Everything Bagel Seasoning
Updated February 28, 2026
Quick Summary
This Everything Bagel Seasoning recipe is the perfect homemade spice blend made with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and flaky salt. It takes just minutes to mix together and instantly adds bold, savory flavor to bagels, avocado toast, eggs, vegetables, chicken, and more. Skip the store-bought jar and make your own everything seasoning at home, it’s fresher, customizable, and so easy!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItTable of Contents
Homemade Everything Bagel Seasoning
If you’ve ever grabbed a jar of the famous Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Seasoning and sprinkled it on, well… everything! You already know how magical this blend is. It’s savory, crunchy, garlicky, and instantly makes simple food taste better.
I started making my own homemade Everything Bagel Seasoning when I realized how easy it is and honestly, I love my DIY version even more. It’s fresher, you can control the salt level, and you can adjust the garlic and onion to get the flavor exactly how you like it. Once you make it at home, you’ll see there’s no reason to rely on store-bought.
This seasoning blend takes just five minutes to stir together and completely transforms everyday meals. A sprinkle on avocado toast, eggs, roasted vegetables, potatoes, or even chicken adds texture, crunch, and bold flavor.
If you keep a jar in your pantry (and you should!), you’ll find yourself reaching for it constantly. It’s one of those simple kitchen staples that makes you feel like you have a secret weapon.
Ingredients & Helpful Notes
You only need a handful of pantry staples to make this homemade everything bagel seasoning blend:
- White sesame seeds: Add nutty flavor and classic everything bagel taste. Make sure they’re fresh for best flavor.
- Black sesame seeds: Provide color contrast and slightly deeper sesame flavor. If you don’t have them, you can use all white sesame seeds.
- Poppy seeds: Give the blend its signature crunch and subtle nutty flavor.
- Dried minced garlic: Use dried garlic flakes, not garlic powder, for texture and bold flavor.
- Dried minced onion: Adds savory depth and slight sweetness. Again, flakes are best, not powder.
- Flaky sea salt or coarse salt: Flaky salt gives the best texture. Adjust the amount to your taste.
Tips for Making Everything Bagel Seasoning
- Make sure your seasonings are fresh! Because this recipe is so simple, freshness really matters. If your sesame or poppy seeds smell dull or stale, your seasoning will too.
- Stir well so the salt and spices are evenly distributed.
- Taste and adjust before storing. add more garlic, onion, or salt if needed.
- If you prefer deeper flavor, you can lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet before mixing (let them cool completely first).
- Double or triple the batch if you use it often, it disappears quickly!
How to Use Everything Bagel Seasoning
This seasoning blend is incredibly versatile. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it:
- Sprinkle over buttered or cream cheese slathered bagels
- Add to avocado toast (a must!)
- Season scrambled, fried, hard-boiled eggs, or even deviled eggs
- Sprinkle over cottage cheese, whipped cottage cheese, or Greek yogurt
- Toss with roasted vegetables!
- They are so good on roasted potatoes!
- Season chicken, salmon, or tofu before baking
- Add to popcorn or Chex Mix for a savory snack
- Stir into hummus or dips
- Sprinkle over salads for crunch
It adds texture, crunch, and that savory garlic-onion flavor we all love.
How to Store
Store everything bagel seasoning in an airtight container or spice jar in a cool, dry place. It will stay fresh for up to 6 months, though the flavor is best within the first few months. Give the jar a little shake before each use to redistribute the ingredients.
Everything Bagel Seasoning
Equipment
- Sealed Jar (these Ball mason jars are so cute!)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons flaked sea salt or coarse salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and salt. Stir until well combined. Store in a sealed jar or container.
Notes
- Use dried minced garlic and dried minced onion (flakes) for the best texture, avoid garlic or onion powder.
- Make sure your sesame seeds and poppy seeds are fresh for the best flavor. If they smell dull or stale, replace them.
- You can adjust the salt level to your taste or omit it entirely if preferred.
- Don’t have black sesame seeds? Simply use all white sesame seeds instead.
- For deeper flavor, lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet and let them cool completely before mixing.
- Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. Shake before using.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
Leave a comment below and share a photo on Instagram. Tag @twopeasandpod and hashtag it with #twopeasandtheirpod
More Homemade Seasoning Recipes
Love making your own spice blends? Try our easy Homemade Taco Seasoning next, it’s perfect for tacos, taco salads, burrito bowls, and more!
I couldn’t find black sesame seeds at my grocery. Did you buy them at a specialty store? Thanks!
I bought them at Smith’s, a Kroger store.
Black sesame seed can be found at Indian, Pakistani and health food stores. Pensey’s spices carry it either in your local store or by mail and Amazon will mail it to you anywhere.
The seasoning mix is even better if you toast the poppy seeds and both sesame seeds. It enhances the flavor tremendously!
This is wonderful!! I never thought of doing this myself and now I can’t wait to make your recipe, but I did purchase the new seasoning with the same name at Trader Joe’s. One favorite way I use it other than on muffins and bread is mixing it with fresh mozzarella cheese and serving it on toast or on top of fresh sliced tomatoes… a quick melt under the broiler takes this over the top. Now my husband enjoys the cheese!! It is also great on scrambled eggs…..
Thank you so much for this. If anybody makes whole wheat everything bagels, I can’t find them where I live. Now I can have everything on any bagel I want, as much as I want. I plan to dress baked potatoes with it, too. I did leave out the salt. For me, it turns out it isn’t necessary.
Hi, do you know if the dried minced garlic (and possibly the coarse salt also) can be substituted with garlic salt instead? I am just trying to use ingredients I already have in my spice rack. 🙂
I did the substitutions and it worked out well for my mix!
I just love this so much. My husband and I have been obsessed with this for months now (favorite combo for us is mashed avocado on top toasted bagel half with a GENEROUS sprinkle of this mix). I am having a brunch this month and am making this mix and putting it in 125ml jars for each guest as a little gift. Love you site – thank you!!
So happy you are loving the seasoning and our site! Thanks for sharing!
That sounds absolutely wonderful! Can not wait to try!
Love this seasoning! Been using it for a long time on just about everything with few exceptions! Its really good on beer bread when sprinkled on top before baking!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I put this on everything but fruit, but the day may come when I just want to throw those into the menu as well!!!
Tastes just like TJ’s. We are happy!
I can’t find black sesame seeds, can I make this without them or will it just not taste the same. Seems like the only place around me (Canada) is amazon and it’s expensive.
I don’t where you are but I live in London Ontario, and I go to Remark and they have them at a reasonable price. I realize this is late news for you, but for future reference, and possibly just asking in the grocery store to order them in.
They might have them at a Kroger brand store if there’s one by you.
I found an organic bag of it at a decent price on Amazon! There were several choices and sizes available, check it out!
Asian food stores carry it.
I live in Canada as well, and I found black sesame seeds at No Frills if there is one near you. 🙂
Real CDN Superstore in the ethnic foods aisle has black sesame seeds.
Hi, I can find almost everything that I need to make these mixes at The Bulk Food Stores .. (Windsor, Canada).
Walmart has it
Love this recipe!! Use it on my air fryer bagels.
Ooooh what are airfryer Bagels? Please do share!
What is “course” salt? Or do you mean “coarse”?
Definitely misspelled, should be “coarse” salt.
Clearly a spelling error. Stop being salty.
Wowww heidi
Do the sesame seeds have to be toasted ?
No, you don’t have to.
I use the seasoning mix to make egg salad sandwich for lunch today. Tastes delicious!
I just made a batch of this to refill my TJ’s bottle instead of buying another one. Not only is it essentially a perfect copycat of my favorite seasoning blend, it actually fills up the empty bottle perfectly! Thank you for this!
Do you need to refrigerate the everything bagel seasonings? How long can you keep it, in cupboard or in refrigerator?
Black sesame seed can be found at Indian, Pakistani and health food stores. Pensey’s spices carry it either in your local store or by mail and Amazon will mail it to you anywhere.
Can I use coarse kosher salt or coarse pink Himalayan salt instead of the salt flakes or will it give it too much of a salt taste with each bite?
Sure!
Thanks! We are a low salt family, so I just left it out and it tastes great, in case any one else wants to know!
Are the sesame seeds hulled or unhulled? Which is preferred for this recipe?
Course salt?
For my Canadian friends – the Bulk Barn now has a “Sesame Bagel Seasoning” but I believe it to be all of these ingredients. $1.79/100g … about a 10th of the cost of buying the Trader Joe’s spice on Amazon!
It’s terribly salty though, I bought it and I can’t stomach it
Thanks for this recipe. Just a note, not a single item in the ingredient list is a spice. They are perhaps seeds, or condiments, but not spices. Does not diminish that this is a great recipe to use, just not spices.
Hello! This is great, but I can’t get it to stay combined evenly when I put it into a shaker. The poppy seeds and salt go to the bottom and the onion and garlic flakes on top. Any tips or tricks?
I sprinkle mine by hand. That way, everything is divided more equally. This is probably to late for you since you wrote this in 12/19. This is 6/2020!
I have to shake each time.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
I love it, it’s great over bagels but also over soft-boiled eggs and it’s also surprisingly good in any salad!
Since it’s something I can not buy already made here in France I love it so so much that can now do my own!
Hi, just give the bottle a good shake before using each time,
My veg daughter has to have everything seasoning. My must fun way to use is on the outside of a grilled cheese sandwich. We saw this in a Kroger Magazine. I’m mixing some up and sending to my sisters for Valentines. For the ones that mean everything to me
Fun! I will have to try it!
I can’t really rate it because I haven’t made it, but I’d love to see a thread started on ideas to use it.
Any kind of potatoes, celery with cream cheese then seasoning on top.
We toasted our sesame seeds. This was perfect, thank you!
Yay!
Mmm mmm…. Delicious!!! I substituted kalonji/ black onion seeds for the black sesame seeds and added an extra tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds. This was perfect for our morning bagels mixed with cream cheese! Looking at these other ideas, I can see us using it a lot!
Chuck in some chia seeds too 🙂
Nice!
Wow – chia seeds! Great idea!
I thought Chia Seeds had to be put in liquid. Just curious.
Thank you so much for sharing this!! I was buying the spice mix very regularly for my morning avocado toast and now I can make it at home. Super easy. I was actually able to order everything from amazon. Just like TJs.
I am the BIGGEST salt lover of ALL TIME! I add Maldon Sea Salt to everything! But this recipe ruined two days worth of work to proof my homemade Everything Bagels. I had to throw away the 18 bagels I made because they were WAY TOO SALTY! I just made them again, and only used half a teaspoon of Maldon Sea Salt. I highly recommend suggesting to add salt to taste starting with half a teaspoon of salt. You can always add more. This is a Five Star recipe with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
That’s because you used sea salt instead of salt flakes – the difference in saltiness between the two is huge!
Not all salts contain the same amount of sodium. Know your salt!
I love this recipe, even more than the trader joes one. I buy all the ingredients in bulk and then make a huge batch of it. I always have to share with my grandparents though because they also love it. The flaked sea salt is the best! the proportions are perfect. I make homemade everything bagels with this all the time and they are the best!
Mix this into ground beef and it makes the most delicious hamburgers!
I love this recipe. I am not a poppy seed lover but I am a nigella seed lover. So I add that to give it color add to the taste. Thank you
I have never heard of Nigella seed. I do not like sesame seeds but love all of the other flavors. Was maybe looking for a sub for that
Wow! My husband bought a premade bottle of everything bagel seasoning in May and our family of 3 teens plus two parents quickly became addicted! After we finished the bottle, I found your recipe and have made it 3 times since. It is way better than the store bought (of course) and I bought bulk ingredients the first time so I haven’t worked out the cost but I assume I saved money too. Either way, I know I made this myself and we all love it. I just made a new batch this morning and decided I really should leave the heartfelt thank you. I also plan to post it to my social media and share with my friends – this is too good to keep to myself! You definitely found a new follower in me!
I am so glad you liked it! Thanks for following and sharing!
Can you use coarse kosher salt in this recipe?
Yes.
Thank you so much. Just made my first batch. I really enjoyed my meals when I was done.
Best ever! We don’t buy any other bagel seasoning – just the ingredients for this! If you have trouble finding black sesame seeds, check the Asian section of your local grocery store – that’s where I found mine!.
Great recipe my 4 yr old loved it on sliced tomatoes. I used less salt because I used fine salt not a fan of the big salt crystals.
Stop being coarse missy… Geezussss
I live in Ecuador. So it is very expensive to have someone bring this to me.
The poppyseeds where hard to find. I had them mules over from the US.
I toasted the sesame seeds til fragrant. I used unhulled sesame seeds, a tan color along with black.
I threw in 1/2 tablespoon of black nigella seeds. I’m always looking for ways to slip them in since they’re so healthy. Dr McGreger would be proud!
If you can get your hands on Malden’s sea salt FLAKES, do it. They are wonderful!
I think I will play with the balance of ingredients because I think Trader Joe’s has less poppyseeds and more of everything else.
Perfect amounts of flavors! I added slightly less salt but it’s up to you. Amazing on avocado toast!!
I LOVE this recipe. I make it in huge batches as it’s used quickly. I converted it from Tablespoons and teaspoons into “Parts.” ie 6parts poppy seeds, 3parts white sesame seeds, etc Just convert each Tablespoon into 3 teaspoons and you’ve got it. I don’t use the salt, though. I’ve made cucumber snacks with it, sometimes I add cream cheese. I’ve made popcorn, potatoes, green beans and tomato snacks. It’s even better if you toast it before using it.
You will never have to buy it again?? But AMAZING recipe
Just made this today. It was quick and easy. The flavor was salty and savory – so good! Thanks for sharing.
I triple this recipe and omit the salt. We love Everything Bagel seasoning but store bought version gets really salty when you get halfway through the bottle.
I used this as a crust on some pieces of salmon last night for dinner…delicious!
I have made your recipe for Everything Bagel Season several times. My hubby uses it in every. Lol! It is really good in hard boiled eggs and Mac and cheese.
Why does everyone like Poppy Seeds so much? Don’t you know that you will fail a drug test by eating them? They show up as Opioids in drug test.
Guess you only have to worry if you are scheduled for drug testing
R
You are a scary misinformed person. Do your diligent research. Check your sources.
I reduce the salt also. Awesome and no hidden ingredients.
That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard lol
Also how many drug tests are you worried about???
you may want to look things up before you comment them as fact. one would have to eat it in such massive quanitities on a daily basis for such a result.
As a nurse, I can say with authority that it is only in a minimal amount, despite what you’ve heard or even watched on Seinfeld.
I can’t use a lot of salt. Do you think it would taste ok without it?
If you can’t have salt you can leave it out. The other seasonings will still add flavor.
What an exquisite article! Your post is very helpful right now. Thank you for sharing this informative one….
This is my main recipe that I keep on hand at all times!
That has become my number one recipe overall from Pinterest and a life without everything bagel seasoning around is no fun!
I eat it on lots of things. But a bagel with cream cheese is no longer acceptable without this.
I always keep it in my pantry too!
Try some jarred (or FRESH, if you’re feeling ambitious!) roasted red pepper slices on top of your cream-cheese bagel, then sprinkle your seasoning as liberally as you like! DEE-lish 🙂
As long as there’s moisture in your dish this spice will work. Otherwise you’ll be crunching on the dried minced garlic and and dried minced onion.
I’ve tried this recipe twice because it tastes so good! I even put it on my focaccia and sourdough
Yum!!
When using black sesame seeds, should they be raw or toasted? I want to make a big batch but want to have the correct black sesame seeds.
Thank you!
Mary Jo
I use raw but I am sure toasted would be good too!