We wanted to post a story on awesome hot dog recipes for National Hot Dog Month, but couldn’t find any photos to do the recipes justice so we decided to throw the 1st annual RSVLTS.com Hot Dog Festival on our office rooftop and try out some of these great recipes compliments of our food editor, Sara Polite. Even though July will soon be over, doesn’t mean you can’t try out these gnarly recipes for the rest of summer. Just think of your Beer Margarita as being half full, still plenty of good BBQ weather ahead of us.
Kicked-up Classic
8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
Sriracha sauce
Dijon mustard
Sweet pickle relish
Your favorite potato chips crushed for the top like Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion
Cook hot dogs according to package. Place dog in buns and top with Sriracha sauce, Dijon mustard, sweet pickle relish and crushed potato chips.
Tip for making your own quick sweet pickle relish: Drain a jar of bread and butter pickles and chop them into a very fine dice and then use them to top your dog.
The Mac’n'Cheese Dog
8 hot dogs
8 buns, toasted
8 tablespoons of softened butter to brush on the buns
1 box of Mac and Cheese
1 1/2 pound of bacon (23 slices)
bread crumbs
Use regular boxed mac and cheese to cook. While cooking 7 strips of bacon. Once bacon is cooked, crush and sprinkle in the mac and cheese.
Cook another set of bacon in a skillet until crispy golden brown. Set the cooked bacon aside on paper towels. You’ll use the same skillet to cook your hot dogs in so that they pick up that bacon flavor and crisp up. While your dogs are cooking you can brush the inside of your hog dog buns with the softened butter (about 1 tablespoon per bun) and toast in either the oven on broil or on the grill until toasted.
To assemble your Mac’n'Cheese dog: Open the bun. You’ll use two pieces of cooked bacon for each serving, so take the bacon and put a piece on each side of the cooked hot dog, then throw the mac cheese on top of the beast. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top for added flavor and texture.
Bacon Cheddar BBQ Dog
8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
8 slices of bacon
8 slices of cheddar cheese
BBQ sauce
1 white onion chopped finely
Slice each hot dog in half. Be careful not to cut all the way through but enough so that a slit goes across the entire vertical length of the dog. Fold the piece of cheddar cheese in thirds and place the cheese in the pocket you’ve made in the hot dog. Take a piece of bacon and wrap it tightly around the hot dog so it covers the entire length of it.
Tip: If the ends of the bacon don’t wrap easily around the hot dog and stay, you can use a toothpick to secure the bacon on there while it cooks. Remove toothpick after dog is cooked.
Cook the dog on either the grill or stovetop until the hot dog is cooked and the bacon is crispy. Serve on the bun and top with your favorite BBQ sauce and diced onions.
Fiesta Dog
8 hot dogs
8 hard taco shells
Guacamole (use store bought or see our easy recipe below)
Salsa (use store bought or see our easy recipe below)
Mexican blend cheese
Sour cream & taco seasoning mixed together
Mix the sour cream and taco seasoning together to taste. Set aside. Cook hot dog according to package. Cut hot dog in half , then split it down the middle, so it fits in a hard shell taco. Place the cooked hot dog in the taco shell and top with the guacamole, salsa, sour cream and cheese.
Guacamole
3 ripe Haas avocados peeled, pitted and diced
Juice of 1 lime
1 tomato, diced
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
Fresh cilantro, chopped (to taste, optional)
Mash the avocados, then mix in the diced red onion, garlic, tomato, and cilantro. Add the lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Fresh Salsa
4 tomatoes, diced
1 small white onion, diced
1 cloves of garlic, diced
1 jalapeno seeded and diced
Fresh cilantro, chopped (to taste, optional)
Juice of ½ lime
Mix ingredients together. Add salt & pepper to taste.
Beer Brats
8 bratwursts (We used Johnsonville Brats, Original Bratwurst)
8 hot dog buns
Enough beer to cover the hot dogs (an ale works well with this dish)
2 onions, sliced
2 green peppers, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
Spicy mustard
Olive oil
In a large pot, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Sautee the garlic, onions and peppers on medium heat until they begin to brown and become tender (about 5-7 minutes). Add your bratwurst to the pan, and pour in enough beer to cover the brat and bring to a boil. Continue to cook the brats for another 10 minutes in the beer and onion/pepper mixture.
Once the brats are cooked, remove them from the pot and finish cooking them on either the stove or grill so the skins get golden and crispy. Continue to cook the beer onion and pepper mixture, and the beer will reduce down creating almost like a sauce. Serve the brat in a bun, and add your spicy mustard and pepper, onion and beer mixture on top.