The Easy Way To Bring Breakfast Into Your Burger Experience
With its myriad variations, the hamburger consistently ranks among the most popular sandwiches in America, with at least five states considering it the top dog, or beef, as the case may be. While patty melts and cheeseburgers may be among the most popular iterations of the burger, the hamburger on a bagel could be the best one yet. And for those of you who are particularly keen on bringing this lunchtime favorite to the breakfast table, consider this. With 61% of Americans admitting that they eat bagels for breakfast at least twice a week, per New York Bagels, adding a burger to your bagel is a simple and tasty way to mash up two of your favorite meals.
This bun alternative has something else going for it that your other more classically sesame-seeded bread doesn't. That is, bagel recipes have less water than other types of bread, giving bagel dough a thicker, tougher consistency. This means that bagels trounce even French rolls or ciabatta bread when it comes to finding a sturdy enough bun to handle your burger juice. With its chewy interior and crunch-in-every-bite exterior, your average bagel is in a position to go the distance on your hamburger or cheeseburger even if you top it with plenty of gooey mayo, freshly sliced tomatoes, and lots of onions. It just might be the best way to sidestep a soggy hamburger bun altogether.
Other breakfast-y toppings to add to a burger on a bagel
It's nothing new to see a bun or even a bagel with a few sesame seeds on top. Indeed, those nutty little seeds count among the most common types of buns for hamburgers and cheeseburgers. However, bagel flavors don't stop at sesame seeds. Poppy seed, onion, garlic, Asiago cheese, and the everything bagel offer next-level flavor to the burger-for-breakfast or -brunch crowd.
Aside from this, 65% of Americans say they like eggs on their bagels, while another 57.5% go for bacon, according to a survey conducted by Shane Co. Given that bacon cheeseburgers are one of McDonald's most popular and best burgers, and Red Robin sees fit to make a gourmet Royal Red Robin burger, complete with an egg, bacon, and cheese (much like the classic bagel sandwich order), you could make an argument for putting the whole shebang on a bagel instead of a bun and call it good. If anything, adding eggs and bacon, two staples of a morning meal, to your burger gives the sammy an even more breakfast-like vibe. Putting those atop a beef patty makes it all the more logical for you to trade out your bun for a bagel the next time you're whipping up your favorite burger recipe.