Pizza Bagels are an easy and delicious portable way to impart the flavors of pizza on a toasted bagel. They're kid friendly and a great hand-held option as a snack or for lunch.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
What is a pizza bagel?
Pizza bagels are a quick and easy way to enjoy the flavors of pizza on a bagel instead of a traditional pizza dough.
They are essentially mini pizzas, which make them great for lunch or a snack, similar to calzones or stromboli.
You can find even smaller snack-sized mini pizza bagels, or bagel bites in the freezer section of some grocery stores.
Why you'll love this recipe
This quick and easy recipe for Pizza Bagels is:
Quick to make: great for busy weeknights; using the broiler speeds up the cooking process.
Kid-friendly: and grown-up friendly too! Who can say no to pepperoni and cheese pizza flavors?
Adaptable: use your favorite pizza toppings -- add extra veggies or different protein to suit your taste.
Great for a crowd: batch up the recipe (double, triple or quadruple) to make more and feed a group of people.
Freezer-friendly: make a large batch and store in the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner.
Ingredients you'll need
- bagel: lightly toasted; you can use any type of bagel -- plain bagels, sesame, everything, onion, cheese, or poppyseed
- pepperoni: sliced
- mozzarella cheese: shredded
- pizza sauce: or tomato sauce/passata/marinara sauce
How to make pizza bagels
Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Place the toasted bagel halves onto the baking tray.
Spread 1 tablespoon pizza sauce on each bagel half.
Layer on pepperoni slices and cover with mozzarella cheese.
Broil (about 4" away from the top element) pizza bagels at 500F for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is melty and bubbly. Be sure to keep an eye on it -- don't walk away!
Note: depending on how far the oven rack is from the broiler, you may need to adjust the amount of time. I used the 2nd oven rack from the top.
Remove from oven and garnish with fresh parsley.
Serve immediately.
How to store homemade pizza bagels
Fridge:
Store the baked and cooled pizza bagels in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezer:
You can also individually wrap the bagels with aluminum foil and place into a freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
How to reheat
Bake: You can bake the pizza bagels in a 375F preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the pepperoni starts to curl upward.
Microwave: Heat up the pizza bagels in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, until heated through. If you prefer a crisp bagel, follow the baking directions above.
From frozen: microwave the pizza bagels first, and then heat in the oven as above.
Variations
Pepperoni and cheese is classic, but you can use any of your favorite pizza toppings on these pizza bagels.
Protein: sausage, ham, chicken, Canadian bacon
Veggies: mushrooms, pineapple, bell pepper, red onions, black olives, fresh basil or other herbs
Cheese: parmesan cheese, cheddar, fresh mozzarella or burrata
Extra: red pepper flakes, roasted garlic, honey
Use mini-sized bagels for a smaller version -- tip: use mini pepperonis to suit the size of the bagel.
No need to stick with bagels -- try using naan, English muffins or tortillas as the base.
Expert tips
If using a tomato sauce/passata, add some fresh or dried herbs, or Italian seasoning and garlic powder to make the sauce more flavorful.
Other pizza recipes you may like
Be sure to check out these recipes:
Let me know if you try out this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below!
Quick Pizza Bagels
For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
- 1 bagel (cut in half for a total of 2 bagel halves) lightly toasted
- 16 slices pepperoni
- ¼ C shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoon pizza sauce or tomato sauce/passata/marinara
Garnish:
- fresh parsley optional
Instructions
- Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Place the toasted bagel halves onto the baking tray.
- Spread 1 tablespoon pizza sauce on each bagel half.
- Layer on pepperoni slices and cover with mozzarella cheese.
- Broil (about 4" away from the top element) pizza bagels at 500°F/260°C for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is melty and bubbly. Be sure to keep an eye on it -- don't walk away!
- Note: depending on how far the oven rack is from the broiler, you may need to adjust the amount of time. I used the 2nd oven rack from the top.
- Remove from oven and garnish with fresh parsley.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.
Ben | havocinthekitchen
I've had a pizza on naan and lavash and probably on something else I cannot remember. But bagel? That's a new level. I actually like the idea because of it's extra chewiness.
David @ Spiced
Oh man! I remember making pizza bagels (or bagel pizzas??) back in the day. These were a childhood favorite. I definitely need to introduce Robbie to these - I can't believe I've never made him a pizza bagel before!! (And I might have to make an extra one for myself...haha)