Pizza Bagels

Pizza Bagels are a quick way to pizza night! They’re cheesy, tasty, and easily customizable: you’ve got dinner in no…

A Couple Cooks – Recipes worth repeating.

Pizza Bagels are a quick way to pizza night! They’re cheesy, tasty, and easily customizable: you’ve got dinner in no time.

Pizza bagels

We’re all about shortcuts around here…and this one is our best new dinnertime trick. Try Pizza Bagels! This genius concept uses a bagel to make the crust of the pizza pie. All you need are a few ingredients and they come out like a charm: fluffy, thick-crust personal pizzas, piled with toppings and smothered in gooey cheese. Here’s how to whip these up!

Ingredients for pizza bagels

Pizza bagels use a bagel to make the crust of a personal pizza: much in the same way as a tortilla pizza, pita pizza or naan pizza. They’re a little different from the mini bagel bites appetizer you might find in the frozen section. These pizza bagels are the size of a standard bagel and work as a quick dinner idea! Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Bagels
  • Pizza sauce: it’s best with Homemade Pizza Sauce!
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Grated Parmesan cheese
  • Olive oil and salt
  • Toppings of your choice (see below)
Pizza bagels

The basic idea

The basic idea for pizza bagels? Brush the bagels with olive oil (and sprinkle with a little garlic powder and salt). Bake them for 8 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, then add toppings and bake 6 to 7 minutes more until the cheese is melted. It’s so simple and customizable! See more on toppings below.

Recommendation: a great pizza sauce

The best way to get great flavor for these pizza bagels? Try our 5 minute Homemade Pizza Sauce. Of course, storebought pizza sauce works too. But we promise: this homemade sauce will blow your mind with the fresh, garlicky robust flavor. It takes only 5 minutes to make, so all you’ll need is a can of fire roasted tomatoes in your pantry. Here are a few notes on the sauce:

  • This pizza sauce takes 5 minutes in a blender (do it while the oven preheats). All you need are canned fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, oregano, salt and olive oil. Blend them up, and the flavor is life changing. Go to our Pizza Sauce recipe.
  • Fire roasted tomatoes are key for the flavor! This type of tomatoes are roasted on an open flame before canning, making them taste sweet right out of the can. Try them once, and you’ll never go back.
Pizza bagels

Pizza bagel toppings

Top these pizza bagels any way you like! You can go totally classic with pepperoni, or get more creative with veggie toppings of your choosing. Either way, be careful not to overload the bagel: use just enough toppings to lightly cover the top. Here’s what we did here, and then a few ideas for more creative toppings:

  • Smoky cherry tomatoes & basil: Thinly slice cherry tomatoes, then sprinkle them with salt, garlic powder and smoked paprika. It has a smoky vibe that’s similar to pepperoni! Top with fresh chopped basil.
  • Veggie supreme: Top with sliced olives, chopped green pepper and sliced red onion
  • Mini pepperoni
  • Prosciutto
  • Spinach
  • Bell peppers, chopped
  • Jarred artichoke hearts
  • Jarred roasted red peppers
  • Sautéed mushrooms
  • Pesto
  • Feta cheese, goat cheese, smoked mozzarella or smoked gouda

Eat pizza bagels right away

An important thing to note about pizza bagels: these do not work as leftovers! Pizza bagels become soggy after sitting for about 15 minutes. So, plan to eat them immediately after they come out of the oven! For big batches, try to only make enough to fit on trays in your oven at one time.

If you do happen to have a lag time between baking the pizza bagels and eating them, that’s ok! You can reheat them at 400 degrees until they crisp up again.

Pizza bagels

More shortcut pizza recipes

These pizza bagels go over well with anyone: especially kids! There are lots of other ways to make “shortcut” pizza! Here are a few more ways to try:

This pizza bagels recipe is…

Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use gluten-free bagels.

Print
Pizza bagels

Pizza Bagels


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4

Description

These Pizza Bagels are a quick way to pizza night! They’re cheesy, tasty, and easily customizable: you’ve got dinner in no time.


Ingredients

  • 4 plain bagels
  • Olive oil
  • Garlic powder, for sprinkling
  • 1 cup Homemade Pizza Sauce
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Grated Parmesan cheese, for topping
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Smoked paprika, for sprinkling
  • Basil
  • Other toppings: sliced black olives, green peppers, red onion, pepperoni, etc

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Brush the bagels with olive oil on the cut side and place them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle each with a pinch of garlic powder and kosher salt. Bake cut side up for 8 minutes until lightly crisp and golden brown on the bottom.
  3. While the bagels bake, prepare the toppings: thinly slice the cherry tomatoes and sprinkle each with a pinch of salt, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Chop the basil. Prepare any other toppings (if using, chop the green pepper and thinly slice the red onion).
  4. Remove the tray from the oven. Top each bagel half with about 2 tablespoons pizza sauce, 3 to 4 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese. Add the seasoned cherry tomatoes and add a sprinkle of salt to the top of the pizza.
  5. Bake the bagels 6 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted. Eat immediately (leftovers do not save well).
  • Category: Main dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Keywords: Pizza bagels

A Couple Cooks - Recipes worth repeating.

The Bagel Lunch Box

Here’s another quick lunch box idea (or meal prep breakfast idea) for you! While this one isn’t completely no-cook because it contains a hard boiled egg, it is still a super easy no-reheat lunch box that you can take to work, school, or on the road. This Bagel Lunch Box includes a mini bagel, some […]

The post The Bagel Lunch Box appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Here’s another quick lunch box idea (or meal prep breakfast idea) for you! While this one isn’t completely no-cook because it contains a hard boiled egg, it is still a super easy no-reheat lunch box that you can take to work, school, or on the road. This Bagel Lunch Box includes a mini bagel, some of my favorite Scallion Herb Cream Cheese, a handful of vegetables that go oh so well with the flavored cream cheese, and a simple hard boiled egg. It’s super simple to put together, but it makes life so much easier when your mornings are busy. Just grab a lunch box and go!

Three glass meal prep containers in a diagonal line filled with the bagel lunch box items

About that Cream Cheese…

I included my Scallion Herb Cream Cheese in this bagel lunch box because it has so much flavor and really adds a nice element of interest to the meal. If you don’t want to make this cream cheese you can use plain cream cheese or use a store-bought flavored cream cheese. Another nice option is to use plain cream cheese, but then bring some Everything Bagel Seasoning with you to add some extra flavor.

Other Lunch Box Add-In Ideas

If you want to substitute any of the ingredients or add to this lunch box, here are some good ideas of things that would also match well:

  • Smoked salmon
  • Carrot sticks
  • An orange, tangerine, or cutie
  • Grapes
  • Deli ham
  • Alfalfa sprouts

Where Did You Get Those Containers?

The divided glass meal prep containers and the small metal cups were both purchased on Amazon (links in the bottom of the recipe card below). 

Three bagel lunch boxes lined up in a row

 
Three bagel lunch boxes lined up in a row

The Bagel Lunch Box

This Bagel Lunch Box is an easy and affordable grab and go breakfast or lunch idea, perfect for work or school.
Total Cost $5.32 recipe / $1.33 serving
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 307.18kcal
Author Beth - Budget Bytes

Ingredients

Scallion Herb Cream Cheese

  • 4 oz. cream cheese $0.60
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley $0.06
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro $0.04
  • 1 green onion, sliced $0.11
  • 1/16 tsp garlic powder $0.01
  • 1/16 tsp salt $0.01
  • 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice $0.02

Lunch Box Ingredients

  • 4 mini bagels $1.52
  • 4 large eggs $0.92
  • 1 cucumber, sliced $1.29
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes $0.75

Instructions

  • To hard boil the eggs, place the eggs in a sauce pot and add water until the eggs are covered by one inch. Place the pot over high heat and allow the water to come up to a full boil. When it reaches a full boil, turn off the heat, place a lid on the pot, and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to cool.
  • To make the scallion herb cream cheese, combine the cream cheese, parsley, cilantro, green onion, garlic powder, salt, and lemon juice in a bowl. Stir together until evenly combined.
  • Place one bagel in each lunch box along with ¼ of the cucumber slices, ¼ of the grape tomatoes, ¼ of the cream cheese (1 oz.), and one hard boiled egg. Refrigerate up to five days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1lunch box | Calories: 307.18kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.6g | Protein: 12.98g | Fat: 15.1g | Sodium: 420.95mg | Fiber: 420.95g

How to Make the Bagel Lunch Box – Step by Step Photos

Place Eggs in Ice Bath

To hard boil the eggs, add the eggs to a sauce pot and add enough water to cover them by one inch. Place the pot over high heat and allow the water to come up to a full boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, transfer the eggs to an ice water bath to cool.

Scallion Herb Cream Cheese Spread mixed

To make the scallion herb cream cheese, combine 4 oz. cream cheese, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro, one sliced green onion, 1/16 tsp (or one pinch) garlic powder, 1/16 tsp (one pinch) salt, and ½ Tbsp lemon juice in a bowl. Stir until everything is evenly combined.

One bagel lunch box in a glass meal prep container

Place one bagel, one hard boiled egg, ¼ of the sliced cucumbers, ¼ of the tomatoes, and ¼ of the cream cheese (1 oz.) in each lunch box. Refrigerate up to five days.

The post The Bagel Lunch Box appeared first on Budget Bytes.