Say hello to your new snack obsession! This simple and crave-worthy recipe for Homemade Bagel Chips transforms ordinary bagels into a crispy, savory treat. With just a few ingredients like extra virgin olive oil and your choice of seasonings — today, we’re doing ranch, but there are so many options — you can create a snack that’s not only tasty but also has a better texture and balance of seasonings, compared to store-bought chips. These bagel chips are perfect for munching on their own and are party-ready for scooping up your favorite dips and spreads.
Let’s address the obvious question right up front: Why not just buy bagel chips at the store? It’s true: a bag that you toss in your cart is super convenient. While I’m definitely a salty snack girl through and through, I don’t particularly care for retail bagel chips.
For one thing, they’re bizarrely crunchy. Way too hard and crunchy. As in, I worry about cracking a tooth crunchy. And for another, it doesn’t seem to matter what flavor you buy, there’s not enough of it. It all tastes like cardboard.
With Homemade Bagel Chips, you control the crunch, and you control the flavor. It’s one of the few snacks that’s actually worth making at home because the difference in quality is very noticeable.
And fortunately, they’re very easy to make! The hardest part — if you want to call it hard — is slicing the bagels. Seasoning the chips and baking them takes 20 minutes max. And, after the bagels are sliced, you can get the kids involved in tossing the chips in the seasoning, so you can turn it into a fun kitchen activity with an instant reward.
I love having a stash of homemade bagel chips around — not just for snacking and dunking in your favorite dips, such as veggie ranch or hummus (my favorite!), but also because they easily take the place of croutons in things like big, yummy chef’s salads and as toppings for soup (you know I had to make it about the soup!)
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
How to make Homemade Bagel Chips — a Visual Guide
Here are the easy steps for creating the bagel chips, along with step-by-step photos. Don’t forget to review the full recipe card below before starting to ensure you have all the ingredients prepared, along with details for each step, including preheating the oven.
Step 1: Slice the bagels
Slice both bagels into thin rounds. You can either make cuts into the whole bagel and work your way around the circle (see photo below) or slice the bagel into two halves (top through bottom, not through the center like sandwich slices), which makes it a little easier to cut the rounds.
Add the bagel rounds to a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Season the bagel slices
Toss the bagel slices with a light drizzle extra virgin olive oil and and half of the dry ranch seasoning mix. Drizzle a little oil again, along with the rest of the seasoning, doing your best to coat the slices without drowning them in oil.
It’s a little messy, but I recommend tossing the seasoned slices with your hands rather than a spatula or spoon. It’s much easier to use your fingers to turn the chips over and ensuring that they’re coated with the oil and seasonings. (Use dishwashing liquid to wash your hands afterward — it’s very effective at breaking up oil.)
Transfer the slices to a prepared baking sheet.
Step 3: Bake the bagel slices
Bake the bagel slices for 10-12 minutes total, until golden and lightly crispy. For best results, flip the chips at the 5-minute mark, to ensure even baking throughout each chip.
Let cool on the baking sheet before serving. Store in an airtight container.
I know it’s a pain flipping the chips but it prevents one side from being overcooked while the other side might be slightly undercooked. Here’s what I mean:
The chip on the left was flipped and is properly baked on both sides. The chip on the right was not flipped, and this is the over-baked underside (although the topside was perfect). The chip on the bottom is way over-baked all around and teeth-crackingly crunchy.
Cook’s Tips:
- You can use just about any flavor of bagel. I used plain here, but cheddar, rye, salted, poppyseed, and sesame seed are all lovely. Keep in mind that the toppings on certain bagel flavors might end up overcooked and singed once baked as chips (e.g., onion topping, oat topping, cinnamon streusel, etc.). Also, bagels with mix-ins, such as raisins or blueberries, might be weird on a bagel chip. Just a few things to consider when selecting your bagels.
- While you can use fresh bagels, the chips will be even better with day-old bakery bagels. A slightly stale bagel is also easier to slice into thin chips than a fresh, squooshy bagel. Grocery store packaged bagels have additives that keep them soft and pliable for many days, so “day old” doesn’t apply to them, only bakery-fresh bagels.
- If you’re making the chips for a party, you might want to buy an extra bagel to make sure you have enough slices. Sometimes a bakery bagel can bubble up in part of the bagel, leaving a big hollow spot that wastes an inch or so of bread. This happened in both of the bagels I used for the photos in this post. You can see one of the hollow spots in the whole bagel in the photo in Step 1 above.
- It’s a delicate balance to coat the chips with olive oil without over-saturating. The oil will help the chips crisp to their proper texture, but too much will produce a greasy chip. In general, it’s best to use too little oil rather than too much.
- Take care to distribute any seasonings you use evenly across the chips to avoid chips having powdery pockets of seasoning when you bite into them.
- Bagel chips store well in an airtight container for several days.
Flavor Variations to Try:
Today’s recipe features Ranch flavors, but there are plenty of options; here are a few I’ve tried. Use extra virgin olive oil with all, and follow the same seasoning and baking instructions.
- Everything Bagel — Everything Bagel seasoning mixed with grated parmesan cheese (use 1 tablespoon of seasoning per bagel).
- Salt and Pepper — A generous sprinkling of coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Garlic bread — Use Garlic Bread Seasoning (use 1 tablespoon of seasoning per bagel).
- Salt and Vinegar — Whisk a light splash of white wine vinegar with olive oil and drizzle over the chips; finish with coarse sea salt
Whether you’re planning party treats for the holidays, the Super Bowl, a picnic, or an afternoon snack for yourself and the kiddos, Homemade Bagel Chips are fresh and crunchy and customizable. They’re easy to make and can be prepared and baked up in under a half hour.
More Homemade Snacks:
Homemade Bagel Chips with Ranch Seasoning
Ingredients
- 2 large unsliced bagels (any flavor, even plain; day-old preferred)
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons ranch seasoning mix
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Slice both bagels into thin rounds going around the bagel. You can either make cuts into the whole bagel and work your way around the circle (see photos in the blog post) or slice the bagel into two halves (top through bottom, not through the center like sandwich slices), which makes it a little easier to cut the rounds.
- Add the bagel rounds to a mixing bowl. Drizzle the slices lightly with olive oil, then toss and drizzle again to ensure that everything gets a coating.
- Sprinkle half of the ranch seasoning over the slices, then toss and sprinkle again with the remaining tablespoon.
- Transfer the bagel rounds to the baking sheet, spreading them out in a single layer.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crispy (but not browned and crusty), flipping all of the rounds once, halfway through. (This is a pain, for sure, but doing so ensures a more even bake.)
- Let cool on the sheet, and serve.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container.