Are you ready to discover the joy of making your own crispy and flavorful homemade bagel chips? Heck yes you are! This is a super simple snack recipe that is a great way to use up leftover bagels.
Transform your favorite day-old bagels into a fun snack with a simple slice and bake method. This homemade bagel chip recipe uses just three ingredients and is so easy to customize with your favorite seasonings for a personalized touch.
5-STAR READER REVIEW
“Delish!!! We somehow amassed 4 bags of bagels in the freezer from the holidays that didn’t get eaten so this is a great way to make use of them as the need arises. To go with the chips I made a soft cream cheese spread/dip with everything bagel seasoning. I served during a last minute cocktail hour with some other small bites. The bagel chips were a huge hit. I was asked several times “what brand” the bagel chips were!”
—Tracie
You Can Use ANY Of Your Favorite Bagel Flavors
I usually make these bagel chips when I have day-old or slightly stale plain homemade bagels around and no room in the freezer to store them. But they're also so good when made with lots of different bagel flavors like these blueberry bagels, or even my everything bagels (which have everything bagel seasoning in the dough), and pumpkin spice bagels, too!
You'll have the best success with bagels that don't have any chunky inclusions (e.g. raisin bagels) as they're harder to slice thin by hand, but pretty much any of my unique bagel recipes can be turned into bagel chips.
Day-old bagels work best, as they're already slightly dried out. That said, I've done this with fresh-baked bagels too; they sometimes just need a few more minutes in the oven before they're crisp!
I kept things simple for this recipe and have just seasoned the bagel chips with salt, but you can also get creative and use things like cinnamon sugar, my DIY chex mix seasoning, this tasty pantry pesto, Italian seasoning, Old Bay, paprika, everything bagel seasoning (pulsed in a spice grinder to turn it into a powder), garlic salt, cayenne, crushed red pepper flakes, etc.
Use A Sharp Serrated Knife for Thin Slices
Making homemade bagel chips is honestly so easy, you hardly need a recipe at all. You're basically just slicing your favorite bagels super thin and toasting them until they're crispy and dry.
You'll need to use a SHARP, SERRATED BREAD KNIFE for the slicing. If your knife isn't sharp and doesn't have a serrated edge, you will have a no good, terrible, really bad time trying to slice your bagel chips.
Let the teeth of the bread knife do the work for you and saw back and forth, applying little to no downward pressure. You don't want to collapse or smush the bagels as you're cutting.
I find its easiest to first cut the bagels in half so I have two C-shaped pieces. Then I cut each half into ⅛" slices.
Each slice will be thinner on one side than the other because that's just how bagels are shaped.
If I'm making bagels specifically to make bagel chips, I skip the bagel shape and bake them as sticks instead.
When I use bagel sticks to make bagel chips, I always slice them on a diagonal so I get more surface area for each bagel chip. More surface area = more room for olive oil and salt and toasty delicious Maillard reaction browning in the oven!
Arrange the soon-to-be bagel chips in a single layer on a sheet pan. I know this seems a little fussy, but I tried tossing the sliced bagels in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, and the bagels absorbed so much of the oil it was hard to get the oil and salt evenly distributed.
Then use a pastry brush to dab each thinly sliced bagel chip with a bit of olive oil.
If any chips are getting particularly dark quicker than the others you can use a pair of tongs to remove them early while the rest of the bagel chips keep baking.
I like the bagel chips cool completely on the sheet pan, then transfer them to an airtight container to store for all my bagel chip snacking needs.
Practical Tips and Recipe Notes
- A full batch of homemade bagel chips will need a regular sized oven, a half batch can usually be baked in a toaster oven.
- When testing to see if the bagel chips are fully dry, look for the thickest chips on the sheet pan — if the thickest ones are dried throughout (they snap neatly and don't have any chewy texture when you bite them) then it's safe to assume the thinner ones are fully dried too!
- Homemade bagel chips are so good on their own but also great as a snack dipped in cream cheese or my homemade goat cheese, spinach and artichoke dip, this easy guacamole, and more!
📖 Recipe
Crispy Homemade Bagel Chips - Uses Day-Old Bagels!
Recipe Notes
- If you don't have olive oil or a pastry brush, you can also dab them with olive oil on a paper towel, droplets from the tines of a fork, a squeeze bottle, or even use an olive oil spray to do a light coating on the bagel chips and help the salt stick.
- Homemade bagel chips can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 weeks. As long as the bagel chips were thoroughly dried in the oven and fully cooled before you stored them, they will stay good for a while.
- Moisture = mold developing, so make sure they're cool and completely dried throughout before putting them in an airtight container. And if you see mold, throw them out!
Ingredients
- 2 bagels (about 4 cups thinly sliced)
- ⅛ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt (no need to measure precisely!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Slice bagels into rounds ⅛" or thinner. Arrange on a sheet pan in an even layer.
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush or dab the top of each bagel slice with olive oil. Don't worry about perfect coverage, just a few dabs of oil per slice is fine.
- Sprinkle the bagel chips with salt and any other seasonings you like.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until the chips are toasted and crisp. Thinner chips will crisp up faster — remove any chips from the pan early if they are fully browned to avoid burning while the remaining chips bake. Let cool completely.
Sarah says
Trying these today with some homemade bagels that I over cooked. Thanks for the recipe!
Rebecca Eisenberg says
That’s the perfect time to use this recipe! Enjoy the bagel chips!
Bobby J says
Do you coat both sides?
Rebecca Eisenberg says
I don’t, no!
Ashley says
I put them in a bag with olive oil and everything bagel seasoning then put them in a pan. Works great.
Emy says
Thank you so much !!
So easy & so yummy 😋
Nancy says
Thank you for your recipe. I haven’t tried it yet. I’m looking for something that will give me a very light texture. I don’t care for the typical thick, hard and crunchy bagel chips (or kettle style chips, for that matter.) Does this recipe fit the bill?
Do you also have a recipe that makes lightly crispy style croutons, as well? Whenever I’m at a restaurant and the salad contains those kinds of croutons, I want to run back into the kitchen and ask the chef how they make them (or where they buy them.)
Thank you, Nancy
Rebecca Eisenberg says
The texture of your bagel chips will depend on the type of bagel you use and how thin you slice them! And yes, I do have a focaccia crouton recipe!
Georgianne says
I keep them in a glass jar with the latch seal…but my husband noticed they get harder the longer they sit. Can I do anything to change that? Or soften up again?
I am trying to keep these around for his snacks.
Rebecca Eisenberg says
They're supposed to be crunchy and hard... not sure what softer texture he's looking for? Can you explain?
Georgianne says
He knows they are supposed to be crunchy…they just seemed to get even harder the longer we had them in our glass jar. I like them and to be honest he is a bit picky. I also put the olive oil on both sides..I didn’t know about one side until I read the comments..maybe that had something to do with it..although I doubt it. I will try to cut in bigger pieces and see if that works for him. Thank you for your quick response and recipe. Have a great day.
Valorie says
Rebecca, These are absolutely wonderful! Flavorful, light and crispy. I won’t bother with store bought bagel chips after making your recipe. My question is if they can be frozen for a short period without compromising the flavor and texture. Thank you!
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Oh I’m so glad you liked them!! I haven’t tested freezing them but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work — they’re completely dry so there shouldn’t be any moisture in them. If they seem a little damp when you defrost them, just pop them back in the oven for a bit and they should revive just fine. Enjoy!
Tracie says
Delish!!! We somehow amassed 4 bags of bagels in the freezer from the holidays that didn’t get eaten so this is a great way to make use of them as the need arises.
To go with the chips I made a soft cream cheese spread/dip with everything bagel seasoning. I served during a last minute cocktail hour with some other small bites. The bagel chips were a huge hit. I was asked several times “what brand” the bagel chips were! These are great, definitely making again thank you for sharing this recipe.
James F. says
Hi Rebecca,
I have been trying to find a recipe on my favorite cracker for cheese and it is Old London's Melba Toast. There is no store in CT that sells it near me. I think I can buy in bulk from Amazon. I see what you are doing with this recipe, but the melba toast is maybe lighter than what you have going on. So imagine if speading goat cheese on melba toast and it could fracture. But your recipe ends up with a bagel chip with alot more structure to it. So the melba toast is what I am looking for ( a recipe ). We do have a proudct around here called NY bagel crisps I think, but it is way to crunchy.
Your thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Jim F.
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Unfortunately I'm not familiar with those crackers so can't say how to make them! I suspect if you find the right bread, this method should work but I can't say for sure. Good luck!
Yoke says
Made these as directed with a slight twist on the seasoning; flaked sea salt, everything bagel seasoning and a light dusting of ground red pepper.
Wife made homemade buffalo chicken dip and the crowd went wild 🤪
Jeffrey Seul says
just tried today with a sweet bit - cinnamon, brown sugar, white sugar (and probably other spices leftover from a "rib rub" - subbed in 1 T melted unsalted butter for each bagel added to the recipe (I had 3 bagels, 3 T butter)
add chips to a bag, pour in the butter, shake around, add in the sugar/cinn mix - repeat, cook at 350 same time
Enjoy!
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Yum!
Joe says
We owned a Deli in NYC 40 years ago. We would get a delivery of bagels every day. If they wouldn’t sell we would have to throw them out. So my dad, who hates to throw out food decided to make them into chips. All types of flavors and sold them a dollar a bag. The bag was big enough to fit a quart of milk. It was a bigger hit than the bagels themselves that he had to triple his order. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the spices.
Peggy says
When I make them I am going to throw some sesame seeds on them. Maybe some poppy seeds on a few. Caraway seeds? I guess you can tell I like seeds. I am assuming that the bagels have not been precut. I try to buy then not cut but sometimes that is all the store has. How are they if you are using precut bagels?
Thank you,
Peg
Holli says
I got a bulk order of bagels from a store and there were jalapeno cheddar bagels. I added a little shredded cheddar on them and sent them to college with my son.
Jan Churcher says
when the timer went off at 20 minutes they were burnt
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Hi Jan, the recipe clearly states to bake them for 15-20 minutes, shaking the pan every 5 minutes and to remove them early if they're starting to look dark. Seems like you may have missed that step and left them in too long by mistake.