Get the best of POPSUGAR
Fitness — in your inbox!

Help us customize your newsletter by selecting your interests (optional):

Breakfast Food Calorie Breakdown Yoga

Calories in Cream Cheese, Butter, and Other Bagel Spreads

Bagel Breakfast: Which Spread Should You Choose?

January 6, 2012

Bagels have a bad reputation as a dieter's nightmare: one plain bagel contains 290 calories and 59 grams of carbs. Since a carb-free diet isn't the healthiest way to drop pounds or maintain a healthy weight, it's more than OK to enjoy a warm, toasted bagel every so often. They're not all as unhealthy as everyone thinks, especially if you choose one made with whole wheat flour, whole grains, or seeds. It also depends on what spread you choose to smear on.

Keep reading to see the nutritional comparison of bagel spreads.

Spread (1 oz, about 2 tbsp)	Calories	Fat (g)	Sat. Fat (g)	Chol. (mg)	Sodium (mg)	Carbs (g)	Sugars (g)	Protein (g)
Cream cheese	100	10	6	30	90	1	0	2
Light cream cheese	64	4.6	2.7	18	128	1.8	0	1.8
Fat-free cream cheese	30	0	0	4	172	.9	0	4.3
Whipped cream cheese	81	8.1	4.7	27	122	1.4	0	1.4
Garden vegetable cream cheese	82	7.3	4.6	32	146	1.8	0	.9
Light garden vegetable cream cheese	53	4	2.2	13	168	2.7	0	2.7
Strawberry cream cheese	80	7.1	4	27	106	4.4	0	.9
Honey nut cheese	80	7.1	4	27	111	3.5	0	.9
Lox (4 oz.)	132	4.9	1	26	2,260	0	0	20.7
Salted butter	203	23	14.6	61	163	0	0	.2
Earth Balance	203	22.3	7.1	0	243	0	0	0
Strawberry jam	60	0	0	0	0	14.9	0	0
Butter and jam (1 oz of each)	304	23	14.6	61	163	14.9	0	.2
Natural peanut butter, smooth	168	14.2	1.8	0	0	6.2	2.7	7.1
Almond butter	168	14.2	.9	0	0	5.3	3.5	6.2

Source: Getty

25 Comments

yogarunlive 1 year 19 weeks

Fat-free cream cheese, hummus, or natural peanut butter all the way!

punkinqueen 1 year 19 weeks

Agreed with the avocados! I love to mash up half an avocado on top of a bagel then add a little salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Sadly I don't eat bagels much anymore.

Giasbash6260 1 year 19 weeks

Nix the bagels and eat some eggs! You season them enough and they taste like bagels! :P http://www.gigieatscelebrities.wordpress.com

danakscully64 3 years 19 weeks

This post made me very very sad. I moved out of state and we don't have a Panera Bread nearby. I am CRAVING a Cinnamon Crunch bagel with Hazelnut cream cheese. I would probably kill for one.

zeze 3 years 20 weeks

I love the mini bagels you find in grocery stores (for some reason breakfast places make them the size of tires) and I'm glad to see my favorite topping, strawberry cream cheese is on the low end of the calorie scale. Sometimes though, nothing beats butter!

adelaidekay 3 years 37 weeks

I like to top mine with eithe dill dip or light cream cheese. Raw baby spinach, A tomato slice, & a few slices of cheese. yum

3 years 37 weeks

I like them without any topping. Maybe a teaspoon of butter or honey. If I'm going to make a bagelwich then I like cream cheese with lox, or cream cheese with sprouts and turkey.

opentypeA 3 years 37 weeks

I don't really care much for bagels, but if I eat them they have to be plain! :)

Autumns_Elegy 3 years 37 weeks

Mmm. I like my bagels plain, or covered in melted cheese. *Drool* Rye bagels aren't so bad, but they're so expensive and hard to find!

runningesq 3 years 38 weeks

jelibean .. I wonder if your yoga instructor is actually seeing an RD - a registered dietician .. the only person qaulified to give diet advice. anyone can call themselves a 'nutritionist'! (it makes me angry when people who have no business giving nutrition advice do so). and the worst food you can eat, really? I would think double stuffed fried oreos might beat that! :P

jelibeann 3 years 38 weeks

my yoga instructor recently told me her nutritionist said bagels are the worst food you can eat...this made me so sad and i've chosen to ignore it...good bagels are amazing...and i enjoy them with just about anything on top...yum

runningesq 3 years 38 weeks

I don't consider a bagel a splurge, Lo Lo :P

Liss 3 years 38 weeks

I love bagels! Usually i eat them with cream cheese.

kurniakasih 3 years 38 weeks

I've not had bagels in awhile. I love 'em though. These days, I don't have any appetite in the morning...I've been skipping breakfast :sigh:

ellenp1214 3 years 38 weeks

ok seriously, who puts two tablespoons of butter AND two tablespoons of jam on ONE bagel?! that's a lot!

darc5204 3 years 38 weeks

I love bagels with a little pizza sauce and cheese as a snack

Lo Lo 3 years 38 weeks

Fit, I love that you advocate a balanced diet with occasional splurges. I'm so tired of hearing about cutting carbs out entirely. It's not realistic and frankly not fun! Kudos to you for this post!

bellaressa 3 years 38 weeks

I love a multigrain bagel with almond butter.

simplyfab87 3 years 38 weeks

I will not eat a bagel unless it has cream cheese on it. Lots of cream cheese.

cg130 3 years 38 weeks

Mmmm I love bagels! Haven't had one in forever, maybe I'll rethink my anti-bagel stance...

ella1978 3 years 38 weeks

I have a half bagel every friday morning with one tablespoon of peanut butter. It's only about 250 calories, and it takes away the craving for bagels. It's full of protein and keeps me full till lunch. Every once in a while I'll throw in a couple egg whites, only about 40 more calories, and even more protein!

3 years 38 weeks

You forgot avocados! Mmmm. . .

Yogaforlife 3 years 38 weeks

My husband used to eat bagels until he had to do a low sodium diet - a bagel is 500 mg of sodium almost a quarter of the recommended maximum daily intake. We don't eat bagels in our household anymore - we do whole grain english muffins which only have about 160 mg of sodium.