Sourdough bagels are savory, chewy, crusty, and deliciously tangy. These are an amazing way to start your morning or to enjoy for a yummy brunch.
Sourdough may be one of my favorite ways to start the morning, whether it be breakfast strata, pancakes, English muffins, crepes, or these delicious bagels.
It’s a delicious, easy, and filling way to start our busy days, fueled up.
Bagels may seem intimidating, but I promise that they really aren’t that difficult. It’s much like making any baked sourdough recipe, with the added step of cooking it in boiling water for a few minutes before baking.
These sourdough bagels have a yummy and tangy flavor, pairing really well with sweet or savory dishes. They’re a wonderful comfort food.
I love slathering cream cheese or homemade butter all over them.
Below, I share a few different variations and a bunch of bagel sandwich ideas.
Sourdough Bagel FAQ
Are all bagels sourdough?
No. They are typically leavened with either sourdough or commercial yeast. Unless they are specifically labeled as sourdough, you can expect bagels to be made with commercial yeast.
Why is there a hole in a bagel?
There is a hole for more even cooking throughout. This also helps with crust development.
Are bagels bad for you?
While they tend to be higher in calories, these simple sourdough bagels are made with wholesome ingredients and healthy fermented grains.
What do you eat bagels with?
There are so many ways to eat bagels. Most commonly, they are served with cream cheese. See below for sandwich recommendations.
Why are bagels boiled at first?
You boil bagels first to set the crust, which allows them to hold their shape in the oven. The longer you boil them, the thicker the crust. Boiling for 60 seconds on each side yields the perfect result. Although this step may seem silly, don’t skip it – it is one of the most important.
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Tips:
- Use a slotted spoon or ‘spider’ strainer to flip and pull the bagels out of the boiling water.
- If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can check out this post, where I show you exactly how to make a starter from scratch.
- Cook 2-4 bagels in the baking soda water at a time. Don’t overcrowd your pot.
- You can knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer. A stand mixer is much easier and less time consuming.
Tools you may need:
Measuring cups and spoons
Large pot or dutch oven
Parchment paper
Topping ideas
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sesame seeds
- Dried onion/dried garlic flakes
- Poppy seeds
- Everything But The Bagel seasoning
- Cinnamon sugar topping
Additional Bagel Add-Ins:
Mix in these extras into the dough right before forming into bagels:
Blueberries – add fresh blueberries
Cinnamon and raisins
Chocolate chips
How To Make Sourdough Bagels From Scratch
Add sourdough starter, water, honey, salt, and two cups of flour to a stand mixer.
Mix until it comes together, about 10 minutes on low speed. The dough will be really stiff and difficult to incorporate.
Add remaining flour, half a cup at a time. Use a dough hook and knead until it is smooth and pliable. You could also knead by hand, but the stand mixer makes this process much easier.
Cover dough with wet tea towel, plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap; allow to ferment for 8 to 12 hours. Don’t just cover with a dry towel, because it will create a hard skin on the top of your dough, which you don’t want.
After the dough has fermented, divide into 8 equal pieces.
Roll the dough into balls, flatten them down a bit, and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Stretch the hole a bit to widen.
Cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm spot for two hours or until puffy. The time will depend on how warm your house is. It could take 1 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda and sugar.
Using a slotted spoon, gently add bagels to the water and boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.
Shake off excess water and dip into desired toppings (optional).
Place boiled bagels on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden on top.
Sourdough Bagel Sandwich Ideas
Truly, a sourdough bagel is a vessel for the yummy toppings you want to add.
- Breakfast sandwich – add a fried egg, bacon or sausage, cheese, and some lettuce for a yummy way to start your morning.
- Cream cheese and veggie. Spread cream cheese on bagel, add slices of tomato, cucumber, avocado (optional). Sprinkle with salt and enjoy.
- Avocado… bagel. Rather than toast. Add sliced avocado and sprinkle with salt.
- Locks – cream cheese and smoked salmon (locks) make a really delicious sandwich any time of day.
- Turkey club. Really any of your favorite lunch meat will do; top with slices of cheese, tomato, avocado, and an egg.
- Ham and cheese. Top with ham and a slice of Swiss or cheddar cheese. Bake it in the oven until the cheese starts to melt. Honey mustard takes this up a notch.
- Add chicken salad
Find More Sourdough Recipes:
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars!
Sourdough Bagels
Ingredients
- ½ cup sourdough starter, bubbly and active (113 grams)
- 1 cup water, 236 grams
- 2 tablespoons honey, 21 grams
- 2 teaspoons salt, 10 grams
- 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 560 grams
For boiling the bagels
- 2 quarts water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Add sourdough starter, water, honey, salt, and two cups flour to a stand mixer.
- Mix until it comes together, about 10 minutes on low speed. The dough will be really stiff and difficult to incorporate.
- Add remaining flour, half a cup at a time. Use a dough hook and knead until it is smooth and pliable.
- Cover dough with wet tea towel, plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap and allow to ferment for 8 to 12 hours.
- After fermentation, divide into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll the dough into balls, flatten them down a bit, and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Stretch the hole a bit to widen.
- Cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm spot for 1-4 hours or until puffy.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda and sugar.
- Using a slotted spoon, gently add bagels to the water and boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.
- Shake off excess water and dip into desired toppings (optional).
- Place boiled bagels on parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden on top.
Notes
- Use a slotted spoon or ‘spider’ strainer to flip and to pull the bagels out of the boiling water.
- Cook 2-4 bagels in the baking soda water at a time. Don’t overcrowd your pot.
- You can knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer. A stand mixer is much easier and less time consuming.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My toppings burned and ruined the top of them so I will
Not add toppings before cooking next time.
Mine started getting really dark brown so I turned the temp down. I’m also only go do the baking soda boil for 30 seconds each side and see if that helps.
Hey Lisa,
Im wondering what Im doing wrong, the bagels rise and look so pretty but when I take them off the pan to boil them, they deflate and are stuck to the pan…help!
Even though I know I have messed up – twice, these bagels are still very good. I have high expectations for your recipes because all that I’ve tried have turned out great – English Muffins, French Bread and soups. Are you or someone able to help me?
The first time, I read the recipe wrong and added 2 cups or flour to the ferment for 12 hours and another 2 cups afterward – the dough didn’t rise. Then, I shaped them and left to rise, but didn’t use a “wet” tea towel. They hardened and didn’t rise. I still boiled, seasoned the tops, and baked them and they tasted really good. When cut, the crumb inside was normal for a bagel.
The second try, I doubled the recipe since I thought I knew what I did wrong and were good even so. This time, I added the appropriate amount of flour to the ferment for 12 hours (no rise), shaped and used a wet tea towel to cover, but they still didn’t rise – maybe a little, but not like the photos!! Again they were flat, but still tasty. Does anyone know what I did wrong?? Thank you so much!! 🙂
BTW – I thought that maybe my house was too cold, so I even warmed up the oven before fermenting, the second time. Both times, I warmed up my oven to about 200 degrees before proofing the bagels.
Can you let them longer ferment/rise? Longer than the first 12 hour? Like what if I made them in the afternoon and they rose for closer to 16hours? Would that harm anything?
That will be fine!
Just made these this morning and WOW! So tasty!! I put brown sugar, cinnamon, and regular sugar topping. Big hit with my 5 littles. Highly recommend 🤤🙌🏻
wondering if anyone has made these with an extended ferment in the fridge? i’ve done this with my sourdough bread to really reduce the gluten content. thinking to do a 24 hour fridge slow ferment. i will let you know how it turns out as i have my dough in the fridge now!
Does the starter need to be fed and bubbly? Mine has been residing in the fridge for the past 2 weeks? I know you said some things you make it doesn’t matter if it’s fed or right out of the fridge.
Can I slow down fermentation in fridge for a longer period? Any idea how long? Thanks!
i am wondering the same!
I’m wondering the same as well. Please answer us Lisa
🙏🏻
Yes for sure! I have placed them in the refrigerator and different times and it has worked out beautifully. I will say though that I have placed the bagels in the fridge after the first fermentation (I ran out of time to shape and didn’t want the dough to over-ferment) and that did make shaping them more challenging. Still worked.
First time making bagels and these are so good! I had very low expectations just because of the dense dough (it rose very, very little). However, they turned out great! I dipped the bottom in cornmeal and half in Everything seasoning, half in brown sugar/cinnamon. Thanks for another great sourdough recipe!
Lisa, I made these this morning. My husband and daughter loved having them warm from the oven before heading to work this chilly morning. I’ve had a sourdough starter for over ten years but these were my first bagels. The dough is easy to work with and I let them ferment after forming them in the oven overnight. They were so pretty. We love bagels but my husband said they were the best he’s had. Wow! And they can only get better now that I know what I’m doing. 😊 Thank you for sharing your recipe. It is a keeper!