Swap The Cream Cheese On Your Bagel For This Greek Spread Instead

Whether you like your cream cheese and bagel with smoked salmon and avocado or eggs and bacon, the quintessential component is always cream cheese. However, it's not the only way to give your bagel a luscious finish. To infuse your morning bagel with a flavorful Mediterranean spin, swap cream cheese for tzatziki.

Spreading anything other than cream cheese on a bagel may seem sacrilegious, but foregoing the standard choice for a bolder alternative is worth it. Cream cheese's tanginess is a welcome addition to bagels, but let's be honest — the obsession with putting the spread on a bagel is more about the texture. With its supremely mild taste, it's easy not to miss a swipe of cream cheese on the bread. Tzatziki provides a thick, creamy feel to the bagel, along with a blast of flavor.

Greek yogurt makes up the majority of the sauce, so you can rest assured your breakfast will still have a velvety component. Cucumbers provide tzatziki with a refreshing flavor, with mint and fresh lemon juice amplifying the veggie. Olive oil and garlic complete the sauce with a peppery, earthy finish. Plenty of grocery stores carry the Greek dip, but it's super easy to whip up your own classic tzatziki sauce. After crushing the garlic and mincing the mint leaves and cucumbers, stir all the ingredients until they're well combined.

Tzatziki does have a more flavorful taste than cream cheese, but it's not so bold that it can't pair well with all the classic bagel toppings. The Greek sauce is perfect for spreading onto a loaded lox bagel in place of cream cheese. The recipe combines the dairy product with lemon juice and caper brine, and tzatziki's minty, lemon-tinged taste is the perfect alternative. The refreshing sauce perfectly balances out the salty lox while complementing the pungent red onions.

The tzatziki, lox, and red onions are great on a plain bagel, but everything bagels highlight their nuances in a beautiful way. The blend of poppy seeds, garlic and onion powder, and sesame seeds delivers a nutty flavor that grounds the tzatziki while coaxing out the crushed garlic. You can stick with smoked salmon and red onions to pair with the sauce and everything bagel, or keep it classic with fluffy scrambled eggs and bacon.

If you're not one for a traditional breakfast, spruce up your tzatziki bagel with other ingredients from the same cuisine. The components of a grilled Greek chicken grain bowl can easily be incorporated into your bagel for a hearty, flavor-packed breakfast. The recipe already features a lemony yogurt sauce that mirrors tzatziki, making it perfect for turning into a bagel. Place slices of the honey, garlic, and herb-marinated chicken onto a bagel, along with creamy feta, sliced tomatoes, and Kalamata olives.