How to Make Pizza Bagels (aka hot weather pizza)
When I posted a pizza bagel photo on my 365 blog, a couple of you were wondering where you could find the recipe.
Normally if you're trying to find a recipe I've posted, you can use the search box over there on the right, or poke through the recipes category (I even have a pizza category).
But you couldn't find this recipe using those methods because I hadn't posted it!
At least, not until now.
Pizza bagels are super simple to make, and they're great for when you don't feel like messing with making your own dough or don't feel like heating up your oven to eleventy-billion ° F.
The method is really similar to the one that I use when I make French Bread Pizza, but I thought maybe it deserved its own post.
I usually buy cheap bagels for this...the Lender's brand from the frozen section work great. You could make your own bagels, I suppose, but that would sort of make this recipe not quick and easy.
Heat your oven to 350 ° F, and place the bagel halves, cut side up, onto a baking sheet. Inevitably, some cheese will get on the baking sheet, so I lightly grease mine to make cleanup easier.
(I use the Vollrath Cookie Sheets
that Cook's Illustrated recommends. Love, love, love!)
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the bagels.
Top with mozzarella cheese.
We like to sprinkle pizza spice onto ours at this point. You can buy prepared pizza spice in a jar, but I usually make my own by combining oregano, basil, parsley, garlic, and some Parmesan cheese. Use whatever you love!
You can top the cheese with pretty much anything you'd put on a regular pizza...things like pepperoni, sausage, veggies, ham and pineapple, and bacon.
Bake the bagels for about 8-10 minutes, then turn on the broiler, and broil for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese has browned a bit.
Totally delicious, totally easy.
This is kind of a non-recipe, but here are some directions that you can copy, paste, and print if you so desire.
Pizza Bagels
bagels
tomato sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese
desired toppings
Heat oven to 350 ° F. Place bagels on a lightly greased baking sheet, cut side up. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over bagels, then top with cheese and desired toppings.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until heated through. Broil for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is spotty brown.
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Do you have any great pizza alternatives for the dog days of summer? Share in the comments!
Yum! We do this all the time with English muffins instead of bagels, but they are really more like a snack or a lunch food. With the bagels the pizzas seem more substantial. Thanks for sharing!
I use English muffins, too. I like to toast them a little before topping, so they don't get too soggy from the sauce. I'll have to do the bagel thing sometime.
Really? People can't figure out to make this on their own?
Well, all of us are at different places in our cooking journeys, and so sometimes, a very simple recipe/method is appropriate. 🙂
Or sometimes, people who are proficient in the kitchen just haven't thought of something like using a bagel to make pizza, so for that reason, I think there's value in posts like these.
And I always find it to be convenient to have my recipes up in posts so that I can link to them in my menu plans (when I don't a link, I often get questions about how to make a certain dish).
And if your like me, sometimes you forget about something so fun and simple that you used to do but, at some point, for some unknown reason, you stopped doing it. Thanks for the reminder.
Actually, I appreciate this, even given how simple it is. While I can follow recipes and could think to put these things together, specifics like oven temperatures and times throw me if I don't have something to follow...so I appreciate the post although concede that most people don't need this kind of direction. Thank you Kristen!
This is just my speed 🙂
On a busy day, it's just my speed too. Sometimes even I don't want to mess with yeast!
Sandwich Thins work really well if you're looking for a thin crust.
Yum! I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow!
I was just about to post on this -- can be whole wheat and skinnified! Thanks for the idea, FG & Renee!
what wonderful ideas. I will be making these for lunch on Monday.
A small pita, not cut in half, also works very well. I think of these as hot-weather food because you really shouldn't have to light an oven, if you have a toaster oven.
This is a recipe where the softer/cheaper bagels work best, because you can get your teeth through them (and a kid can get their teeth through them).
Yes! A real, chewy, fresh bagel does not make a fabulous pizza bagel.
I would like a toaster oven, I think, but I'm sort of short on counter space for one. Maybe I can find one that will fit where my toaster currently sits.
My mom uses her garage for her toaster oven 😉
French baguette - slice in half all tom topping extras and grill - easy peasy 🙂 Great for getting loose milk teeth to drop out so the tooth fairy can pay a visit....
I used to make these by the dozens and freeze them for my kids. They could pull out a couple and just heat and eat. I would freeze them on a tray first then package them in a ziptop bag.
Can you freeze the cheese without it changing texture?
Yep! Freezes beautifully!
I also make these with English Muffins...yum!
These look good! I want pizza right now.
For toppings, when I grill vegetables I like to make more than we can eat in one meal, and have them on hand for times like this. A little chopped grilled eggplant or onion atop a pizza bagel would be scrumptious....
Or slivered black olives....
triskits work great as well i microwave them and they are yummy I have also use stale bread..or garlic bread pitas english muffins basiclly anything breadlie i have left
We've made these before using bagels or baguettes or english muffins. They're quick and easy and light on the budget. Just need to find a good pizza dough recipe - I've tried several but then forget where I put the recipe or I'm waiting too late to make the dough.
I love making these on whole wheat pitas for a crunchy crust, with mushrooms, spinach, and turkey pepperoni. YUM! Now I think I know what to make for work-lunches this weekend!
I have a lovely eight foot counter top that spans my washer and dryer in the garage. Last summer I moved my toaster oven onto said counter during the heat of summer and it has never returned. If you have a toaster oven and a safe, level place in your garage, you can keep the heat out of your kitchen entirely. I suppose you could do the same thing on the picnic table in the back yard, assuming all proper precautions are taken.
Yay for toaster pizza and double yay for not heating up the kitchen.
My son loves to help me make these- he' s just 3. Since the cooking all comes after the assembly, I don't have to worry. He loves to watch them bake with the oven light on. We use the minibagels from Aldi, and their pizza sauce- since I almost always have some hanging around in the fridge.
This probably only works well when you are just doing a few bagels (I am usually just making them for myself or a few people) but I always toast my bagels and heat the tomato sauce in the microwave while they are toasting. Then I only have to use the oven to broil them, and I can skip the baking step altogether. They are always hot enough and never soggy. It really helps keep the house cool!
I love english muffin pizzas with a salad for a quick lunch or supper!
Hi,
I don;t know if you get small tortilla wrap (about 15cm diameter) in the States - if you do, they make really great pizza bases too.
I love your idea of using half bagels - great for a lunch or for party food. One I will remember. It's not the making, it's the idea that is so useful so thank you very much!
J x
Yum! Thanks for posting these, I now know what I'm eating for dinner,and maybe lunch tomorrow=)
Oddly enough, it just occurred to me to make these and freeze them, duh! Thinking I can bake them, cool, freeze, then pop them in under the broiler... any input? Maybe bake half-way? Or just freeze without baking?
Never hurts to ask, after all 🙂
that is a great idea!!!! thanks so much i will def do that i always have sooooo much sause left!
We do this all the time but usually with english muffins. The bagels are too dense, too high in carbs for my young Type 1 diabetic child. This way we do an entire tray and then each person takes the appropriate number of mini pizzas for the meal plan. we love to top with any number of left over veggies and toppings. Pitas are a good suggestion, I'll have to look into those....
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !
I really like the Aldi bagels but I find they go south rather quickly. We've done French Bread pizza a few times recently and that worked well but I really just love the unhealthiness of the real thing. 😉
Made these for lunch today and we all gobbled them up! It was super simple, but something I've never really thought to do! Thanks for this new addition to our lunch rotation!
Your recipe sounds great! I'm surprising my partner with them for dinner tomorrow night in the shape of hearts! 🙂 I do have one question though... When you buy the frozen bagels do you defrost them first?
Yep, I let them sit on the counter for a bit to defrost.
Turned out so good! I've made pizza bagels a loooong time ago but knowing my cooking skills (or lack thereof) I decided to search online for temperatures and times and stumbled upon this post 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you for sharing this. I use to make these all the time. Couldn't remember the temperature for the oven. Bye.
To Whom it Concerns:
I tried this recipe, it was delicious...Thanks
These look very good. I will make for my kids for after school snack
Would cheddar cheese work?
It could, but that might make sort of unusual pizza bagels!