14 Ways To Elevate Your Bagel With Cream Cheese

There's nothing like getting the day started off with a bagel with cream cheese. It's a simple breakfast, sure, but there's something elegant, sophisticated, and deeply enjoyable about a bagel with a spread of that creamy goodness. You can take it on the go, or you can eat it slowly, at home, with a loved one. And although a plain bagel with cream cheese is delicious, it only gets better when you start experimenting with other types of bagels and other flavorful toppings to make things more interesting.

We've collected some of the best ways to elevate your bagel with cream cheese. Some of these ideas are probably bagel-with-cream-cheese formats you've encountered before. Others may not be as familiar. Either way, they're all worth a try if you're looking for ways to upgrade your bagel game. So, turn on your toaster, get out your favorite cream cheese (plain or flavored is fine), and get ready to make a morning bagel that's better than anything your local bagel shop has to offer.

We have to start off with one of the most basic bagel with cream cheese formulas: lox with capers. It's a classic for a reason. The creaminess of the cream cheese and the fattiness of the lox work together in perfect harmony to make a breakfast bite that feels deeply indulgent. But you definitely don't want to leave the capers out, either. They play an important role: giving the bagel a touch of complex, umami saltiness and acidity it needs. Without the capers, the lox and cream cheese would be too mouth-coating, and too fatty, to really taste very good. The capers brighten everything up and bring the whole dish together.

Of course, you don't have to stop with just lox and capers. If you're looking for a sharp element to add to the dish, consider slicing up some red onions and throwing them on alongside the capers. You can also use various types of fresh or dried herbs here if you want a touch of greenery as well. You may think you can only get a lox bagel by going out to a bagel shop, but making one at home may yield more delicious results than you might guess.

When you want a light breakfast that feels cooling and refreshing — say, on a particularly hot summer's day — there's nothing better than a cucumber-topping bagel with cream cheese. That light freshness works really well with the richness of the cream cheese, and together, they make a breakfast with a slight, subtle crunch.

The real trick here is making sure you slice the cucumbers thinly enough. After all, you want cucumber slices, not cucumber chunks. Unless you really know how to handle a chef's knife, your best bet is to use a mandolin to cut your cucumbers. Once you have them sliced and arranged on your bagel, you can start thinking about what else you want to add. A simple sprinkling of salt and pepper is a good place to start, but don't discount other spices, like paprika, garlic powder, or cayenne. Chili crisp can also offer a texturally interesting topping.

This isn't a combo you're likely to see at every bagel shop in your neighborhood, but it's one that you should definitely try out at home. A sausage patty and some gochujang can make for an incredibly interesting breakfast. First things first, you'll have to cook your sausage. Of course, you could always make your own sausage patties from scratch, but if you're trying to get out the door quickly, you can just microwave or air fry a frozen patty. Stack that patty on top of your cream cheese-adorned bagel, and you're off to a great start.

Just make sure you don't add cream cheese to both sides of the bagel sandwich because, on the other side, you're going to spread on some gochujang. If you want a spicier, sweeter, stickier sandwich, use more gochujang. On the other hand, if you just want a hint of heat, you can keep the gochujang to a minimum. That sweetness from the spread will play nicely with the sausage patty, and the spice brings it all together for everyone who loves giving their breakfast a kick of heat.

Who said you can't start your day out with a pizza? Okay, actually making a frozen pizza (or getting one at a pizza shop) may not be the best move early in the day, but you can capture some of those flavors by turning your basic bagel with cream cheese into a pepperoni pizza dupe. All you need is some cheese and pepperoni, and you can easily update an otherwise normal morning.

First, layer on your cream cheese spread (bonus points if you use garlic), then add on your layer of pepperoni. Finally, sprinkle on some cheese of your choice, and put it all in the oven, a toaster oven, or an air fryer. In a matter of minutes, you'll have a pizza-flavored bagel with cream cheese ... and you may never want to go back to a normal bagel again. And if you really want to take your pizza bagel to the next level, add just a small amount of tomato sauce before you place your pepperoni.

Both scallions and chives are a classic addition to a bagel with cream cheese, and for good reason. Their fresh, sharp flavors cut through the creamy fattiness of the cream cheese and create a more balanced bite. And the best part? This may just be one of the easiest bagel toppings ever. You can even pre-chop your scallions or chives ahead of time, then use them as you need them.

Of course, you can simply stick to scallions or chives alone if you want to keep things as simple as possible for your breakfast routine. Scallions will offer a more pronounced oniony flavor, while chives tend to be milder. But you can actually combine both scallions and chives in one bagel recipe to create the ultimate onion bagel. Just keep in mind that you may not want to be in close proximity to anyone for a few hours after you eat one of these scallion- and chive-studded bagels.

Avocado toast burst onto the trendy food scene one day, and it never really left. We get it: That creamy green fruit just always keeps us coming back for more. But why settle for avocado toast when you could make yourself an avocado bagel? By adding both cream cheese and avocado, you're making for a richer, more substantial bagel that is sure to keep you full for hours after you eat it.

That being said, though, both of those fatty ingredients together can create a flavor that may taste kind of bland. For best results, add a splash of something that delivers a lot of acidity — something like hot sauce, for example. A vinegar-based hot sauce will cut through the richness of both the cream cheese and the avocado, creating a breakfast that has a good balance of flavors (and a touch of spice, of course). Once you try an avocado bagel, you may never go back to plain avocado toast ever again.

There are times, particularly on the weekends, that you may want to go all out with your breakfast, mixing up a ton of ingredients to make that perfect morning meal. Other times, though, you don't have much time, and you're just trying to get some breakfast down before you have to finish the next task on your list. At times like those, it's best to keep things simple, and that's exactly what you'll be doing when you choose to make a bagel with cream cheese and hot honey.

This combo may sound a lot more boring than the other suggestions on this list, but hear us out: Hot honey and cream cheese are a match made in heaven. The hot honey almost makes it feel like you're eating something savory and sweet at the same time, and that slight spice makes for a mouth-tingling treat early in the morning. And since all you have to do is drizzle some hot honey onto your cream-cheesed bagel, this bagel recipe is a must-try on busy mornings.

It's always fun to try a new, unexpected bagel combination, but there are times when you're just going to want to stick to the classics. When that's the case, you may want to make your own egg, bacon, and cream cheese bagel. You probably already know that these flavors go together really well and make for an especially hearty breakfast. Plus, it comes together especially quickly. Just fry some bacon, make your egg, spread your cream cheese on the bagel, and layer everything on.

Just because you're already familiar with this classic, though, doesn't mean there's no room for experimentation. Try cooking your eggs in different ways for wildly different results. One day, you may want to opt for a fried egg with a runny yolk. On other days, you may want more of a scrambled situation. You can even try adding a soft-boiled egg to your bagel for the jammiest, yolkiest results. And although you can always use full slices of bacon, you can also experiment with cooking your eggs with bacon bits if you're not feeling up to actually frying bacon from scratch.

Eggs and bacon are great bagel toppings for when you're feeling particularly hungry, but what about those mornings when you just want a quick, easy snack that'll leave you feeling light and ready to take on your day? You may want to turn to dill and grainy mustard. These ingredients are a match made in bagel heaven. The dill offers a floral, herbal flavor to the dish, while the grainy mustard provides both earthiness and acidity. When they come together, it makes for a bagel that's packed with flavor (but will leave your breath fresher than a scallion and chive bagel).

If you walk down the dried spices aisle, you'll find dried dill. That's not what we're looking for here, though. You're better off using fresh dill, which has a much stronger flavor and tastes, well, a lot fresher than its dried counterpart. And if you have any fresh dill left over, you can keep it to use when you want to take your lox bagel up a notch.

Another lighter, fresher option for topping your bagel with cream cheese is tomatoes and flaky salt. Sure, this combo may sound excessively simple, but once you get a taste of it, you'll understand why this combination makes so much sense. First of all, cream cheese and tomato work well together because the thick richness of the cream cheese creates a contrast with the fresh, juicy tomato slice. Adding some flaky salt on top enhances the flavor of both the tomato and the cream cheese, but it also adds some texture since good flaky salt has a bit of a crunch to it.

Just keep in mind that for this bagel, the quality of the ingredients you use is really important. Your best bet is to use a farm-fresh summer tomato, if you can get your hands on it. These tomatoes tend to be sweeter and juicier, which is exactly what we're going for here. Even if you're just buying an out-of-season tomato at the grocery store, make sure it's nice and ripe before you slice it up and put it on your bagel. Similarly, you're going to want to look for a good-quality flaky salt. Maldon is always a good choice if you can find it, or you can opt for a flavored flaky salt if you want to add another layer of flavor to your breakfast.

Most of the bagel combos on this list lean toward the savory end of the spectrum, but what if you prefer sweeter foods in the morning? If so, then this is the bagel for you. Apple slices and cinnamon can elevate a plain bagel with cream cheese in the most texturally pleasing way. We suggest using a mandolin to cut your apple into very thin slices, then layering them onto your bagel. All of those layers will come together to create a nice crunch, which contrasts with that lovely creaminess we all love.

But don't stop with just cream cheese and eggs. To give this breakfast a warmer, cozier vibe, sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the apples. Just don't use too much, because a little cinnamon can go a long way. And if you don't think some apples and cream cheese will satisfy your cravings enough to help you get started on your day, consider adding a layer of peanut butter to the equation.

There's nothing quite as sophisticated as a bagel with cream cheese and sliced green olives. It somehow feels both restrained and deeply flavorful, and it also packs an interesting textural punch, with the soft snap of the olives delivering an unexpected twist on a simple bagel with cream cheese. Both cream cheese and olives are rich and fatty, which means they complement each other well, but the olives add a touch of much-needed acidity to the dish. Technically, you can use any type of olives here, but we think that some sort of green olive works best. Opt for plain olives if you want to keep things simple, or look for a spicy or herbed version if you want to add even more flavor to your bagel.

For the easiest results, buying pre-sliced onions makes this dish especially easy. But if you have a little extra time, it may be worth it to pit and slice your own olives, since olives with the pit tend to taste fresher than their pitted counterparts.

Sweet and spicy flavors just work, which is why this is one of our all-time favorite additions to a bagel with cream cheese. Strawberry jam delivers the sweetness, along with a slight tartness that ensures it won't feel like you're eating a sugar bomb for breakfast. But if you want something more than a basic cream cheese-and-jam bagel, you should then add some fresh sliced jalapeños for some heat. The sweetness of the jam almost pulls back on the heat of the jalapeños, giving you a balanced bite. Add in the cream cheese for an element of creaminess, and you have an elite bagel combo.

If you're pinched for time, you can always use pickled jalapeño slices, but we definitely think fresh is best, as you're going more for heat and freshness, not acidity. Make sure to slice your jalapeño as thinly as possible so you don't ever get a really spicy bite. And, of course, if you have some spicy jam on hand, you can always skip the jalapeños and make this a two-step breakfast.

You know that furikake you have in your spice cabinet? The one you always use for poke bowls and other Japanese-inspired dishes? Well, you may not have realized it, but furikake is actually the perfect topping for a basic bagel with cream cheese. We love this idea because it's so easy to pull off — you literally just need to make a normal cream cheese bagel like you always do, then sprinkle the furikake on right before you're ready to eat.

With a mix of toasted sesame seeds, nori, sugar, and salt, furikake makes for a balanced, flavorful cream cheese bagel condiment. And although we love a basic furikake, things only get more delicious when you choose a version that features other flavorful ingredients, like miso or chili. Of course, this combo is perfect all on its own — the cream cheese provides a perfect base for the seasoning. However, you can also add furikake to many of the other suggestions on this list for an extra flavorful topping.