These crispy, cheesy DIY bagel bites make such a fun lunch, after-school snack, or game-day appetizer, and the recipe is so easy. My mini pizza bagels can be made with any of your favorite pizza toppings and take just a few minutes to bake. I've even got all the tips you need for how to freeze them for later!
It wasn't long after I made my first batch of homemade mini bagels that I became slightly obsessed with perfecting a mini bagel pizza recipe too. Now, these homestyle miniature pizza snacks are one of my favorite easy snack ideas.
I make pizza all the time, so I took everything I've learned about pizza sauce-to-dough ratios, the meltability of cheese, and how to freeze ingredients for later... and applied it to making my very own DIY bagel bites recipe.
There's nothing wrong with store bought frozen Bagel Bites, of course. We don't hate on convenience foods around here. If those work for you, great! I would never discourage you from enjoying them.
But if you're interested in making your own homemade bite-sized bagel pizzas from scratch, whether it's because you want to pick your own toppings, make them fancier as appetizers, make them in bulk for less cost, or you just don't like the store-bought ones, this is the recipe for you.
Personally, as much as I do enjoy store-bought Bagel Bites, in recent years I've found they're a little too sweet and too gummy in texture for me. So my version of this mini bagel snacks recipe is designed to stay crisp and toasty from the browned and bubbly cheese topping to the bottom of the bagel crust.
Oh, and the best part? I get to choose my own toppings! I've included a bunch of suggestions in the post below, but I'm excited to see what you come up with.
How to Make Homemade Bagel Bites
I use my homemade mini bagels when I make these bagel bites, and I recommend you do the same. I did try this with store-bought mini bagels, but I found they were bigger, softer, and sweeter than I wanted.
I usually use a quarter sheet pan so I can bake them in my toaster oven.
The best cheese for bagel bites, imo, is a low-moisture mozzarella that you grate by hand. I don't recommend using fresh mozzarella because it doesn't brown and bubble as nicely as the low-moisture mozz does!
When it comes to toppings, it's tempting to load the mini bagels up with allllll the toppings. But unlike a regular pizza, which has an outer crust to keep things in place, mini pizza bagels have gravity working against them... when the cheese bubbles up in the middle, the toppings tend to go sliding off the edges.
There's no 100% foolproof method for keeping all the toppings in place, but there are some things you can do to help.
As you can see in my photos, each of the pepperoni bagel bites uses just one slice of pepperoni, cut into six wedges. You can also use mini pepperoni, which are super cute, but harder to find.
How to Bake Bagel Bites
Whether I'm baking these in my oven or a toaster oven, I always use the broiler setting when baking them. I like to use the highest rack setting to get them as close to the broiler unit as possible.
Just like wood-fired pizzas cook at a high temperature for a short amount of time, these mini pizza bagels don't need long under the high heat of the broiler. Just 5-6 minutes will do the trick.
Remember: You're really just melting and browning the cheese and toasting up the bagels. Depending on the strength of your broiler and how close the are to it, they may cook faster or slower — don't walk away!
Other DIY mini pizza bagel Topping Ideas
When I make homemade bite-sized bagel pizzas from scratch, I like to dig through my fridge to see what random things I can use up for toppings.
Here's some ideas to get you started:
- Supreme Pizza Bagel Bites - Sliced black olives, minced green bell peppers (or jalapeño or poblano peppers), and sliced mushrooms.
- Hot Honey Pizza Bagel Bites - Mozzarella, goat cheese crumbles, pepperoni, a ring of thinly sliced Fresno pepper, and a drizzle of hot honey to finish.
- Greek Bagel Bites - Feta crumbles, and black, green, or kalamata olives.
- Caprese Bagel Bites - Sliced cherry tomatoes, top with thinly sliced basil after baking.
- Chicken Marsala Bagel Bites - Use the marsala sauce from my chicken marsala pizza and top bagel bites with fontina cheese, oregano, and a bit of shredded chicken or minced baby bella mushrooms.
- Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza Bagel Bites - Use your favorite BBQ sauce (I like my South Carolina BBQ sauce) and top the bagel bites with pulled pork, mozzarella cheese, and thinly sliced red onions.
WHY PAR-BAKE HOMEMADE BAGEL BITES?
I tested a bunch of different ways to freeze and reheat my homemade bite-sized bagel pizzas and by far the best method is to partially bake (par-bake) the mini pizza bagels before freezing.
Here's why I think parbaking is best:
- Helps the toppings and cheese stick to the top of the bagel.
- Begins the cheese melting process.
- Shortens the bake time from frozen.
They will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
📖 Recipe
15-Minute DIY Bagel Bites (Freezer-Friendly!)
Recipe Notes
- No broiler? If you don't have a broiler, set your oven to 500°F. It may need a bit more time to heat up.
- Toppings: You want about ½ tablespoon of toppings per pizza bagel. Only use pre-cooked toppings that are ready to eat.
- Adjust accordingly: If your mini bagels are bigger than actual bagel bites, you may need additional pizza sauce and toppings to get even coverage! Adjust accordingly!
- Easy homemade pizza sauce: 1 (6 oz) can unsalted tomato sauce, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 garlic clove, shake of dried oregano and basil, blitzed together in a mini food processor.
- Using store-bought mini bagels: If you're going to use store-bought mini bagels, toast them before you add the sauce and toppings. Because they're much softer than homemade mini bagels, they'll bake up soggy if you don't dry out the surface area a bit first.
Ingredients
- 6 mini bagels (see notes for using store-bought mini bagels)
- ¾ cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup low-moisture, whole milk mozzarella cheese (shredded)
Bagel Bites Toppings
- pepperoni (or mini pepperoni)
- black olives (sliced)
- green pepper (minced)
- baby bella mushrooms (minced)
- fresh basil (optional)
bonus: pizza sauce recipe (mix them together)
- 6 Ounces salt-free tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Clove garlic (finely grated or minced)
Instructions
If Baking Immediately
- Preheat the broiler in your oven or toaster oven.
- Arrange 12 mini bagel halves on a parchment or silicone mat lined sheet pan. It's okay if they're quite close together. If any of the bagels are tilted at an angle, use a serrated knife to carefully shave off the curved underside to help them lie flat.
- Top each mini bagel with a heaping teaspoon of pizza sauce. Spread it almost all the way to the edges. Then top with a pinch of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Add any desired toppings, making sure to keep them away from the edges of the bagel. For pepperoni bagel bites, cut pepperoni slices into 6 or 8 wedges. For supreme bagel bites, top with sliced olives, minced pepper, and minced onion.
- Broil Bagel Bites 5-6 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbly on top. Optional: Top bagel bites with thinly sliced basil.
If Freezing For Later (Parbaking)
- Follow steps 1-4 as outlined above.
- Broil bagel bites for 2-4 minutes until the cheese is melted but not browned. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Freeze parbaked bagel bites on sheet pan for 20-30 minutes, then transfer to a large freezer safe bag and press all the air out. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To bake from frozen: Preheat broiler and arrange bagel bites on a sheet pan. Broil for 7-10 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and browned on top. Optional: Top bagel bites with thinly sliced basil.
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