A bagel bar is a perfect idea for any brunch! It’s minimal prep work, a total crowd-pleaser, and incredibly easy to pull together with these tips and free printable labels!
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My eldest son choose to follow Jesus Christ by being baptized. After the baptism, it’s customary to serve a few refreshments while everyone mingles.
His would be ending shortly before lunchtime, so I didn’t want to serve an array of sweets (I didn’t think the parents would appreciate that!). But I also didn’t want to provide a full meal either. I wanted the focus to be on the baptism itself, not the feast guests would receive afterwards!
So I decided to create a bagel bar.
It really was the perfect option. Mainly because the prep work was so minimal that my attention wasn’t distracted from the baptism by all the food prep I needed to do! And of course everyone loved the bagels and the kids weren’t hocked up on sugar! 😉
How to Create a Bagel Bar for a Brunch or Party
What I love about a bagel bar is how versatile it is. It can be as extravagant or as simple as you would like. Keep it minimal with a few varieties of spreads and bagels, or go all out with a wide variety of toppings, spreads, and bagel choices. It’s really up to you!
We kept our bagel bar simple, but I most definitely would enjoy creating a more lavish one for a baby shower, bridal shower, or fun get-together in the future! There are just so many options and with the variety of toppings, everyone is bound to find a bagel combo they love.
Here are a few simple steps to keep in mind when setting up your bagel bar.
1. Choose Your Bagels
Offer an Assortment
It wouldn’t be a bagel bar without options! Even if you are going simple, it’s nice to serve a variety of bagels to please everyone’s taste buds. Some popular bagel choices include asiago, blueberry, cinnamon raisin, whole wheat, plain, everything. Cinnamon has always been one of my favorites!
Serve Small Portions
Serve mini bagels, or cut regular-sized bagels into halves or quarters. This allows guests to try a few different combinations before getting full.
Fresh is Best
Whether you decide to bake your own or purchase them, nothing beats fresh bagels! We bought ours earlier that morning to ensure they tasted great. You can also set out a toaster so guests can add a little crunch.
2. Add a Variety of Spreads
Variety
Cream cheese is a must, but feel free to branch out from just plain cream cheese! It’s nice to have a few different flavors of cream cheese be it savory or sweet along with the plain cream cheese. Try mixing in a few herbs like chives and garlic or blend in maple syrup and cinnamon for some delicious combinations.
Prep Ahead
You’ll want to make the cream cheese blends the day before so the flavors have time to incorporate. Which works out well because that means one less task for you to complete the day of! And it’s also a good idea to remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator a little before guests arrive to allow it to soften.
Think Beyond Cream Cheese
And don’t stop at cream cheese when you think of spreads! Some delicious spread ideas on a fresh bagel include:
- Nut Butters: Peanut, almond, or cashew butter
- Hummus
- Pesto
- Nutella
- Tuna or Chicken Salad
- Guacamole
- Jam/Preserves
- Honey Butter
- Apple Butter
3. Include Toppings for Your Bagel Bar
Assortment
You could stop at the bagels and cream cheese if you want to keep it simple. But if you are in the mood to go elaborate, it’s all in the toppings! From meats and veggies to fruit and sliced cheese, there are a slew of options because really, what doesn’t go with bread?! Basically think of creating a cheese board and you’ll have the general gist of everything you can have!
Some deliciously popular bagel bar toppings choices include:
- Fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
- Smoked salmon
- Prosciutto
- Turkey
- Sliced Cheeses
- Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Cucumber
- Red onion
- Capers
- Lemon wedges
These toppings easily take any bagel to first class for sure!
4. Style & Set Up Your Bagel Bar
Dress it up
Now comes the fun part of styling your bagel buffet bar! Use cutting boards, platters, cute butter knives, spoons, and mismatched bowls to arrange and serve your bagels, spreads, and toppings. Your guests will be so impressed and will have no clue how easy it was for you to put together!
A little added height here and there can also make your bagel setup more visually appealing. We used a small piece of wood to slightly elevate and set apart the mini white bowls
Label it
Sometimes we seem to go overboard with our food labeling (*guilty). But with bagels looking so similar and also not always knowing what the spreads are, it’s a good idea to have them labeled. Obvious items like fruit and vegetables can speak for themselves. 🙂
For the bagels, I created mini flag labels and wrapped them around a small wood stick that I then secured with a little glue. I then inserted the flags into the last bagel on the tray.
For the spreads, I printed my matching tent cards on cardstock and placed them in front of each bowl. Links to all the labels are below!
Okay so I really didn’t need to label the water, but since it was for a baptism I couldn’t help myself with the little play on words! 😉
Free Bagel Bar Printable Labels
I’ve added several more spread labels and bagel labels for you than just the ones I used for the baptism. Also included are the drink labels which are on the same download as the bagel labels.
Download the free Bagel Label Tags here!
All designs are for PERSONAL USE ONLY. You may not forward, share, sell or re-distribute the file. Ownership and copyright over all designs & graphics contained in the files are property of AspenJay.
To download your free Bagel Spread Labels click HERE!
I hope you have a blast creating your own bagel bar — it’s such an easy way to serve a crowd while still keeping things simple and special.
Have any favorite topping combinations or tips to share? Let us know in the comments below — I’d love to hear what you would add!
Be sure to save this pin for later!
Beautiful idea!!!
The PDF only opens 1 page =(
Is there a way for the printables be sent to an email address?
Thanks!
Hi Liz,
Did you click on both links to download the files? One is for the tags which is only one page and the other are for the labels which is two pages.
Yay! Got them! Thank you so much!
Love this! We are doing a bagel bar for our teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week and would love to use your classy labels. Our bagel selections are different. I am not able to edit a PDF. Would you be willing to share the actual file for this so I can make the changes?
Love this idea, we are doing a bagel bar this weekend and some of the bagels and cream cheese we are using is different, do you have the font used so I can switch them out myself? Let me know thanks!