20 Delicious Types Of Bagel Toppings That Aren't Just Cream Cheese

Bagels rank pretty high in the bread hierarchy. They are full of texture and flavor. But more importantly, bagels are versatile. Bagels can do anything bread can do, including bookend an array of sandwich toppings or serve as an open-faced snack. And because its range stretches from sweet to savory, there are no excuses why this can't become a go-to.

While we love bagels for breakfast, with a bit of creativity, they can easily break out of their box and become something you reach for any time of day. There's an exact science to getting the bagel texture spot on, which comes down to the boiling technique, explains NPR. So once you've tracked down your perfect bagel, you can top it with the standard cream cheese, which is delicious in its own right. But if you've been getting bored with cream cheese, why not mix it up a bit? To help jog your inspiration, we've put together 20 bagel toppings that aren't cream cheese. May it encourage you to mix up your morning routine and reach for a more exciting snack.

This combination of salty and rich creamy flavor and textures of a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich is undoubtedly an American staple. And although the sandwich works well on many iterations of bread — rolls, slices of bread, waffles, biscuits — using a bagel takes it to a new level. NBC New York describes the bacon, egg, and cheese as a city staple, and you can be confident the same goes for other cities because who does not love bacon, egg, and cheese? The bacon is salty and crispy, the egg fluffy, and the cheese is creamy and rich.

It is a flavor trio that is tough to beat, and the bagel makes a perfect vehicle for it. When toasted, its surface prevents the cheese from soaking through the bagel. And the fluffy inside adds the perfect texture the topping is missing. We love that you can't go wrong with any bagel flavor. Everything, poppyseed, sesame, etc., are all viable (and might we add, delicious) options for a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich.

This is a bagel and topping combination that can do no wrong. And while it's a quintessential breakfast food, no judgment from us if you want to eat it for lunch, dinner, or a late-night snack.

Something is comforting about the fact that you can go to nearly any city in the United States and grab a slice of pizza. It is one of the world's most popular foods, and according to The Washington Post, 350 slices of pizza are sold each second in the United States alone.

Pizza is more than just food. It is a staple of Italian cuisine and the backbone of American street food. Margherita pizza contains four ingredients: dough, tomato sauce, cheese, and basil. This recipe is the foundation of every great pizza you know and love. And the same ingredients that are mouth-watering on pizza dough also work well on a bagel. The toppings are bolstered and united by the tomato sauce, and when the cheese melts, it doesn't destroy the integrity of the bagel, which sometimes happens with your favorite slices. This amalgamation of crunchy, fluffy, and stringy is a delight for the senses. We're picturing this as the perfect 15-minute dinner, but it may come together even quicker if you have an air fryer. Buon appetito!

One of the most versatile foods is tomato. It works cold or warm, sliced or squashed, hot or cold, solid or juice. This once tropical plant has found a home in practically every country in the world, explains Illinois Extension, and there's something special about wandering in a farmers market and spotting different shapes, sizes, and colors of the fruit.

A much-loved use of tomato is to put it on a slice of bread, sprinkled with olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper. And using a bagel instead of bread is no exception! It is such a simple topping but delicious enough that you'll be hooked once you have tried it. A bagel topped with tomato tastes juicy and fresh and instantly transports you to the Mediterranean.

Seasonings like salt and pepper intensify the flavor of the tomato and encourage the natural juices to emerge, making this an even more spectacular experience. The bagel holds up very well against the juice, providing the perfect vehicle for tomato. Add some basil or balsamic vinegar to the mix to bring out even more flavor.

Putting an egg on a bagel may not be news to you. Omelets, sunny side up, poached, are all pretty run-of-the-mill ways to get a quick carb and protein jolt. You've probably had them all and enjoyed them very much. But the egg's versatility doesn't end here. This is why we're championing the underdog of the salad world — egg salad!

Originally served on a piece of lettuce in the early 1900s, according to Taste Atlas, it quickly found its way to sandwiches. The egg is boiled, cut, and mixed with mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and sometimes pickles. This easy-to-make mixture packs many rich flavors and gives excellent contrast in texture to the bagel. The bread-like quality of the bagel pairs very well with the egg salad and provides a perfect sandwich and a great alternative to other creamy, more traditional bagel spreads such as cream cheese.

Another thing we love about an egg salad bagel is that it works for any time of day. The egg also provides a fair amount of protein and, combined with the bagel, will keep you full for quite a long time, making it a great lunch break option.

One of the best and most simple sweet toppings you can spread on your bagel is Nutella. According to the brand's website, this chocolate and hazelnut spread has been around for over 60 years and is known and enjoyed around the globe. The recipe itself is simple, but the ratios and exact production methods remain a secret to Ferrero, the company that invented this irresistible spread.

People around the globe eat so much Nutella that the amount produced by the brand each year weighs as much as the Empire State Building, explains the South Florida Reporter. Imagine how many bagels you would need to use all that Nutella! The bagel makes the perfect vehicle because its distinct flavor compliments the Nutella well without overpowering it. It takes away a little bit of the sweetness but amplifies the aromas of the hazelnut. The Nutella may melt ever so slightly on a warm bagel, and the effect is even better. Instead of your toasted bread in the morning, take a bagel and put some amazing chocolatey spread on it. You will never go back.

If you've never had a bagel with jelly and butter, let us prepare you. The flavor combination is already a home run on regular toasted bread. So when you combine the savory notes of butter with the sweet jelly but add in even more bread, it's undeniably delicious. It's impossible not to gravitate towards this bagel topping for all it brings to the table.

Jelly and preserve making dates back to at least the 11th century and has a spot in the world's oldest known cookbook, according to The Nibble. Since then, jellies have been carried into modernity, with it once costing so much that only nobility could afford them.

Butter and jelly is the ultimate breakfast indulgence. It's a lighter choice than cream cheese, which can sometimes be dense and filling. And butter is low enough in lactose that it might be passable (via Prevention) for those who may be lactose intolerant. If your bagel is perfectly toasted, you may even experience a rush of textures and sensations with the crunch of the bread and the gooeyness of the jelly and butter. It works because it plays on sweeter breakfast options like danishes and donuts. Consider this a sophisticated breakfast food that's somehow still downright delicious.

Whether whole or in the form of a salad, Whitefish brings some rich sea flavors to your palate. When paired with onions, dill, and mustard and put on a golden fluffy bagel, there is something fish lovers would line up for! You can sprinkle some lemon juice on top of it to emphasize the flavor and give it another layer, making it even more delicious. Whitefish feel lighter than Lox and are not nearly as smoky or salty. It does not overpower the other ingredients, including the bagel, but instead plays nicely and allows each component to shine.

As mentioned on Food Republic, it may be unorthodox to put fish besides Lox on a bagel, but Whitefish is a hit. If you're looking for a brunch option that will be enjoyed by your health-conscious cousin, picky aunt, and your foodie friend, don't overlook whitefish salad on a bagel!

Those with a sweet tooth will find it hard to pass up a chewy bagel topped with Nutella and sliced strawberries. Not only is it filling, but because Nutella is so rich, you don't need much to brighten up your bagel. And with the sweet, slightly acidic tang of strawberries, this goes from dense, sugary overload to a well-balanced snack that comes together in seconds.

Nutella wasn't introduced into the United States until 1983, according to Spoon University, but since then, the chocolate and hazelnut spread has become a pantry staple among households. But we can't overstate the importance of strawberries here. They provide just the right amount of freshness! To get just the right ratio, keep the amount of Nutella and strawberries similar, so one doesn't overpower the other. As with many of the options on the list, we recommend toasting the bagel for an extra jolt of texture. There's something about the crunch of a toasted bagel that we can't get enough of!

When thinking of Mediterranean food, you will likely imagine tomatoes, eggplants, lemons, fish, fresh bread, and pasta. Another thing that may be on your mind is olive oil. Whether in Italy, Greece, Spain, or France, you can find local olive oils that burst with flavor and are made from olives grown on stunning trees around the Mediterranean sea. This fruit can be used in numerous ways — one of which is making a beautiful and delicious paste called tapenade. According to Clifford A. Wright, the name comes from the caper plant, also known as tapeneï, and its edible part, tapeno.

But olives, particularly black olives, are the primary ingredient of this dish, providing its distinct fruity and briny flavor. If you like olives, you will love tapenade. Alongside olives, a traditional tapenade consists of capers, anchovies, and tuna. Invented in the south of France, it reached places across the globe like most Mediterranean food and remains a delicacy. Tapenade is made to put on bread and on a bagel; it is irresistible. Spread it or rip the bagel and dip it into the tapenade. It is salty, briny, fruity, and simply delicious.

There probably aren't many who need convincing to dig into a bacon, lettuce, and tomato confection. But just in case there's someone somewhere out there who's on the fence, here's the sign you've been waiting for! Salty bacon, crisp lettuce, and juicy tomatoes are only heightened when paired with a perfectly toasted bagel. It's a union made in foodie heaven.

We like that it gives a facelift to the long beloved sandwich. Not that it needs one, but there are certainly some palates that prefer a bit more bread with their BLT. That's where this combination shines. It's unclear when the BLT was first created, but according to Taste Atlas, its roots are British and it became an instant class in the United States after World War II. This sandwich draws on the classic flavor combinations of BLT and uplifts them with the bagel, creating quite the perfect pairing.