You can think of Bialys as a bagel’s more low-maintenance sibling—no boiling needed, just mix, rest, shape, rest, and bake. This straightforward four-ingredient dough recipe is delicious, perfect for beginner bakers, and also happens to be vegan. Fresh, chewy, and lightly crisp, my bialys are amazing on their own but make a next-level breakfast egg sandwich.

Two bialys stacked on top of each other with the top one cut in half making the crumb visible.

These are a bread steeped in history–bialys come from Białystok, Poland, and are a classic recipe in Polish Ashkenazi-Jewish baking.

🌟 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Easy bialy dough recipe: Bread doesn’t get more simple than this. It’s just 4 ingredients–flour, salt, yeast, and water–to make a tender and tasty bread dough. Plus, less than three hours to fresh bread always sounds amazing to me.
  • 100% vegan recipe: The bread dough and the caramelized onion filling are vegan and dairy-free.
  • Partial make-ahead option: You can do the first rise in the fridge overnight. Doing this allows the dough to develop even more amazing flavor because of the fermentation process.
  • Best egg sandwich bread EVER: Cut them in half and make the best egg sandwich of your life. It’s the perfect breakfast sandwich bread because the fillings on top give it built-in flavor, so you’re already most of the way there.
  • Customize your filling: I’m showing you how to make a classic onion filling, but you can mix it up with a filling of your choice. Check out my tasty filling ideas after the recipe.

🥯 Bialys or Bagels?

Bagels and bialys may look similar at first glance, but they differ in preparation, texture, and shape. Bagels are boiled before baking, which gives them a dense, chewy crumb and a shiny, firm crust. In contrast, bialys are not boiled then baked, just baked, which gives you a softer, more bread-like texture with a firm crust. Bagels tend to be a little sweeter because of the sugar in the dough, while bialys are more savory with no sugar in the dough.

Another big difference is their shape. Bagels have a complete hole in the center, but bialys feature a small depression instead, traditionally filled with caramelized onions and poppy seeds. This is the filling we’re making in this recipe, but you could use a variety of fillings.

🧾Key Ingredients in This Recipe

Ingredients to make bialys like flour, oil, an onion, and water.
  • All-purpose flour: Flour is the main ingredient in this bread, giving the bialys their structure.
  • Instant yeast: The yeast in bialys makes the dough rise during fermentation by eating sugars and producing gas, creating a light, chewy texture. It also helps develop gluten for structure and adds flavor.
  • Flavorless oil: Using oil instead of butter to caramelize the onions makes these bialys completely vegan. Any flavorless oil, like canola or vegetable, will work. You can also caramelize them in butter if you are not concerned with adding dairy to the recipe.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

👩‍🍳How to Make This Recipe

Prepare the Bialy Dough and Filling

Dough in the metal bowl of a mint green stand mixer.
  • Combine the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Gradually add warm water while mixing until a smooth dough forms while you stir it.
Kneaded dough in the metal bowl of mint green stand mixer.
  • Let it sit for 20 minutes to hydrate then knead for 8 minutes (use the stir setting if using a stand mixer) until smooth and elastic.
Metal stand mixer bowl covered with a silicone lid proving in the oven.
  • Cover and let sit for 45-50 minutes until doubled in size. You can also do this rise overnight which helps it develop more flavor.
Lightly caramelized onion in a pan resting on a peach and white striped dish towel.
  • Use 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat, add the sliced onions, then season with salt to help draw out the excess liquid. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the onions turn a light golden brown.

✅ Pro Tip

If your bialy dough doesn’t rise in the first stage, this is a sure sign your yeast is dead, and you shouldn’t continue with that batch. If the yeast is dead, there’s no fermentation taking place so the bialys will stay flat and dense

Shape and Bake the Bialys

Risen dough in the metal bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Very lightly oil. I use 1 teaspoon of oil for the whole sheet and spread it with my hands. Turn your dough out on your working surface.
Pinched ball of dough on a countertop.
  • Divide the dough into 6 equal portions (if you are being super precise, each should be ~111 grams). Shape each piece into a ball by folding in the edges by pressing them into the center of the dough and pinching the bottoms to seal. Place them pinch side down on the baking sheet.
Balls of dough on a silicone baking mat lined sheet pan.
  • Lightly oil the top of each ball and cover with plastic to seal.
  • Rise 50-60 minutes until doubled in size. If you refrigerate the dough overnight in the refrigerator, rise for 70-80 minutes so it has time to come to room temperature before baking (if you have a proofing drawer or oven you just need 1 hour). With 20 minutes left on the rise, preheat your oven to 450°F (245°C) with the rack in the center of the oven.
Discs of dough on a silicone lined baking sheet.
  • Without removing the dough from the baking sheet (to prevent overhandling) create a round, flat disk with a central depression to hold the filling without puncturing the dough fully.
Dough on a baking sheet with different fillings in the center of each.
  • Add just one heaping teaspoon of the caramelized onion filling to the depression, or any of your preferred fillings. Be sure not to overfill to prevent overflow during baking.
Bialys on a baking sheet next to a spray bottle with water.
  • Spray the bagels with cold water and sprinkle with poppy seeds. The cold water helps get that crisp crust.
Bialy topped with caramelized onions and poppy seeds in front of bialys with other toppings.
  • Bake for 14-18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway if they are browning unevenly until the bialys are a light golden brown or reach an internal temperature of 190-200°F.

🥗 Tasty Bialy Filling Variations

  • Egg with za’atar spice or furikake: A whole cracked egg is too much for the small depression, so crack an egg in a bowl and scoop out the yolk without shaking off all the egg white.
  • Cheese of your choice: Grate some cheese into the depression. Don’t use too much, or it will overflow the bred depression.
  • Jam: A great sweet filling option. Don’t use more than 1 teaspoon, or it will overflow, unless you don’t mind like in the photos above.
  • Sliced potatoes and herbs: Shave a small potato using a mandoline, and overlay the slices. Sprinkle with herbes de Provence.
  • Cheddar and jalapeno: Shave a jalapeño using a mandoline, and sprinkle with a little cheddar cheese.
Bialys with different fillings like a fried egg and jam.
Ready to go beyond basics? Choose a filling like grated cheese with jalapeño, jam, herby potatoes, or a fried egg with furikake or za’atar.

🍞 More Bread Recipes

Beginners and ambitious bakers alike will love these bread recipes.

I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m up to.

Two bialys stacked on top of each other with the top one cut in half making the crumb visible.

Easy 4 Ingredient Bialys + 6 Filling Options

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Fresh, chewy, and lightly crisp, these easy bialys are amazing on their own but make a next-level breakfast egg sandwich.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Resting Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 45 minutes
Course: Bread, Breakfast
Cuisine: Jewish, polish
Diet: Kosher, Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 6
Calories: 279kcal

Ingredients

For the Dough:

  • 420 grams all-purpose flour 420g all-purpose flour, 3.5 cups
  • 5 grams sea salt 1 teaspoon
  • 4 grams instant yeast 1 teaspoon
  • 250 grams warm water 1 cup + 1 tablespoon

Caramelized Onion & Poppyseed Filling*

  • 1 yellow onion Sliced in thin half-moons
  • 2 tablespoons oil flavorless like canola or vegetable
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1-2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Instructions

Prepare the Dough

  • Combine the all-purpose flour, sea salt, and instant yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Gradually add the warm water while mixing until a smooth dough forms while you stir it.
    420 grams all-purpose flour, 5 grams sea salt, 4 grams instant yeast, 250 grams warm water
  • Let it sit for 20 minutes to hydrate then knead for 8 minutes (use the stir setting if using a stand mixer) until smooth and elastic.
  • Cover and let sit for 45-50 minutes until doubled in size. You can also do this rise overnight which helps it develop more flavor.

Cook the Onions

  • Use 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat, add the sliced onion and season with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt to help draw out the liquid. Cook for 10-15 minutes until they turn a light golden brown.
    1 yellow onion, 2 tablespoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Shape the Bialys

  • Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Very lightly oil. I use 1 teaspoon of oil for the whole sheet and spread it with my hands.
  • Divide the dough into 6 equal portions (if you are being super precise, each should be ~111 grams). Shape each piece into a ball by folding in the edges by pressing them into the center of the dough and pinching the bottoms to seal. Add them pinch side down to the baking sheet. Lightly oil the top of each ball and cover with plastic to seal. Rise 50-60 minutes until doubled in size. If you refrigerated the dough overnight in the refrigerator, rise for 60-70 minutes unless you have a proofing drawer or oven.
  • With 20 minutes left on the rise, preheat your oven to 450°F (245°C) with the rack in the center of the oven.
  • Without removing the dough from the baking sheet to prevent overhandling, create a round, flat disk with a central depression to hold the filling without puncturing the dough.
  • Add one heaping teaspoon of the caramelized onions or other filling*. If you try to do more it will blow over during baking.
  • Spray the bagels with cold water and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
    1-2 teaspoons poppy seeds
  • Bake for 14-18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway if they are browning unevenly, until the bialys are a light golden brown or reach an internal temperature of 190-200°F, approximately 90°C.

Notes

Filling options I love other than the one in the recipe card:
  • Egg with za’atar or furikake: A whole cracked egg is too much for the small depression, so crack an egg in a bowl and scoop out the yolk without shaking off all the egg white.
  • Cheese: Grate some cheese into the depression. Don’t use too much, or it will overflow.
  • Jam: Don’t use more than 1 teaspoon or it will overflow.
  • Sliced potatoes & herbs: Shave a small potato using a mandoline, and overlay the slices. Sprinkle with herbes de Provence.
  • Cheddar jalapeno: Shave a jalapeño using a mandoline, and sprinkle with a little cheddar cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 279kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 715mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 0.4IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 3mg
Did you try this recipe?I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a Review to let us know how it came out, if you have a successful substitution or variation, or anything else.

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