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.
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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
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 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
- 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
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.
- Mix the dry ingredients.
- Cut in the butter.
- Mixture should look coarse.
- Add milk.
- Blend.
- Knead gently until it holds together.
- Roll out thinly.
- Prick with fork.
- Brush with egg and sprinkle with salt.
- 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.
Dianne says
I made these today. I thought they were good and if made enough to get used to the process, they will be something I’ll do regularly. I did find that they need salt in the actual dough though. I added herbs in the dough which was really smart.
Dianne Bilski says
I made these today. I thought they were good and if made enough to get used to the process, they will be something I’ll do regularly. I did find that they need salt in the actual dough though. I added herbs in the dough which was really smart.
Hank says
Just made these to go with some soup and they turned out pretty well!
However, I was wondering, you mention adding seasonings - what would you recommend adding beyond salt? Have you tried anything that worked really well?
Marye says
Anything you like - Montreal Steak Seasoning, chili powder, garlic salt...
Tracy says
Thank you for this! The supply chain woes have made for bizarre outages of some items, and in our area saltine crackers is one of those things we just can't find anywhere right now. Thanks to you, we can make our own, something we're becoming more and more accustomed to doing for a variety of things these days.
Kelley says
They just came out of the oven. But most of them stuck to the pan...even with a pan cake turner,, they didn't come off the cookie sheet 🙁
Kelley says
Difficulty rolling out...was too gooey.. When I finally got something that looked like the pre-baked photo, it wouldn't peal off the parchment paper. So I rolled it out directly on the cookie sheet. It wouldn't roll thin enough. What a discouraging mess. Help!
The crackers came out lumpy and gross. I don't know what went wrong. Looks like pie crust
Marilyn kirchoff says
Thank you for a good recipe. I have to eat organic as much as possible so I used organic flour milk and eggs and it tasted great
Son Goku says
Great recipe, loved it! I quartered the recipe because I didn't have the right ingredients, and accidentally put a tablespoon of baking soda instead of a quarter tablespoon. I also forgot to poke the crackers as I was in a bit of a rush. Though they were quite puffy (my mistake) they tasted wonderful, which was surprising considering how much baking soda I put in. I'm quite happy with how it came out, even with my clumsiness!
Jennifer Ortiz says
Loved the recipe. Thank you 😊
Brenda Nugent says
Hi there.
Your recipe calls for baking powder. Why doesn't it use baking soda, as was described in the faq section? I'm an inexperiences baker so wondering the difference.
Thanks,
Brenda
Marye says
Hi Brenda - that's was an oversight on my part. I think baking powder makes them crispier so that's what I use but some people do use baking soda or a combination.
Paco says
Baking powder has baking soda in it as a main ingredient. So if you are using baking powder, you are using baking soda. However, baking powder has its own acid to neutralize the baking soda within it. Baking soda needs an acid in the recipe to neutralize it, which a basic cracker dough recipe does not have. So baking powder would be a better choice for a cracker dough recipe.
Jennifer says
I want to try making these crackers for a lady who is on a low sodium diet. I like the sodium content, but am concerned about the potassium. Where could I find out which ingredient has the most potassium in order to modify it? It needs to be lower.
Marye says
I'm guessing it's the flour - you'd have to look up each ingredient individually...
Jsn says
Is there anything else beside egg whites one could use to avoid an egg allergy.?
Marye Audet says
You might try boiling cornstarch and water until it thickens and brushing a thin coating of that on before baking.
Ed says
Made a double recipe of these Saturday. Excellent. Will trash Mark Bitman's crackers recipe. This is our new go-to recipe for saltines. Thanks.
Jan says
I have question. In the article on the saltines/soda crackers you say they are made with baking soda but the recipe says baking powder. Which should actually be used?
Thanks.
Marye Audet says
The recipe is correct. Saltine, or soda crackers used to be primarily baking soda but I found the crunch is better with baking powder.
Brenda says
I happened upon your site this morning...looking for a saltine/soda cracker recipe. I must say I love you site and will be trying your recipe this evening...cannot wait! I was wondering do you have a newsletter so-to-speak that I could subscribe to? Oh, and I must be getting old...I have not heard the term soda crackers in years. I'll be returning often to see what is new. Thank you so much for all your efforts.
Marye Audet says
I do have a newsletter Brenda... you can sign up for it here - https://eepurl.com/3xf8H
Deanne says
I'm excited to stumble upon this recipe. I'm an American ex-pat living in the UK and I miss my saltines. They don't have them over here under either name (neither saltines nor soda crackers). I look forward to giving this recipe a go. My soups have been so lonely. LOL
Marye Audet says
🙂 The only thing I'd be careful of is the humidity? The crackers soak up moisture pretty fast so definitely keep them in an airtight container - you might need to crisp them up in the oven.
Angela says
I've never understood people that don't follow the RECIPE, change it up and THEN rate it... You're rating yourself at that point not the creator of said recipe. At any rate I am making these tonight FOLLOWING the ACTUAL recipe.... I shall return with mine ?
P.s I almost forgot, would parchment change how they bake? Ie... Not allow them to be as crispy? I was going to roll them directly on it for easy transfer to cookie sheet and don't want to mess up the crispiness by assuming it would be fine. Thank you in advance! ?
Marye Audet says
Thanks Angela - LOL! Umm I've never tried on parchment but it should work fine.
Tiffany says
How long would these last before they go bad (in a container or plastic baggie)?
Marye Audet says
They've never lasted more than a day or two here before they're eaten. 🙂
Rachel says
I don’t get the comments on here. These are fantastic, easy, and a staple in our household.
Thank you for sharing!
Marye Audet says
Thanks so much, Rachel! I am glad you like them!
Cynthia says
I should probably know this but when it says serves 36 does that mean 36 crackers? Or how many crackers per person? I am really not OCD just a bit confused on this terminology when reading cracker recipes. 😉
Marye Audet says
It depends on how big you make them? If you get 36 crackers then it's 1 cracker per person. If you cut with a smaller cutter and get 72 crackers then it's 2 crackers per person.
Cynthia says
Thanks for the quick response. I guess I wasn't clear but I get it now. A serving equals one cracker! Trying these tonight for a neighborhood soup night, will let you know how it goes. Thanks again!