15-Minute DIY Bagel Bites (Freezer-Friendly!)
These mini pizza bagels can be made with any of your favorite pizza toppings and take just a few minutes to bake. Serve these DIY bagel bites for lunch, after school snacking, or as a game day appetizer!
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 the pepperoni into 6 or 8 wedges, for supreme bagel bites, top with sliced olives along with minced pepper and 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.
RECIPE NOTES
- If you don't have a broiler, set your oven to 500F. It may need a bit more time to heat up.
- You want about ½ tablespoon of toppings per pizza bagel.
- If your mini bagels are bigger than actual bagel bites, you may need additional pizza sauce and toppings to get even coverage! Adjust accordingly!
- If you're going to use store-bought mini bagels, toast them pretty well 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.
- 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.