Everything Bagel Seasoning
This everything bagel seasoning recipe is the best. The trick is toasting the seeds and spices in a skillet for true everything bagel flavor!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on June 6, 2025
Do you love everything bagels? Me, too. They’ve always been my favorite. When we were little, our parents would take us to the bagel shop on Sundays. I’d jump up and down for an everything bagel, while my brothers opted for cinnamon raisin. No, thanks!
As an adult, I’ve begrudgingly come to realize that white bread doesn’t work for me. So, I opt for plain whole-grain bagels when bagels present themselves, even though what I really want is an everything bagel.
Imagine my delight when I discovered how to make my own everything bagel spice blend. Now I can make any bagel an everything bagel! I can even make toast taste like an everything bagel. You can use this blend on much more, as you’ll see below.
Everything bagel blend is made with simple ingredients—you’ll need sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced garlic and onion, kosher salt and red pepper flakes (omit the flakes if you’re sensitive to spice). You should be able to find them all in the spice aisle at your nearest grocery store.
The trick to making the best everything bagel seasoning is to toast it in a skillet. If you think about it, everything bagels go through the oven with the seeds and spices on the outside, so the toasted flavor is key. It’s savory, nutty and aromatic, just like a real everything bagel.
Freshly toasted everything bagel seasoning tastes way better than store-bought blends, like Trader Joe’s “Everything But the Bagel” blend, which often taste borderline rancid by the time they get home. Let’s make some.
Uses for Everything Bagel Seasoning
Think beyond bagels! This seasoning blend recipe adds flavor to all kinds of snacks and side dishes. The blend will stick best on ingredients that are creamy or wet, like avocado, cucumber, cream cheese and sauces. Keep in mind that the seasoning contains salt, so you may want to scale back the salt on whatever you’re serving it with.
Here are a few ways to use it:
- On toast. Sprinkle it over avocado toast, buttered toast, or cream cheese on toast. It’s surprisingly good on peanut butter toast, too.
- On soup. I can vouch that this blend adds some fun flavor and crunch when sprinkled over creamy cauliflower soup. (I have a hunch it would be good on mashed potatoes, too.)
- On vegetables. Try it on sliced cucumber or tomatoes, or take your roasted vegetables to the next level. I loved it on roasted Brussels sprouts with a swoosh of tahini sauce underneath. Both the spice blend and tahini contain sesame seeds, so they go great together. This treatment would be great on roasted broccoli or green beans, too.
- On dips. Try sprinkling everything bagel blend on hummus, tahini sauce or sour cream-based dips.
- On sandwiches or salads. A little sprinkle can make a basic tomato sandwich or green salad taste more interesting.
- On eggs. Try it on scrambled eggs or fried eggs with avocado or tomato, with toast on the side.
- On popcorn. Everything blend on stovetop popcorn? Have mercy. Drizzle it with extra-virgin olive oil or butter before tossing to help it stick.
Watch How to Make Toasted Everything Bagel Seasoning
Looking for more fun homemade spice blends? Try my recipes for za’atar, dukkah and easy vegan Parmesan. You’ll find many more homemade sauces, spreads and condiments here.
Please let me know how you use your everything bagel blend in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Everything Bagel Seasoning
The trick to making the best everything bagel seasoning is to toast the seeds and spices in a skillet! That way, it tastes just like a freshly toasted everything bagel. Recipe yields a little over ⅓ cup (6 tablespoons).
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons dried minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- In a small skillet, combine the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onion, dried garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes (if using).
- Warm over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the spices are fragrant and the sesame seeds are turning barely golden on the edges, about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the pan, as the seeds can burn if they are not stirred frequently, especially during the last couple of minutes.
- Transfer the mix to a small bowl to cool. Store cooled leftover spice blend in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to 1 month (if it starts to taste bitter or off, the toasted seeds have gone bad).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my cookbook, Love Real Food.
Change it up: I love to add 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds or pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) to the skillet for an extra boost of seedy flavor and crunch. Hemp seeds would be good, too.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Sorry you felt the need to disparage Trader Joe’s “everything but the bagel” since that’s really where you got the idea, isn’t it?
Saying she likes it made fresh her way isn’t disparaging Trader Joe’s. It’s
Like homemade cake rather than Betty Crocker. Not a big deal.
Thank you, Nancy!
Carol, I didn’t go into details in the post, but here’s the deal. Heat greatly speeds up the oxidation process in seeds. If you buy a store-bought blend that includes toasted seeds, they are likely going bad already (they taste bitter, not to mention, they don’t offer the health benefits that they once did). That’s why I always advocate for buying raw seeds (and nuts) and toasting them yourself. They last longer and taste way better.
I wasn’t the first person to come up with everything bagel seasoning. In fact, I don’t know who came up with everything bagels in the first place. This recipe originates from my cookbook, which was due to my publisher at the end of 2016. Trader Joe’s launched their seasoning in early 2017.
:::::: mic drop:::::
LOL! Loved that reply!
Excellent Recipe Nancy, and your response was Spot On! Good for you!!! My sister turned me on to your site. She made your Granola and then brought me some as hostess gift from Savannah Georgia to NC. It enjoyed the trek on I-95 beautifully and intact, despite the 80 pound hungry Golden Retriever sitting beside it. My husband tried it first. He couldn’t stop eating it! Lol. It is indeed delicious and I have made it several times since then. My sister even made him his own batch, in a Half Gallon Mason Jar as an extra Christmas gift. Btw, it keeps really well vacuum sealed with an O2 and a moister absorber in the jar with it. Take Care and I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Sincerely, Cheri
Did you have a bad day when you wrote this comment ? What do you mean by “disparage”. Kate is a great cook, I love her recipes and her cookbook. If you dont like recipe ideas to eat better, healthier and cheaper, then do not read! I made this and it was great!!
You aren’t really sorry, are you? No, the idea came from eating everything bagels as a kid. As others have posted, it’s the difference between fresh, homemade and store bought. If nothing else, homemade lets one customize the composition.
How do you get the mix to stay on the bagel?
Hey Jan! If you’re making bagels from scratch, most recipes call for brushing egg wash over the bagels before sprinkling with everything bagel blend (no need to toast the seasoning beforehand, because you then bake the bagels). This recipe is really intended to be a ready-made condiment, so I would just sprinkle it over halved bagels (would stick better with cream cheese or butter on top) or anything else.
I’m a New Yorker living in Austria and have learned how to make NY-style bagels. They are boiled before baking and any toppings are put on the bagel when they’re taken out of the water (no egg wash). I put the toppings in a bowl and place the bagel top-side down in it so a lot sticks to it. Best way to add this great ‘everything’ topping.
That’s such a great idea to toast it, it was easy to make the smaller recipe too rather than a big batch. Also love the different ideas to change it up, I’m excited to try those next time!
I hope you love it, Sarah! Thanks for sharing.
Dave’s Bread makes an everything bagel with a metric truck ton of whole grains.
Also, I assume this is for mixing into hummus or cream cheese? Looks yummy–can’t wait to try it.
Sure! Those are both great options for this seasoning.
Just tried it on scrambled eggs. Delicious!
A great use for this seasoning!
Your recipe for everything bagel avocado toast in your cookbook changed by breakfast life! It is SO GOOD! Especially with a scrambled or fried egg on top!
Thank you for sharing, Rebecca!
Also Kate, I hope you don’t let negative or unkind comments get you down. You’re so talented, creative, and good at what you do! I feed my family and friends your recipes all the time, and they’re always a hit!
I agree with you about cinnamon raisin bagels. Ewwwww!
:)
I got your cookbook and enjoy the recipes however you don’t include the macros and many people use them. Is there a place you have the macros of the tecipes in the book or are they already entered i. MY FITNESS PAL? It really is a PAIN to manually enter the recipes
Hi Kim, I’m sorry you are frustrated. I didn’t add nutrition to my cookbook as it would have been a much bigger cookbook! Thanks for your feedback.
OMG – The best possible seasoning recipe I’ve EVER made & used. The flavor was SUPERB! Now I know you probably hate to hear about adjustments to your recipes BUT
My dried onion bits were browning more quickly than the sesames
so I removed that batch & added another batch of sesames that were lovely & brown. THEN, I didn’t have access to any dried minced garlic so I used my dried coarse garlic ‘powder’ and toasted it for about 45 seconds. PERFECTO
THANK YOU Kate & Cookie for a wonderful seasoning!
I’m happy to hear you loved it, Margaret! Thanks for sharing your feedback. What type of pan did you use and the heat level?
ah! Found your reply Kate. I used my 50 yr old cast iron pan that looks like yours and medium high heat. But I tended it and stirred it pretty well constantly until it was browned up nicely.
I want to try this recipe out but having a hard time finding dried minced garlic. I’m in Toronto so do have access to a lot of specialty stores. Any tips?
Thanks!!
Hi! That’s surprising you can’t find it. Have you tried looking online?
I’m in Calgary, and get it at Walmart. TO should have it, too.
As for the recipe, I haven’t tried it yet but I appreciate that it doesn’t call for black sesame seeds (not that that would have stopped me – just put more white). I’m a recent convert to Everything Seasoning on bagels (my fave now) AND a recent lover of avocado toast! I use my no-knead bread recipe, which makes the best toast and put either a hard boiled egg on it, or a tomato. So yummy. Not sure what to rate, but since it’s for both of your recipes, I’ll go with the 5 :)
Thank you for your review, Sandra!
Thanks for the tip about Walmart! Loving this recipe in Toronto!
So weird thing totally unrelated to this recipe. 2 days ago I received your email about perfect lentils. Could not get it open so deleted it. It came back. I have deleted it more than 20 times, but it keeps coming back. And still won’t let me delete it and I cant open it either. Tried sending it to spam, but it didnt go. Still in my inbox. Any ideas?
Hi Linda, That is so strange and not something I have set-up on my end at all. Maybe try clearing your cache? Let me know!
Kate, thanks for your response to my weird problem and the suggestion to clear the cache. I’m not at all technically inclined so had to look up how to do it! Sadly, it didn’t have any effect. I have tried spam, trash, archive..
It doesn’t show up in those places, just the inbox. Maybe the next time I see my son-in-law he can figure it out. No biggie. Love your site!
You’re welcome, Linda! Thanks for your note back :)
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Where do I find dried onion and garlic?
In your seasoning aisle as the grocery store. I hope that helps!
Hi Kate, I’m an American living in Italy and my teenage daughter and I love making your recipes. We gave her your cookbook two years ago for Christmas! Coming from NYC, the thing I miss the most from back home are bagels. Over the years I’ve learned how to make pretty good ones, but I’m tired of schlepping the TJ seed mix in my luggage to make everything bagels, which are our hands down favorites too. I would love to try this recipe, but cannot find dried minced garlic (only garlic powder) and dried minced onion here. Any suggestions? Thanks so much!
Hi Holly! I love that you’re making homemade bagels in Italy. You could try substituting a smaller amount of garlic and onion powder, but I’m afraid that minced dried garlic/onion are pretty key to proper flavor/texture. I’m sorry!
Oh my goodness, this is perfect! I was just going to buy some everything bagels, but had no idea making the seasoning from scratch could be so simple! I was just browsing on your site and immediately clicked when I saw! Thank you again, Kate, for a yummy recipe!
Was absolutely delicious
Beautiful Blend, Looks and tastes amazing yummo. THANKYOU
What would be a good substitute for dried minced garlic. I can’t find it anywhere. And the only dried onion I could find is flakes.
Garlic powder or granulated could work, however you will need a lot less and may be slightly stronger garlic flavor.
What would chai seeds instead of poppy seeds in the everything bagel be like?
Hi Leslie, I haven’t tried it. Let me know if you do!
Hi Cookie and Kate, just wanted to tell you bagel spice blend is wonderful when baking homemade bread. I get my organic flours from Janies Mill in Illinois to bake great homemade bread. Absolutely love it. Maybe a little too much.
Great to hear! Thank you for sharing, Deb.