumbs.
• Add the milk and knead gently to form a ball.
• Divide in 4 parts and roll out paper thin on a floured surface. The thinner they are the crisper they will be.
• Cut the dough into squares or desired shapes. (a pizza wheel works great for that!)
• Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and prick all over with a fork.
• Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt (or cracked pepper ..or..)
• Bake at 325 until golden brown..about 15- 20 minutes. (check after 10 minutes)
• Let cool before serving. They crisp as they cool.

Notes

The yield of this recipe is largely dependent on how you cut the crackers. The nutrition information is based on cutting them into 36 large crackers.

Storage

Homemade saltine crackers will last a week or more in an airtight container in the pantry. If they do lose some crispness you can pop them in the oven on 375F for a few minutes. 

The unbaked dough freezes well for up to 3 months.

Tips:

• Throw away the scraps of dough after cutting - they will be tough if you re-roll them. Or, bake them for little snacks.
• Cut saltine crackers into uniform shapes so that they cook evenly.
• Leave a little room between each cracker when you bake to keep them crispy all over.
• Once the crackers begin to brown watch them carefully!

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1cracker | Calories: 68kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 54IU | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

🔪 How to make this saltine crackers recipe

Keep an eye on these as they bake. You don't want them to get too brown.

1. Mix the dry ingredients.
2. Cut in the butter.
3. Mixture should look coarse.
4. Add milk.
5. Blend.
6. Knead gently until it holds together.
7. Roll out thinly.
8. Prick with fork.
9. Brush with egg and sprinkle with salt.
10. Bake.

📚 Related recipes

• Southern Cheese Straws – are sharp, buttery, and unapologetically extra—these pair perfectly with your homemade saltines on any snack board.
• Jalapeño Pimento Cheese is spicy, smoky, and wildly addictive. Slather it on a cracker and feel like you’ve got your life together.
• Old-Fashioned Deviled Ham Spread is the retro sandwich spread you didn’t know you needed. Bonus points if you cut your crackers into tiny shapes like it’s 1957.

P.S. You could serve them with homemade soup… but why would you, when there’s cheese involved?

Once you get this recipe down you will never, I repeat never, want to go back. You can vary the flour, herbs, and other ingredients to create unique flavors.

📌 Pin this recipe so you can impress your future self with homemade crackers and Depression-era competence.