14 Types Of Bagels, Explained

A  toasted bagel with a schmear of tangy cream cheese might just be the one of the most satisfying breakfast on the planet. As a professional baker, I've always adored making bagels — and especially eating them. Just like making a loaf of focaccia or a batch of croissants, it follows a similar pattern: flour, water, yeast, rest, knead, rise, shape, and then bake. Of course, bagels have the expectation of being boiled but once you've got that pattern memorized you can easily make a batch of bagels. Yes, bagels require laser sharp precision, patience, and a deep understanding of how yeast, water, and gluten work together, but they are just as simple as making a loaf bread.

Enough about the production — bagels are some of the greatest treasures we have in the realm of breads. If they're prepared correctly, they have a chewy, springy texture and crisp golden brown crust that will make any mouth water. Depending on your preference, you can pile it high with cream cheese, salmon lox, and caper or cover it with salted butter and sticky honey for a sweet treat. Most bagel shops have a wide variety of flavors, ranging from pumpernickel to chocolate. That can seem a bit overwhelming, so here's a list of 15 bagels you'll most likely find at any bagel shop you walk into.

Out of all the bagels in the world, the plain bagel is by far the most versatile and classic variety. It has a chewy interior, with a glossy, crisp crust and a relatively mild flavor with notes of malt and yeast. It doesn't contain toppings, garnishes, seasonings, or any additional flavor besides the dough and the egg or starch wash for its golden brown color.

While they might be notorious for being the most boring type of bagel, what people don't realize is that they are the perfect blank canvas for anything your heart desires. You can garnish it with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and stewed apples for a sweet treat or top it with a big schmear of cream cheese and a pile of pickled red onions. Its versatility, and unadulterated dough makes it a staple option for anyone looking for a bagel that can be sweet but also savory!

If the plain bagel is the bedrock of the world of bagels, everything bagel is the pillar. It's probably the most popular type of bagel, and is always a solid choice if you're looking for a bagel that's salty and packed with umami flavor. The everything bagel is loaded with multiple seeds and seasonings, including, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried onion flakes, dried garlic flakes, coarse sea salt, and occasionally toasted fennel seeds. It's well-liked for its complex, nutty, and savory flavor with varied crispy and craggy textures when toasted. It tastes amazing with either a thick smear of tangy cream cheese or with a dollop of salted butter.

It is believed that the bagel was created in the 1980s in Queens by David Gussin after suggesting using the falling seasonings from the other bagels onto a new one — thus inventing the everything bagel! Since its creation it's been a mainstay classic in every bagel shop and it's the type of bagel where you always know what you're getting: something savory, salty, and oh so delicious.

You might not think of our northern neighbors as bagel connoisseurs as we are here in the States, but they actually have quite a vibrant bagel scene that's been around for generations. In the city of Montreal, you'll find the famous Montreal-style bagel, also referred to as "bagels de Montréal" in French.

This unique, regional style of bagel has a slightly sweet flavor and chewy texture with a distinct crisp, golden brown exterior. The dough is boiled in a honey-water sweetener, giving the bagel its delicious sweet taste and helps create its shiny, crispy crust. Furthermore, they are hand-rolled and baked in a wood fire oven that imparts subtle smoky, woody flavor and aroma. They are typically coated in either sesame or poppy seeds, and served plain, fresh out of the oven with a side of cream cheese. It's definitely something you try at least once the next time you're visiting Montreal!

Craving something spicy, cheesy, and utterly delicious? Well, then you should be introduced to the legendary jalapeño cheddar bagel. This savory, flavorful bagel is a twist of the classic plain bagel that's studded with sliced jalapeños and shredded sharp cheddar cheese, creating a spicy and cheesy bite — perfect for anyone who likes a kick of heat.

It's amazing toasted with a smear of cream cheese or as a base for breakfast sandwiches. Next time you get your hands on a jalapeño cheddar bagel, try topping it with fried egg, avocado, a few slices of bacon, and an extra helping of cheddar cheese for the ultimate breakfast sandwich. The avocado helps cool down the heat of the bagel, while extra cheddar cheese and bacon provide a delectable richness that will fuel any morning right. It's just as well-liked as the everything bagel, so you'll most likely find them at any bagel shop you walk into.

Another mainstay classic of the bagel world is the tasty sesame seed bagel. If you haven't had it before, it's completely covered with sesame seeds, giving it a delicious nutty flavor and aroma. Traditionally, sesame seeds bagels are boiled in sweetened water, similar to the Montreal-style bagels, making it have a chewy interior with a slightly crisp, golden brown exterior.

It's simple flavor profile to complement either sweet or savory toppings, oftentimes it's smeared in cream cheese or made into a deli or breakfast sandwiches. Its scrumptious nutty, toasted flavor pairs exceptionally well with savory toppings such as smoked salmon and capers, sliced cucumbers and dill, or with a creamy, rich spread like hummus or tahini. If you lean more on the sweet side, you can spread on a bit of salted butter and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar or make sweetened cream cheese by stirring in some fruit jam into it.

If sesame seed bagels aren't your thing, then you should try their other nutty counterpart, the poppy seed bagel! These bagels are coated in poppy seeds, giving them a nutty, slightly floral taste and satisfying crunchy texture that contrasts nicely with the soft, chewy interior. Beyond flavor, the dark black color of the poppy seeds add a nice visual appeal on the golden brown exterior.

For those unfamiliar, poppy seeds are tiny oilseeds from the opium poppy plant, commonly used in either whole or ground in baking. You can find them scattered on top of loaves of bread, in cake batters, or as a garnish on savory viennoiseries, providing delectable nutty taste and earthy depth of flavor. Poppy seed bagels are typically served with either cream cheese, butter, or as a base for breakfast and deli sandwiches. You can find poppy seed bagels at most bagel shops, especially in Central Europe where they are a widely beloved and essential bakery menu item.

Another type of bagel you've probably never heard of before is the unique Jerusalem-style bagel. These large, soft, oval-shaped bagels have a lighter, chewier interior, and crisper crust compared to New York bagels because they are baked directly in the oven without parboiling them first. Since they skip the boiling stage, Jerusalem bagels have a much softer, and less dense crumb than traditional bagels. Oftentimes, people described their texture closer to the consistency of sourdough bread than a classic bagel.

Just like in New York City, these bagels are popular street food in Jerusalem and throughout the Levant region, where they are often covered in sesame or poppy seeds and are commonly enjoyed plain or with dips like labneh or za'atar and olive oil. You can also find them sliced for sandwiches at deli carts throughout the ancient city filled with ingredients like hard boiled eggs, falafels, pickled vegetables, or hummus.

You might be asking yourself "What even is pumpernickel? Is it spice or a type of flour?" For those of you who don't know, pumpernickel isn't a spice — it's actually a type of dark, dense rye bread from Germany. Pumpernickel bagels were created to resemble the bread's taste and appearance using rye flour, molasses, and cocoa powder or sometimes caraway seeds.

These bagels have a delightful earthy, hearty, and slightly sweet taste with notes of tangy, malted flavor from the molasses. It's much more dense and chewy than a regular bagel with a signature dark, orangish color and it pairs wonderfully with both sweet or savory toppings. You can pile on rich toppings like cream cheese and salmon lox or keep it simple and sweet with just smear salted butter and dusting of powdered sugar. You can surprisingly find them at most bagel shops nowadays, often called black Russian bagels if they have everything bagel seasoning sprinkled on top.

If you're looking to switch up your bagel order, you should try an egg bagel instead. This unique bagel adds eggs and sometimes sugar to the dough giving it a richer flavor and a distinctive yellow hue. It has a fluffier and chewier texture with a finer crumb similar to challah bread, often being described as a hybrid between a traditional bagel and the beloved Jewish sweet bread. Egg bagels are best enjoyed fresh or lightly toasted, as an enriched dough can become quite dense if they sit at room temperature for too long.

They're slightly sweet and savory profile make them particularly versatile — you can serve them with either cream cheese, capers, and salmon lox or with a side of whipped honey butter. You can find eggs bagels being sold at most bagel shops and especially Jewish-American bakeries, where enriched doughs and eggs based breads have been beloved for generations.

Rather than a specific type of bagel, the New York-style bagel refers to a preparation method that creates its delectable dense, chewy interior and crisp golden brown exterior. Depending on the bakery, they can either be parboiled in malt syrup or lye. Barley malt syrup adds a subtle sweetness and helps obtain a nice golden brown color, while lye is used to achieve a crisper crust and deeper color. Both of these additives give the bagels their quintessential chewy texture and slightly tangy flavor. This unique boiling process effectively gelatinizes the starch molecules on the outside of the bagel, preventing it from puffing up too much in the oven, providing it with a denser crumb.

They are typically hand-rolled and are studded with a prominent hole in the center. Their dense and chewy texture makes them perfect for slicing and loading on fillings. All across New York City, you can find bagel shops piling the topping on high with lox, cream cheese, eggs, and sliced deli meats.

A blueberry bagel is a sweet variety that's studded with either fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries, giving it a delicious fruity flavor and often beautiful dark purple hue. The tartness from the blueberries balances well with the mild flavor of a traditional bagel dough, creating a more complex tanginess rather than an overly bagel. They have a slightly moister and chewier texture due to the addition of the blueberries and are a great option for those who prefer sweet bagels.

You can pair with just about everything, from a cream cheese infused with honey to salted butter mixed blueberry jam. Beyond cream cheese, blueberry bagels work beautifully when paired with mascarpone, ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt, crème fraîche, or even a lemon custard spread. Similar to egg bagels, they are best enjoyed fresh or lightly toasted since the high moisture content in the dough means they can dry out faster.

Craving that cheesy, salty flavor from a jalapeño cheddar bagel but you can't stand the spicy flavor? Try an asiago cheese bagel instead! These bagels are loaded with the Italian cheese, asiago, giving it a delectable savory, umami flavor with a cheesy exterior and fluffy interior. If you haven't had asiago cheese before it has a nutty and buttery flavor that becomes sharp and tangy the more it ages. When baked on a bagel, the fat molecules in the cheese caramelize, which brings out the sharp, tangy, and nutty notes from the cheese.

The robust flavor of asiago cheese bagel makes it incredibly versatile. You can top it with a simple spread of cream cheese or use it as base for lunch sandwiches with deli meats, cheese, and sliced vegetables. The sharp, tangy notes of the bagel also pair wonderfully with savory toppings like sun-dried tomatoes, roasted artichokes, and Italian cured meats like prosciutto and mortadella.

Salt bagels are plain bagels garnished with a generous sprinkle of coarse kosher sea salt, providing them with a delicious, salty, and briny flavor. Beware, they do have a pretty intense salty flavor, but when paired with the mild, slightly sweet bagel dough, it's the perfect match. Not only does the salt provide flavor, but it also adds a texture element to the bagel, giving it a bold, crunchy crust from the large, coarse salt crystals. This simple yet tasty variety is particularly popular in New York City and Europe, appealing to bagel eaters who prefer salty flavors over sweet.

You can top it off with whatever you're craving, from a big schmear of cream cheese piled high with sliced avocado and lox, or cover it in salted butter with sliced deli meat and cheese on top. If you're feeling a little adventurous, you can try topping it off with salted caramel sauce or even drizzle over dark chocolate sauce for a salty, sweet snack.

Last but not least, the whole wheat bagel. Now a whole wheat bagel might sound pretty boring, however, it's actually packed with some delicious flavor. The whole wheat flavor gives the bagel a nuttier, earthy flavor, plus its load with a ton of fiber and is super nutrient dense, perfect for anyone wanting a bagel that's a bit healthier without sacrificing taste. It still has that same springy, chewy texture you know and love from a traditional plain bagel, but with an added nuttiness and a wholesome quality that complements both sweet and savory topping.

You can add a smear of peanut butter and strawberry jam to make a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or you can pile it high with deli meats and cream cheese if you lean more on the saltier side. One delicious way you can doctor it up is by adding sliced pastrami, spicy mustard, sauerkraut, and sweet pickles to make a pastrami bagel sandwich. The nuttiness of the bagel will pair wonderfully with the smoky richness of the pastrami and tangy bite of the spicy mustard and sauerkraut.