How to Make Bagel Bites Better? [7 Great Ideas]
Bagel Bites have been a staple among my after-school snacks during my school days. So, I started experimenting with them. These frozen mini-bagels may be a simple, time-saving breakfast solution, but sometimes their taste can be a bit bland. So, how to make Bagel Bites taste better?
To make store-bought Bagel Bites tastier, add olives, mushrooms, fresh basil, parsley, arugula, hot sauce, pizza sauce, or different types of cheese. Also, consider cooking Bagel Bites in the oven or an air-fryer.
Whether you enjoy Bagel Bites but wish to upgrade their taste or feel they are missing something, a simple change like adding the right topping can change your entire culinary experience. In the following lines, I will give you several ideas to turn store-bought bagels into gourmet dishes.
Olives
The specific olive aroma makes this Mediterranean fruit a perfect pizza topping, and they also work well on Bagel Bites. Depending on which flavor you prefer, pick some black or green olives, chop them up into tiny pieces, and add them to the bagels.
Classic Mini Pizza Bagel Bites already have cheese and pepperoni, and this combination alone might be a bit dull. Adding olives to the mix before cooking will give them a refined salty note. Black olives make a perfect choice for bagel bites with pepperoni and cheese because they contain less salt.
However, if you are more fond of Cheesy Garlic or Three Cheese Bagel Bites, sprinkling them with green olives might be a better option.
Mushrooms
Like olives, mushrooms are always welcomed as a pizza topping, and this makes them a great match for Bagel Bites as well. The most common selections are portobello or button, but other mushroom choices include shitake, cremini, morel, and truffles.
To make perfect Mini Pizza Bagel Bites, slice up mushrooms of your choosing and place them on top of the bagels. Add some extra cheese on top of them to make sure they stick to the rest of the bagel, and cook it all together. To enhance the flavor, consider adding a pinch of salt and some oregano.
Fresh Herbs
If you wish to add some fresh aroma to the Bagel Bites, try sprinkling them with basil, parsley, or arugula after cooking. Each of these herbs will make a great combination with cheese, pepperoni, and other Bagel Bites flavors as well.
Consider mixing finely chopped herbs with tomato puree or homemade red sauce and adding it to warm Bagel Bites. This mixture will give your pizza bagels a light and fresh aromatic note.
Avoid adding fresh herbs to mini bagels before cooking. That way, you will get more texture but less aroma.
Hot Sauce
Adding hot sauce like sriracha, cayenne, habanero, or piquant salsa sauce to the Bagel Bites after cooking will turn them into a spicy delight. Sriracha, for instance, pairs up pretty well with pepperoni, while cayenne and habanero sauces are better with cheese-flavored bagel bites.
Piquant salsa sauce works well with all Bagel Bites flavors mentioned above, but make sure to add the right amount. However, hot sauce with Bagel Bites with garlic is too strong. It can be hard to digest, so I suggest avoiding the combination.
Pizza Sauce
Pizza sauce is another classic addition to Bagel Bites. You can add it before or after cooking, and it works well with all toppings — from pepperoni and cheese to sausage, garlic, herbs, olives, mushrooms, and any other pizza topping you choose.
This sauce usually contains tomatoes, garlic, onion, and oregano. However, it is quite versatile, so you can also add some pepper, basil, or chili powder. You can buy it in any local store, but preparing it yourself will give your Bagel Bites a homemade taste everybody prefers.
Different Types of Cheese
Cheese is one of the toppings that pairs well with almost any Bagel Bites flavor. Though store-bought Bagel Bites already contain cheese, the taste is neutral, so making it more cheesy is always a good idea. You can add parmesan, ricotta, mozzarella, provolone, gouda, cheddar, or American cheese.
All of these work well with pepperoni or sausage and cheese bagels. Still, be careful when adding them to the Three Cheese Bagel Bites. These already contain mozzarella, cheddar, and Monterey Jack cheese, so you should either add some of those or combine it with a small amount of ricotta to make it more neutral or parmesan cheese to bring out that cheesy aroma.
Cook in the Oven or Air-Fryer
Though instructions for store-bought Bagel Bites say you should put them in a microwave, baking them in an oven or air fryer might be a better option. After several minutes in the microwave, Bagel Bites might come out pale and chewy, while an air-fryer or an oven will make them crispier. So, if you like the taste of frozen Bagel Bites yet think they should be crunchier, this might be a great solution.
Improved Air Fried Bagel Bites Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box Bagel Bites (You can use any kind, I used the three cheese ones.)
- 1 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
- Habanero Sauce to Taste
- 2 tbsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro (You can also use arugula.)
Instructions
- Prepare all the ingredients, and take your Bagel Bites out of the box.
- Now, you can either put the habanero sauce over your bites before cooking or you can dip your bites into the sauce while snacking — the choice is on you. Still, if you choose to put it over the bites before cooking, now's the time.
- After putting the desired amount of sauce over your bites (or not), divide the cup of grated cheese between the nine bites and sprinkle it over them.
- Then put them into an air fryer for 4-5 minutes at 400°F. Check on them at 4 minutes in so you don't burn them.
- When your bites are done, take them out of the air fryer, and let them cool a bit. Then sprinkle them with chopped cilantro or arugula and enjoy!
