I was planning on a bagel for breakfast, only to discover they were all in the freezer. While great for helping them keep, it’s not so convenient for eating them. So today, we’ll talk about how to defrost a bagel in the air fryer if you’re facing the same conundrum!
It does tend to take a minute or two longer versus the microwave, but I find that the air fryer produces a more even defrosting. Plus, I don’t have to pay much attention to it while it’s cooking, and that’s always a win in my book!
However, defrosting bread in the microwave is still a viable alternative if preferred.
Can You Put a Frozen Bagel in an Air Fryer?
Yes, you can put a frozen bagel in an air fryer.
Cooking it will defrost the bagel, allowing you to cut it and continue working with it like a fresh bagel.
Once defrosted, you can then make a hot ham and cheese bagel sandwich in the air fryer!
Your bagel won’t get dried out either, just like frozen french toast sticks in the air fryer. Soft, warm, and delicious is how I like my breakfast breads!
Can an Air Fryer Defrost a Bagel?
Yes, an air fryer can defrost a bagel.
The key is to not preheat your air fryer, so your bagel is gradually heated right along with the air fryer basket.
Then, once the bagel is defrosted, you can place it back into the now-preheated basket and toast a bagel in the air fryer. Alternatively, you could use a toaster or toaster oven as well to crisp it up.
How to Defrost a Bagel in the Air Fryer:
- Do not preheat your air fryer
- Place your frozen bagel in the cooking basket of the air fryer
- Air fry at 360℉ for 3-5 minutes
- Remove the bagel, then slice and toast or top as normal
If your bagel is pre-sliced and you can separate the pieces, it should take less time to defrost. On average, it takes me 3 minutes to defrost a whole bagel in my Ninja Foodi Dual Zone air fryer.
That’s almost enough time to make coffee in the microwave while I wait!
Note that the bagel is going to feel warm to the touch when you first remove it from the air fryer. However, it cools very quickly down to that “just took the ice off” state, which is the point of defrosting.
If you plan to eat the bagel without toasting it, add another minute or two to bring it to a warmed state versus just defrosted.
Do You Need to Add Water to Defrost a Bagel in the Air Fryer?
No, you do not need to add water to defrost a bagel in the air fryer.
The microwave removes moisture, which is why you typically wrap bread in a wet paper towel when you use it to defrost or make grilled cheese in the microwave.
An air fryer, however, cooks in a different way which does not remove the moisture from the bread, so you don’t need to add anything additionally.
In fact, I tried putting some water in the base of the air fryer once to steam it a bit and see what would happen, and the bread was actually tougher and colder as a result!
Can You Toast Bagels From Frozen in the Air Fryer?
You can toast bagels from frozen in the air fryer.
For a sliced bagel, add about 3 minutes to the cooking time so the bagel can both defrost and then toast.
A whole bagel should be removed after defrosting, sliced, then returned to a 370-375 degree F air fryer for 3-4 minutes.
You can also toast frozen Bagel Bites in the air fryer if you love the pizza bagel combination!
Final Thoughts
Now that you know how easy it is to defrost a bagel in your air fryer, you’ll wonder why you didn’t try it sooner! It’s one of the best ways to defrost a bagel quickly, and as an added bonus you can toast it in there afterwards!
For more great starts to your morning from your favorite appliance, check out some of our best air fryer breakfast recipes to try out!
Defrost a Bagel in the Air Fryer – Super Quick & Easy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Bagel, any flavor (frozen)
Instructions
- Do not preheat your air fryer
- Place your frozen bagel in the cold cooking basket of the air fryer1 Bagel, any flavor
- Air fry at 360°F for 3-5 minutes
- Remove the bagel, then slice and toast or top as normal
Notes
- Any flavor of bagel or mini bagel works just fine with this method
- For mini bagels, reduce temperature to 350 and start at 2 minutes
- It takes me about 3 minutes to defrost a whole bagel in a Ninja Foodi Dual Zone, but the time may vary slightly with other brands and sizes of air fryer
- Once the bagel is defrosted, you may cut and toast as normal, or store for later use
- Bagel will seem warm when you remove it from air fryer, but will quickly cool down to a normal defrosted state
- Nutrition values will vary based on specific brand and flavor of bagel, and any toppings added, so please consider this a rough guideline
Nutrition
I enjoy trying new recipes, creating my own, and dabbling with new techniques all the time. My husband loves to protest when I make him my guinea pig, but it’s all for the love of food!
My cooking philosophy is that great tasting food doesn't have to be complicated or time consuming to make. I'm a home cook with over 20 years of experience feeding myself and others. I've learned from a variety of different people, things I've learned online, and some trial and error as well.
I enjoy cooking a variety of foods, from convenience to comfort foods, as well as international cuisine. You can rest assured that all of my recipes have been actually made, thoroughly tested, and most importantly: tasted! I want you to enjoy my food as much as I do!
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