The Perfect Breakfast Bagel Sandwich
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Where’s your favourite spot to hit up breakfast?
If you’ve been a reader of the blog or follow me on Instagram, a fast food breakfast starts my mornings off right. Yes, of course I love to make breakfast, but when I’ve treated myself to sleeping in in the morning, it’s nice to take a break. Plus, fast food breakfasts are just so tasty and exciting to explore! I get such a thrill and I know I’m gonna start my day with a meal out! Lately, at McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s, the breakfast bagel BELT is all the rage! What’s a BELT? You may know of BLT: bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes; so a BELT is just bacon, EGG, lettuce and tomatoes, making it a breakfast sandwich! BELTs have been paired with bagels, particularly Everything Bagels.
I had to give it a try myself, so I went to Tim Horton’s and gave it a go. I hate to say it, but I was quite disappointed! The lettuce leaf was odd and I wasn’t a fan of the egg. Tim Horton’s is usually pretty awesome with breakfast, but it really missed the mark there. I still haven’t tried the McDonald’s BELT yet, but I think I will soon!
I don’t regret having it though! While it’s always sad to not like a meal you’ve paid for, learning from the mishap of the food can help you know what NOT to do when you recreate it at home. I go into more detail about how a meal or two out can help inspire you in my Making Cooking Fun!! free motivational guide - my top 5 tips to explore your potential in the kitchen! Whether what you’ve had is tasty or not, stepping out of the house (or ordering in!) can freshen your mind to new ideas. In particular, when a restaurant or fast food joint gets something wrong, it actually sometimes fuels me more because I know I can do better than they did, and I feel really accomplished when I do! Of course, when you make these fast food items at home, they’re definitely healthier. You’re in complete control of the quantities and quality of your ingredients. If you’ve been loving BELTs for on-the-go breakfasts and have been meaning to make your own, then definitely try this recipe as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Get the free downloads by signing up to my newsletter! Don’t forget to show me your BELT by tagging me on social media @cookingwithanadi! I love to see and share your delicious creations!
Check out the video to see me make three different Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches! I’ll show how to make the perfect BELT along with just a simple breakfast bagel sandwich with bacon, egg and cheese, along with sauce used for breakfast bagel sandwiches. I’ll show how to make the best cheesy egg for these sandwiches and how you can mix and match! If you’re not already, please subscribe to my YouTube cooking channel, Cooking with Anadi, so you’re the first to know when I release new video recipe! Let’s get cooking!
Why You’ll Love This Breakfast Bagel Sandwich!
Easy
Exciting replication of fast food breakfasts
A tasty breakfast
High-protein
Quick prep time
Simple, healthy ingredients
Make-ahead friendly
Customizable
Tools FOr Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches
Cutting board: Use a cutting board to cut your bagel and slice your tomatoes and avocado.
Sharp chef’s knife: A good knife is essential to cut your avocado and tomatoes.
Bread Knife: This makes slicing your bagel a lot easier!
Mixing bowl: We need a bowl to whisk our eggs together to make the omelette.
Whisk: Whisk your eggs in the bowl before making your omelette.
Spatula: A spatula is great to fold up your omelette.
Non-stick pan: We’ll cook our bacon and omelette on a non-stick pan.
Tongs: I like to use tongs to cook the bacon.
Cast iron pan: I’m using my You can always use a toaster to heat your bagels if you don’t have a cast iron or don’t want to use it.
Fish spatula: A fish spatula helps you pick up the delicate omelette from the pan!
Ingredients for Breakfast Bagel Sandwich
Let’s see what we’ll need for our Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches! I’ll show the ingredients needed to make my version of the BELT sandwich. Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD or click the “Jump to Recipe” button. The recipe card will let you save the recipe for later, and you can scale the ingredients based on how many bagels you want to make - I definitely recommend you make a lot so you can prep them and be ready for the week!
Bagels: Use your favourite bagel! I’m using three different types of bagels here to show three different bagel sandwich ideas.
Cheese: I’m using medium yellow cheddar slices. The cheese will be added into the omelette.
Eggs: We’ll need eggs to make our omelette!
Bacon: Your favourite kind of bacon will work here.
Butter: Needed to toast the bagels and to cook the omelette.
Avocado: We’ll slice our avocados for topping.
Lettuce: I’m using Boston lettuce, but feel free to use any kind of lettuce.
Tomato: I recommend organic tomatoes for the best taste and quality!
How to Make The Best Breakfast Bagel Sandwich
Cooking the Bacon
Add bacon to a cold pan and then turn the heat to medium.
Cook while flipping occasionally until the bacon is golden brown and crispy.
Making the cheese omelette
While the bacon is cooking, prepare the eggs by whisking together eggs with salt and pepper.
Heat up butter on medium heat on a non-stick pan in a large pan. Add the eggs and start preparing the omelette.
Once the eggs have set, add the cheese down the middle of the eggs and then once the cheese is molten, fold the omelette to a rectangle.
Cut the omelette to 3 equal pieces, large enough to fit each bagel.
ToasT The Bagels
In the meanwhile, heat up another pan to toast your bagels.
Slice bagels in half if needed, add butter to the other pan and toast until warmed through and lightly toasted.
Assembling the Classic BELT Breakfast bagel Sandwich
Add hot sauce or jalapeño/chipotle mayonnaise to both halves of the toasted bagel. Follow it up with lettuce, egg, tomatoes and bacon for a BELT sandwich.
Assembling the Egg & Bacon Breakfast Bagel Sandwich
Place egg at the bottom bagel half, top with bacon and close the bagel top for a simply delicious sandwich.
Assembling the Avocado BELT Breakfast bagel Sandwich
Using a fork, mash up with avocado to each half of the toasted bagel and then add lettuce, egg, tomatoes and bacon. You can substitute the avocado with guacamole.
Variations For Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches
The objective behind this Breakfast Bagel Sandwich Recipe is to give you ideas of how to make the best Breakfast Bagel Sandwich! Two were inspired by the popular BELT, but you can really do whatever you’d like for the ultimate Breakfast Bagel Sandwich! Here are some ways you can switch it up!
Bagels: As you’ll see in the photos and video, I used three different bagels for the three different bagel options I’m showing! You can use your favourite bagel! I used Everything, Cheese & Herb, and Pumpernickel. If you like cinnamon raisin or plain, then go for them!
Cream cheese: You can also add cream cheese to your Breakfast Bagel Sandwich. Feel free to experiment with regular cream cheese or flavoured cream cheeses like jalapeno, smoked salmon, or sour cream and onion!
Cheeses: I’ve used cheddar cheese here, but if you have it I recommend American cheese! Monterey Jack, white cheddar, Havarti and Swiss cheese are other excellent choices!
Protein: You can add sausage, smoked salmon, and/or ham to bump up the protein! For sausages, I recommend my Mild Italian Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties or my Pork & Bacon Breakfast Sausage for double the bacon goodness!
Sauce: For this breakfast bagel sandwich sauce, used a Jalapeno Aioli here, but feel free to mix things up! Other great flavours are Buffalo Ranch or Spicy Chipotle. You could also make your own! Try Garlic Truffle Aioli or Spicy Aioli. Of course, you can just use regular mayo if desired!
Guacamole: Instead of avocado, make some Fresh Guacamole or even Chunky Mango Guacamole!
Pico de Gallo: Make some Authentic Pico de Gallo to make a refreshing breakfast bagel!
Omelette: I just made a cheese omelette here, but you could follow my Classic Omelette or Creamy Breakfast Mushroom Omelette. If you want to lighten things up, you can even make an Egg White Omelette.
Veggies: I kept the veggies to just tomatoes and lettuce to make the BELT sandwiches. However, if you want more, then totally go for it! Other great options would be caramelized onions, sliced onions, jalapeños, and/or peppers.
Greens: I’m using Boston lettuce here, but you can use any kind of lettuce. While it may no longer be a BELT bagel sandwich, you can use any kinds of greens! Try spinach, a spring mix, arugula, or kale!
Vegetarian: I’ve used bacon in all three of the sandwiches shown here. If you’re a vegetarian, all you need to do is simply omit the bacon. You can use any kind of plant-based sausage or bacon for protein.
Tips For A Great Breakfast Bagel Sandwich
Use a variety of bagels which will in turn inspire you to treat each sandwich in its own way. Plus, even if you use the same fillings, each bagelwich would be unique.
If your pan is only big enough to comfortable fit 2 regular cheese slices, make the omelettes for to sandwiches at a time if serving fresh. For a bigger pan, you can scale based on the cheese slice size.
Using various condiments, cheeses and veggies in your sandwich will help keep things exciting.
CAN YOU MAKE Breakfast Bagel Sandwich IN ADVANCE?
Yes, you definitely can and I recommend that you do! If you want to prep the ingredients ahead of time, that can help too. You can cut your veggies and cook your bacon in advance, and store the prepped ingredients in air tight containers in the fridge. All you’ll need to do is cook the omelette, then assemble the breakfast sandwich!
Otherwise, you can cook the omelette and assemble the sandwich ahead of time and refrigerate it.
HOW TO STORE Breakfast Bagel Sandwich
Store your assembled Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches in the refrigerator. You can either wrap it with plastic wrap or transfer into an airtight container if you have one that is tall enough to hold the sandwich. These Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches will last three days in the refrigerator.
How to Reheat Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches
You can reheat your Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches in the air fryer or microwave. My preferred method would be the air fryer because your bagels and toppings won’t get soggy, and the bread will be toasted and soft with everything evenly warmed through! To reheat in the oven, remove the top of the bagel and the lettuce and place the sandwich open-faced in the basket. Set the air fryer to 350 F and heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
Repeat the same dis-assembling process for the microwave, and heat for about one to two minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
CAN YOU Freeze Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches?
Yes you can. However, I would recommend you freeze the Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches with only the omelette and bacon inside, and assemble with the sauces and produce when you’re ready to serve. This is because the veggies will end up limp and weird if you defrost them!
Wrap your Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container. These bagel sandwiches will stay good in the freezer for 3 to 4 months. I recommend you let your sandwich thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
What to Serve with Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches
If you’ve loaded up your Breakfast Bagel Sandwich to perfection, then it’s probably very hearty on its own! However, if you really want a complete breakfast as if you were getting a combo at your favourite fast food shop, then here are some options:
Yogurt
Fresh fruit
More Breakfast Recipes
I love to have fun with breakfast - although it’s hard to wake up in the morning, when you’ve got a delicious breakfast waiting for you, then that makes mornings a lot more bearable! Be sure to check out some of my other breakfast favourites:
Watch how to make The Perfect Breakfast Bagel Sandwich!
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!