Bagel Recipes You Need in Your Life

You don’t need to be a New Yorker to love a good bagel. Here in Santa Ana, we couldn’t be farther from the Big Apple, but we still can’t get enough of these treats. If you love the thrill of making something from scratch, enjoy knowing exactly where your food came from, or just need another activity to add variety to your quarantine, can we recommend baking your bagels at home? Here are four of our favorite bagel recipes, ranging from savory to sweet, mild to spicy! 

A Bagel for the Carnivores

Maybe you’ve decided to give the keto diet a go, or maybe you’re just in the mood for something meaty. Whatever the case, Ditch the Wheat ’s recipe is the perfect low-carb treat. All it takes is ground pork, combined with onions, butter, eggs, tomato sauce, and spices. Think of it like meatloaf without the loaf. 

“A meat bagel is meat formed into a bagel shape and consumed like a bagel,” says Carol Lovett, the inventor of the recipe. “It’s the perfect bagel for the keto, Paleo, low carb, Whole30 & maybe the carnivore diet!” 

A Bagel for Your Sweet Tooth

Bagels and cream cheese go together like peanut butter and jelly. Kitchen Sanctuary ’s recipe for a Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Bagel plays with that relationship by using mascarpone, which is basically cream cheese made from whole cream. Combined blueberries with sugar and water over heat until the blueberries begin to leak their color. Toast a bagel and top it with your mascarpone, blueberries, and lemon curd, and eat like a sandwich.

A Bagel for Whenever You Want Freezer Bagel Breakfast Sandwiches

Sometimes you’re too busy to make yourself breakfast in the morning. Rather than get the habit of buying fast food, consider preparing a freezer meal the night before. Slice bagels and add breakfast ingredients like bacon, egg, cheese, and sliced bell pepper. Wrap them in foil and toss them in the freezer. They’ll be ready whenever you are; all you have to do is wrap the sandwich in a paper towel and microwave for one to two minutes, or bake it at 400 degrees for about eight minutes. Best of all, these should last in the freezer for up to 60 days.

A Bagel to Spice Things Up

Want to heat things up? Use this recipe from Fifteen Spatulas to make yourself a curry chicken salad. Slap that between two bagel slices (spread with mayonnaise or Greek yogurt on both sides) and add just a drizzle of sriracha, some cucumber slices, and your favorite leafy greens. You can even make the salad the night before and have the leftovers on this bagel sandwich for lunch the next day!

No matter where you live, a bagel is a great way to start the day. Rather than keep things traditional, switch things up with one of these bagel recipes and start the day off right!