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This homemade pizza bagel recipe is quick & easy to make! These freezable snacks are fun for kids to cook in the oven or air fryer.
What makes this homemade pizza bagel recipe so great
- They're bite-sized, and mini food is always more fun!
- Kids have a great time making them
- Toppings are customizable - the sky is the limit!
- Pizza bagels freeze well for quick meals in the future
- This recipe is easily scalable - make a few or make a lot at once!
- The sauce comes together with pantry staples
Who doesn't love pizza?
Pizza bagels take all the fun of pizza one step further to make it even more delicious.
And mini pizza bagels are the ultimate in quick, easy comfort food.
Back when I was a kid, if I went to a friend's house and they had bagel bites in the freezer, we would be so excited for snack time.
And now that I know how easy pizza bagels are to make from scratch, I've been making them with my son pretty regularly.
I love that we can make a bunch at once, pick our own toppings, and stash a bunch in the freezer for another time.
And with mini pizza bagels, you can have lots of different topping combinations. It's great for indecisive or picky eaters!
🥫 Ingredient Spotlight: Tomato Paste
This recipe uses tomato paste which can be found in your grocery store located in the canned goods or pasta aisle.
The main difference between tomato paste and other canned tomato products (like pasta sauce, crushed tomatoes, or tomato purée) is that tomato paste is super concentrated.
It has a thick texture with a deep, rich tomato flavor. That means that a little goes a long way.
A favorite pantry staple, tomato paste can be used in a variety of ways. It's very versatile!
Some of our favorite recipes that utilize tomato paste are:
- Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls with Shrimp + Peanut Sauce
- Our Favorite Chicken Fajitas
- Our Favorite Steak Fajitas
- Spiced Chickpea Tacos with Cilantro-Peach Relish
Tomato paste comes in cans and also squeezable tubes (they look a bit like tubes of toothpaste). I personally like to keep both types on hand at home.
For recipes that require a small amount of tomato paste, I'll squeeze some from the tube and then store the rest in the refrigerator.
Recipes like this one, that call for an entire 6-ounce can of tomato paste, are perfect for using up a full container versus squeezing a small amount out of a tube.
Once a container of tomato paste is open, any unused product should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and used within a week or so.
How to make pizza bagels
- Stir together tomato paste, cold water, dried parsley, dried oregano, and garlic powder.
- Slice your mini bagels in half with a serrated knife or bread knife.
- Spread a thin layer of homemade pizza sauce on the cut side of each bagel half.
- Place bagels on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
- Top with cheese and toppings as desired.
- Bake and enjoy!
📝 Pro Tip: Prep Your Toppings in Advance
Part of the fun of this mini pizza bagel recipe is that you can add any combination of toppings that you want to some or all of the bagels.
Due to their smaller size, I recommend cutting down larger ingredients into smaller pieces. This allows you to space the ingredients out a bit without letting one thing take over the entire surface area of your mini bagel.
For toppings like pepperoni, I like to cut them into quarters, either with a knife or kitchen scissors.
Things like bacon, sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and onions are best sliced, chopped, or crumbled fairly small.
To keep things organized and fun for a group, prep each topping and place it in a separate pile or bowl.
Let everyone mix and match their toppings to their heart's content!
Freezing pizza bagels
One of my favorite things about making this mini pizza bagel recipe is that I can pre-make extras. I stash them in the freezer for future use.
Getting two or meals done at once? Yes, please!
I like to fully assemble the pizza bagels on a quarter sheet pan and place that pan in the freezer.
Once they're set (about an hour or so, though sometimes I forget and leave them overnight).
Then I transfer them into a freezer bag and squeeze as much air out as I can.
My preferred bag is a reusable half-gallon size stasher bag. They're reusable and handy for so many things around the kitchen.
To cook from frozen, you only need to add an extra few minutes to the cooking time.
You're looking for the cheese to be melted and the toppings to be browned to whatever degree you prefer.
Cooking pizza bagels in the air fryer
We have a fairly small air fryer, and it's the perfect size for heating up a small batch of pizza bagels.
I find that pizza bagels cook even faster in the air fryer than in the regular oven.
When I'm air frying pizza bagels, I set my air fryer to 330°F. They cook perfectly in just 4-6 minutes, even from frozen!
There's no need to preheat your air fryer, just pop them in and let them cook!
I don't bother lining the air fryer with foil if I'm cooking pizza bagels. The shorter cook time doesn't generally make too much of a mess.
Luckily, my model is also pretty easy to clean.
Play around with the time and temperature here. Air fryer models vary quite a bit.
What works for me may not quite work for you, but my suggestion is a good starting point.
Don't start with too high of a temperature. Your pizza bagel toppings may burn before the rest of the bagel is warmed through.
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Easy Homemade Mini Pizza Bagels
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings (2 mini bagel halves per serving) 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This homemade pizza bagel recipe is quick & easy to make! These freezable snacks are fun for kids to cook in the oven or air fryer.
Ingredients
- 5 mini bagels
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- Toppings of choice (see notes for suggestions)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the tomato paste, water, parsley, oregano, and garlic powder.
- Slice each bagel in half horizontally.
- Spread bagel halves with a thin layer of the tomato sauce.
- Place bagels on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Top bagels with cheese and toppings as desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and browned to your liking, about 10-15 minutes. (See notes for air fryer instructions)
Notes
Topping suggestions: pepperoni (cut into quarters), sliced olives, bell peppers, ham, pineapple, mushrooms, onion, bacon, crumbled sausage
To cook pizza bagels in an air fryer: Cook at 330°F for 4-6 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and toppings are cooked to your liking. Air fryer times and temperatures vary, so feel free to adjust the time or temperature up or down a little to whatever fits your particular model best. For my air fryer, 5 minutes at 330°F works perfectly for frozen pizza bagels - no need to preheat!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 mini bagel halves
- Calories: 251
- Sugar: 4.5 g
- Sodium: 557.8 mg
- Fat: 1.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.3 g
- Fiber: 3.5 g
- Protein: 16 g
- Cholesterol: 4.1 mg
Keywords: pizza bagel, mini food, game day snacks, air fryer recipes
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