Cheesy Chickpea Pizza Bagel

One of the cheapest things you can add to your meals might also be one of the best things you can do for your gut.

Welcome to my new series called, Spilling the Beans: Adding More Fiber to Your Everyday Meals. This is a series where I’m taking your everyday meals that you already eat and showing you how to add more fiber with a different bean or legume.

An important fiber recap:

If you didn’t know, fiber is a carbohydrate found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes—and there are two types: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance, which helps slow down digestion. This slower movement can stabilize blood sugar levels and help you feel fuller for longer.

Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, does not dissolve in water. It adds bulk to the stool and moves quickly through the digestive tract, promoting regular and healthy bowel movements. Think of this as the type that helps you poop in your times of trial.

Having a healthy mix of both fiber types helps our body function to the best of its ability and helps your gut live its best life! Even though fiber can support everything from your digestive health to your heart health, 95% of Americans don’t get enough. Women should be having between 25-28 grams/day and men between 30-38 grams/day. Recent studies show you can even have up to 50 grams of fiber a day!

Why beans and legumes though?:

One category of fiber that I didn’t mention is fermentable fiber, which falls under the category of soluble fiber. Fermentable sources of fiber (cough, your beans and legumes) are broken down by your gut bacteria in your colon. It’s your gut bacterias’ main energy source! You may also know them as prebiotic fibers too. From there, once your gut bacteria have fermented the fiber away, short chain fatty acids (SCFA’s) are formed.

SCFA’s are small molecules that are formed when your gut bacteria ferment certain kinds of fiber. From there, each short chain fatty acid plays a key role for your overall health — one being that they act as the main energy source for your colon cells, reducing your risk of IBD and colorectal cancer.

Now you see why I’m Spilling the Beans, I hope.

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These are my Cheesy Chickpea Pizza Bagels and I… really don’t know what to say besides the fact that you need to make them. I was craving pizza bagels that week and it was also when I was coming up with content ideas for my Spilling the Beans series. That’s where the idea of simply adding chickpeas to my marinara sauce came to me.

By just adding ¾ cup of chickpeas to this recipe, I got an extra 9-10 grams of fiber with minimal effort. You can choose to cook the chickpeas yourself or use canned chickpeas like I did.

This recipe is perfect for when you are especially tired after a long day at work and don’t want to spend more than 20 minutes in the kitchen. You’ll be able to feed your body the macronutrients it needs from a meal but also help yourself meet your daily fiber goals. By using a bagel and incorporating mozzarella and chickpeas, you’ll be providing your body with roughly 35 grams of protein too. Since the recipe makes two bagel halves, each half provides roughly 18–23 grams of protein. Let’s get to the recipe, shall we?

Yields: 1 bagel

Portion: 1 bagel

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

This recipe is vegetarian. 

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Ingredients:

• 1 bagel, sliced in half (sesame, everything, poppy — whatever you prefer)

• 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas (if canned make sure they’re drained & rinsed)

• 1 ½ cups marinara sauce (I used Yo Mama’s)

• Salt & black pepper to taste

• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• 6, 1 inch slices of low-fat mozzarella

• Freshly grated parmesan to your liking

• Extra virgin olive oil

  
  

Garnish:

• Fresh basil, chopped chiffonade

• Freshly grated black pepper

• Flaky salt

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Instructions:

1. Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Prepare chickpeas: Transfer chickpeas to a mixing bowl and lightly mash with a fork, leaving some chickpeas whole for texture. You can also choose to really mash the chickpeas in if you don’t enjoy the texture of beans.

3. Make chickpea marinara mixture: Add marinara sauce to the chickpeas, followed by salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried oregano. Mix until the chickpeas are evenly coated.

4. Prepare bagels: Slice bagel in half and place both halves onto prepared baking sheet, cut side facing up. Lightly drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Toast in the oven for 3–5 minutes, until slightly golden and crispy.

5. Assemble: Remove bagels from the oven. Generously spoon the chickpea marinara mixture over each bagel, spreading it evenly. Layer 3 slices of low-fat mozzarella onto each bagel half, making sure to cover as much of the chickpea mixture as possible. Freshly grate as much parmesan as you want. Drizzle on extra virgin olive oil.

6. Bake: Return bagels to the oven and bake for 8–12 minutes, or until the mozzarella has melted and the edges of the bagels are golden brown. For an extra crisp, broil the bagels for the final 1–2 minutes, keeping a close eye on them to prevent burning.

7. Serve: Remove cheesy chickpea pizza bagels from the oven and allow them to cool for 2–3 minutes. Garnish with freshly chopped basil chiffonade, freshly cracked black pepper, and Maldon flaky salt. Serve warm and enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

1. You can use canned or freshly cooked chickpeas. I prefer using canned chickpeas because they’re convenient and don’t need a lot of preparation. If you’re using canned chickpeas, make sure to drain and rinse them thoroughly before adding them to your marinara sauce.

2. Don’t skip toasting your bagel. Toasting your bagel before adding the chickpeas, marinara sauce, and mozzarella helps prevent it from becoming soggy.

3. You can use any bagel you’d like. I used a sesame bagel, but you can use everything, sesame, whole wheat, or even a higher-fiber bagel if you’re looking to add more fiber to your meal.

4. Adjust your marinara sauce as you like. Start with enough to coat your chickpeas and spread a thin layer onto your bagels. Save any remaining sauce for dipping or another bagel!

5. As always, make it your own! Add extra vegetables before roasting in the oven, add extra spices, or use a different cheese if you’d like.

FAQ:

1. How much protein is in these Cheesy Chickpea Pizza Bagels?: Depending on the bagel and mozzarella you use, the entire recipe provides an estimated 35ish grams of protein, assuming approximately 3 oz of low-fat mozzarella.

2. Can I use a different bean instead of chickpeas?: Yes! Cannellini beans would work great in this recipe.

3. Can I make these gluten-free?: Yes! Simply substitute your regular bagel with your favorite gluten-free bagel.

I hope you love this recipe as much as I did, so if you do, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I always read through my suggestions and comments, so please let me know your thoughts. If you have any questions you can feel free to DM me here or through Instagram. Speaking of Instagram - please tag me in all of your creations! I love seeing how the recipes come out and seeing how talented you all are. Sending my love.

xoxo,

Jasmin D the RD