Hosting a holiday brunch or festive breakfast? Serve a buffet with a variety of bagels and bagel toppings to mix and match.
When you offer an array of bagel toppings, you provide your breakfast guests with the chance to recreate their favorite combinations without the expense of going out to eat.
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Do you enjoy going out for bagels with friends and family? Wish it wasn’t so expensive to load on the schmears and toppings?
Good thing you can easily and inexpensively serve fun bagel toppings along with your favorite bagels at home — without breaking the budget!
Why Do This
Bagel toppings make breakfast feel special. When you offer a range of spreads, schmears, and other toppings, the humble bagel goes to another level. Some folks like them plain with butter or simple with a smear of cream cheese. Offering a few options makes everyone’s bagel feel special
There’s something for everyone with bagels. Bagel toppings range from sweet to savory, allowing you to accommodate everyone’s preferences and dietary requirements. You can even grab a few gluten-free bagels to make sure everyone can indulge.
It’s an easy affordable breakfast for guests. Serving bagels and bagel toppings makes for a super easy breakfast or brunch when you’d prefer visiting with your guests rather than fussing over food in the kitchen. Shop wisely and it can be super budget-friendly to boot.
Ingredients
You don’t need to serve all 24 bagel toppings. Pick and choose from this list below to offer variety, but be sure to shop the kitchen first and use what you have to save money.
Consider some of the following bagel toppings to serve:
- plain and flavored cream cheese
- nut and seed butter
- softened butter, including plain, garlic butter, and honey butter
- assorted jams
- honey
- Nutella or hazelnut spread
- English pickle
- sliced vegetables – Think thinly sliced tomato, cucumbers, and red onion as well as shredded carrot
- smoked salmon
- chicken salad
- tuna salad
- fried eggs
- egg salad
- hard cooked eggs
- sliced avocado or guacamole
- cooked bacon
- cooked breakfast sausage
- sliced ham or turkey
- sliced cheeses, such as cheddar, jack, or swiss
- fresh fruit – hulled and sliced strawberries, sliced bananas, blueberries, or thinly sliced apples or pear
- Everything seasoning
- chocolate chips or chocolate shavings
- chopped nuts or seeds
- chopped fresh herbs such as basil, cilantro, or chives
You’ll also need fresh bagels and beverages for a more complete breakfast.
Money-saving tip: If you buy the bagels from a dedicated bagel shop, they may throw in the flavored cream cheese for free. Check with your bakery before you buy or prep the cream cheese as it may save you some money and effort!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how you can serve your bagel toppings:
- Place the bagels in a large basket or serving tray.
- Place the spreads in individual ramekins.
- Place the solid toppings like meats, cheeses, vegetables, and fruits on serving platters.
- Allow diners to mix and match the spread and toppings according to their preferences.
Recommended combinations: Encourage your guests to try any or all of these tasty combos:
- nut butter, honey, and sliced banana
- green onion cream cheese, Everything seasoning, sliced tomato, sliced cucumber, and sliced red onion
- strawberry cream cheese, chocolate shavings, sliced strawberries
- spiced cream cheese, jam, and sliced banana
FAQs
A fresh bagel is delicious served plain, but it might not fill you up since it’s a simple carbohydrate. You can give your bagel breakfast some sticking power by adding fat or protein to it.
A freshly baked bagel is super tasty, however, once it comes to room temperature, warming or toasting a bagel with refreshen it and make it amazing. If you’re serving a bagel buffet, toast some bagels in advance or provide a means of toasting it so that folks can enjoy their bagel just as they like it.
There are loads of vegetarian bagel toppings to serve including cream cheese, butter, jams, spreads, cheese, vegetables, and fruit. There are a variety of plant-based butters and cheeses as well if you’d like to serve vegan bagel toppings.
Toasting the bagel is a personal preference, though day-old bagels will certainly benefit from toasting or warming in the oven.
Bagel Toppings
Equipment
- bread knife
- toaster
Ingredients
- 12 bagels split
- 12 oz flavored cream cheese
- 4 oz almond butter
- 4 oz butter softened
- 4 oz assorted jams and honey
- 2 tomato thinly sliced
- 2 cucumbers thinly sliced
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 pint strawberries hulled and sliced
- 4 ripe bananas
- 2 tablespoon Everything seasoning
- 2 tablespoon chocolate chips or chocolate shavings
- 2 tablespoon chopped nuts or seeds
Instructions
- Place the bagels in a large basket or serving tray. Provide a knife, cutting board, and toaster for those who want a toasted bagel.
- Place the spreads in individual ramekins.
- Place the sliced tomato, cucumber, and onion on a platter.
- Arrange the strawberries and bananas on a second plate or platter.
- Allow diners to mix and match the spread and toppings according to their preferences.
Notes
- nut butter, honey, and sliced banana
- green onion cream cheese, Everything seasoning, sliced tomato, sliced cucumber, and sliced red onion
- strawberry cream cheese, chocolate shavings, sliced strawberries
- spiced cream cheese, jam, and sliced banana
- Nutella or hazelnut spread
- English pickle
- smoked salmon
- chicken salad
- tuna salad
- fried eggs
- egg salad
- hard cooked eggs
- sliced avocado or guacamole
- cooked bacon
- cooked breakfast sausage
- sliced ham or turkey
- sliced cheeses, such as cheddar, jack, or swiss
- shredded carrot
- blueberries
- thinly sliced apples or pear
- chopped fresh herbs such as basil, cilantro, or chives
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