Are Bagels Vegetarian? Vegan? Healthy?

It can be hard to keep track of anything in today’s age, even things that affect your health. 

There’s too much going on, the world is too busy, and food products have too many brands that do things differently. With such a wide variety, you may find that some foods produced by one company are safe for your diet and another company producing the same food might add unhealthy ingredients. 

I mention that because this article will cover frequently asked questions about bagels, some answers may differ if they’re bought from certain companies.

What Makes Something Vegetarian?

There are a few variations of a vegetarian diet since people will adopt the diet for various reasons. Some people may want a plant-based diet for health reasons and some may have an environmentally conscious reason. 

Regardless of the reason, the most common definition of a vegetarian diet seems to be a plant-based diet that excludes meat, poultry, and fish. Some vegetarians are fine with including dairy and eggs in their allowable foods. This is one of the big differences between vegetarians and vegans, the inclusion of animal-produced goods. Every vegan (by definition) will be against eating eggs or dairy. 

Are Bagels Healthy?

Bagels are a very common breakfast item. I’m sure you’ve heard breakfast “is one of the most important meals of the day”. So if breakfast is an essential meal then you should only be eating the healthiest foods. So is that what bagels are, healthy breakfast foods?

It can be hard to determine how healthy bagels are as the ingredients can vary on who makes them. The basic ingredients are usually wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast. There are often spices added along with some sugar, making their base ingredients fairly easy to track. 

Overall, the average bagel of 100g will have roughly 280 calories, 11 grams of protein, 2 grams of fat, 55 grams of carbs, and a few vitamins at lower percentages.

There are worse foods you could eat and bagels are certainly a great source of carbs if that’s what your diet needs. Alternatively, if you’re on a keto diet they might not be a good option. 

Another obvious downside is the high amount of calories for such a small meal item. Anyone who’s had a bagel knows how easy it is to eat more than 100g worth. 

Are Bagels Vegetarian?

A basic bagel made from wheat flour or grains, water, and yeast will be vegetarian-friendly. In fact, even most of the bagels made with common spices or additives will be vegetarian unless you don’t eat eggs. While many bagels aren’t made with eggs, you should still check the ingredients if you’re against having eggs in your diet. 

Are Bagels Made With Eggs?

Bagels are made with a few different ingredients and they can vary depending on whos making them. One of the ingredients that can be used in bagels is eggs. 

So yes, bagels can be made with eggs but some are made simply with flour, salt, water, and yeast. The only way to know for certain if your bagel is made with eggs is to ask the baker who made them or find the info on the ingredients section of any packaged bagels. 

Are Panera Bagels Vegan?

According to the Panera Bread website and its vegan options menu, they aren’t any bagels listed on it. That may be because there are a few questionable ingredients on some bagels, but the plain bagel doesn’t seem to have any non-vegan ingredients. 

As far as the ingredients listed, plain bagels and a few others should be vegan safe, but I recommend viewing the ingredients yourself as every vegan may have different standards to what they allow in their diet. 

Are Panera Cinnamon Bagels Vegan?

There are a few cinnamon bagels offered by Panera. The one I’m looking at is the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel. 

Although the Panera Bagel has plenty of vegan-friendly ingredients, it has whole milk powder making the Cinnamon Bagel non-vegan.

Are Starbucks Bagels Vegan?

We’ve discussed how some bagels are vegan and how some are not. Since it depends on the ingredients, it can be difficult to determine if a bagel was made to be vegan. 

So what about Starbucks bagels, are they vegan? 

According to the Starbucks website, most of their bagels are vegan and vegetarian other than the Everything And Cheddar Bagel. Thankfully, Starbucks is fairly good about labeling products as vegan or not. So, if you’re ever wondering about a bagel from Starbucks being vegan or not, it should show on their menu!

Are New York Bagels Vegan?

What about New york Company Bakery Co. bagels? Thankfully, all of the bagels that are not made with eggs by New York Bakery are vegan safe. I would double-check with their menus though as they may have updated their ingredients or added new bagels to their menu options. 

Vegan Bagel Toppings

So you have a bagel that’s vegan safe and want some options for toppings. Well, the most common toppings are cream cheese or another dairy alternative, which are definitely not vegan. So what do you choose? 

There are a few options for vegan bagel toppings and it will come down to what your preferences are. Here are some examples of vegan bagel toppings. 

1. Vegan cream cheese
2. Avocado
3. Tomato
4. Onion
5. Hummus
6. Vegan cheeses

You can combine any of the ingredients above or come up with some other vegan combinations! A common delicious combo is avocado with tomato and onion!

Summary

Bagels are vegetarian and vegan friendly as long as they aren’t made with eggs or have any dairy toppings. The most common recipes for plain bagels don’t contain any dairy products or eggs, so it’s usually a safe assumption that a plain bagel will be vegan.