Five Everything Bagel Seasonings, One (Not-So) Scientific Taste Test

. . . and why you should add the blend to your spice cabinet (if you haven’t already)

I didn’t know how many brands made everything seasoning until I tried to add it to my online grocery order last week and got five different options. So, I did what any responsible food content creator would do—bought all five and roped my husband and son into a Saturday morning taste test. (Shockingly, we all agreed on the winner.)

What’s “Everything”?

Everything seasoning is a mix of dried garlic and onion, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and salt first used in NYC bagel shops in the 1970s or 80s. Shockingly, it didn’t become an official seasoning until 2017, when Trader Joe’s released their jarred version, but now there’s no shortage of options in the spice aisle.

Here are my favorite ways to use it, the five brands we tasted last week, and the one we liked most.

How to Use It

This seasoning is truly all-purpose! Keep a jar on the counter to add texture and garlicky flavor to salads, breads, meats, pastas, pizza, veggies, eggs, savory snacks, and more.

Sprinkle on/add to:

• Bagels with butter or cream cheese

• Breads and biscuits (use it instead of garlic salt or powder for garlic bread)

• Salads (sprinkle on lettuce and raw veggies to add extra flavor or stir into creamy dressings for coleslaw, egg salad, tuna salad, potato salad, or chicken salad)

• Dips (Stir some into guacamole or hummus, or make a quick everything dip with equal-ish parts sour cream and cream cheese and 1 to 2 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning.)

• Eggs (scrambled, fried, poached, deviled, egg salad)

• Avocado or ricotta toast

• Tomato sandwiches or BLTs

• Pizza (especially white pizza or Bacon, Egg, and Cheese pizza)

• Pasta (MAC & CHEESE!!!!!!!)

• Soups and stews

• Baked potatoes

• Breading for chicken cutlets

• Roasted veggies (either before or after roasting)

• Popcorn and crunchy snack mixes

• Roasted beef, pork, chicken, or salmon

The Five Contenders

(1) BADIA EVERYTHING BAGEL

• Price: $5.42 for 5.5 ounces ($0.99/ounce) on Amazon.com

• Ingredients (in order): White and black sesame seeds, onion, garlic, poppy seeds, salt, canola oil

(2) TRADER JOE’S EVERYTHING BUT THE BAGEL SESAME SEASONING BLEND

• Price: $7.35 for 2.3 ounces ($3.20/ounce) on Amazon.com

• Ingredients (in order): Sesame seeds, sea salt flakes, dried minced garlic, dried minced onion, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds

(3) EINSTEIN BROS EVERYTHING BAGEL SEASONING BLEND

• Price: $5.99 for 5 ounces ($1.20/ounce) on Amazon.com

• Ingredients (in order): Sesame seeds, dried onion, dried garlic, salt, poppy seeds

(4) MCCORMICK EVERYTHING BAGEL ALL PURPOSE SEASONING

• Price: $6.47 for 4.8 ounces ($1.35/ounce) on Amazon.com

• Ingredients (in order): Garlic, poppy seeds, salt, onion, sesame seeds, sunflower oil, natural flavor

(5) SIMPLY ORGANIC EVERYTHING BLEND

• Price: $9.33 for 3.49 ounces ($2.67/ounce) on Amazon.com

• Ingredients (in order): Organic sesame seeds, organic garlic, sea salt, organic toasted onion, organic black sesame seeds, organic poppy seeds

Taste Test Results

On Saturday morning, while John toasted bagels and our son, Jack, spread cream cheese, I assigned a number to each everything seasoning, dumped some into correspondingly labeled prep bowls, stuck a blank Post-It note on the table next to each bowl, and grabbed the closest writing utensils.

“Taste a pinch, write down your thoughts, take a sip of water, and repeat,” I explained when John and Jack brought the bagels to the table.

They understood the assignment:

First, we tasted the seasoning blends on their own, then we sprinkled them on the bagels, scribbled more thoughts, and wrote our names on our favorite ones’ sticky notes.

We unanimously agreed that Simply Organic had the best flavor and texture, with the perfect balance of salt and garlic and the ideal distribution of ingredients¹. Trader Joe’s and McCormick came in second, both tasty but with less-favorable texture and flavor balance. Einstein Bros and Badia came in third and fourth, respectively; neither one had enough garlic for our tastes, and Badia’s giant onion flakes reminded us of expired slivered almonds.

Do you have a favorite everything blend that’s not on this list? Got an idea for our next taste test? Let me know in the comments!

1. The downsides of Simply Organic’s version are the high price and the tiny holes in its plastic shaker cap, which make it difficult to sprinkle. The former issue can’t be changed, but I solved the latter issue by snipping off the pourer flap: