Bagels substitute

Substitutes for Bagels with ratios

1. 2English muffins

   Taste and texture differ

   1 muffin per half bagel, or 2 muffins per bagel

   Split and toasted, English muffins give you the two flat, sturdy, slightly chewy faces a bagel sandwich needs, and the nooks catch butter well.

   What changes

   Best for

   egg sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches, toast with cream cheese, mini pizzas

   Far less dense, so a whole muffin is roughly half the bread of a bagel and a filling stack will feel loose. They are also blander with no malt sweetness. Toast them harder than you think to stop wet toppings soaking through.

2. 3Bialy

   Different texture

   Use the same amount

   A bialy is the bagel's cousin from the same Ashkenazi bakery tradition, but it is baked rather than boiled and has a dimple of cooked onion and poppy seed in the middle instead of a hole.

   What changes

   Best for

   cream cheese, smoked fish, onion-forward sandwiches, eating plain and warm

   Noticeably softer and drier with a floury, papery crust rather than a shiny chewy one, and the baked onion pushes the flavor savory. It stales fast, so use it the day you buy it. Best swap if you want the same bakery flavor family and do not care about chew.

3. 4Dense sourdough or rye, cut thick and toasted

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 thick slice for every bagel half

   Cut slices a full inch thick from a tight-crumbed sourdough boule or a deli rye and toast them well.

   What changes

   The sour tang plays the role that a bagel's long fermentation plays.

   Best for

   lox platters, smoked fish, cream cheese and tomato, open-faced sandwiches

   It is more sour and more open-crumbed, so juices from tomato and onion will run through instead of sitting on top. Rye in particular is the traditional partner for smoked fish, so this often tastes better than a bagel rather than worse.

4. 5Ciabatta or kaiser roll

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 roll for every bagel

   A crusty white roll split and lightly toasted.

   What changes

   The kaiser is the closer of the two because its crumb is tighter.

   Best for

   sandwiches, burgers, hot fillings

   The crumb is airy and the crust shatters rather than chews, so the sandwich compresses under your hand in a way a bagel never does. It works, but nobody will mistake it for a bagel.

5. 6Challah or brioche roll

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 roll for every bagel

   An enriched, eggy roll.

   What changes

   Both are made from bread dough but enriched with egg, fat and sugar, which is the opposite of what a bagel is.

   Best for

   sweet toppings, jam and butter, French toast

   This is the least-bad swap only if sweet is what you want. It is soft, cakey and clearly sweet, and it turns to mush within minutes under cream cheese, tomato or anything wet. Do not use it for a lox platter.

6. 7Pita bread or flatbread

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 pita for every bagel

   Split a thick pita into two rounds and toast until it crisps at the edges.

   What changes

   Best for

   quick breakfast, cream cheese, bagel-chip style crisps

   There is no chew at all and very little flavor, so this is purely a vehicle. Its real strength is bagel chips: brush with oil, salt and sesame or poppy seed, and bake at 350F until snapping crisp.