6 iconic hot dog recipes from America

Where does the hot dog come from? How do you make the tastiest hot dog? But most importantly: how can you, as a hospitality entrepreneur, use this wonderfully tasty yet simple dish to surprise your guests? We're going to answer that with a few delicious hot dog recipes, an explanation of the different types of hot dogs, and of course, the origin of this irresistible street food dish!

A hot dog? Isn’t that just a bun with a sausage? Well, no. It's much more than that. It’s the heart of a food culture and a source of inspiration for chefs around the world. Just look at how more and more top chefs are working with the hot dog. And it’s also a bun with a fantastic history. The hot dog is more than a century old, after all.

Hot dogs: the ultimate street food!

We can’t say it enough—street food is incredibly popular right now. More and more restaurants are adding street food dishes to their menus, turning the flavors of the streets of Mexico and NYC into trendy meals people around the world want to eat. Most hospitality businesses choose burgers and Mexican street food as their go-to options.

And that’s probably how you know us at LA Streetfood too—enthusiastic about Mexican street food products and amazing authentic American burgers. But the street food trend isn’t complete without one more element. Because while the Mexican kitchen feels like home to us, and we’re married to American-style burgers, the hot dog is the mistress we just can’t get out of our heads.

Hot dogs are without a doubt one of the best ways to surprise and delight your guests. This simple bun with a quality hot dog sausage has been the base of the most flavorful combinations since the 19th century. Think of the New Yorker with sauerkraut, or the Sonoran with Mexican toppings. You can really go all out with flavor, and that makes the hot dog the most culinary street food dish there is.

But that’s not how we know the hot dog in the Netherlands. Here, it’s never really been that popular—and most Dutch people have only experienced the worst version of it: a soggy bun, a limp sausage, the wrong mustard and sauces. That is absolutely not what a hot dog is meant to be.
The hot dog we stand for is the true gourmet hot dog for hospitality—made with a proper sausage and fantastic toppings.

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🌭 Hot Dog New York Style

Simplicity is the key word for the classic hot dog from the Big Apple. Made with a hot dog bun, a lightly smoked sausage, American mustard, and sauerkraut. But every now and then, you’ll find a variation with onions sautéed in tomato paste instead of sauerkraut.

LA840 NY Classic Hot Dog | LA8370 Haute Dog Roll de Luxe | LA78 Smoky Mountains American Mustard

🌭 Chicago Hot Dog

This hot dog is as iconic as the city itself and—generously topped—a true flavor bomb. While the exact toppings can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, you’ll always find fresh tomato, pickle relish, jalapeños, and sweet caramelized onions.

LA8403 Beef Dog | LA8370 Haute Dog Roll de Luxe | LA76 Sweet Pickle Relish | LA195 Caramelized onions

🌭 Detroit Hot Dog

With cheese! This hot dog is a bit unusual—despite not being New York, Detroit calls their hot dogs Coney Dogs, like those once made on Coney Island. In Detroit, they’re typically served with grated cheddar cheese, raw onion, and of course, classic chili. You’ll find them like this all over the city.

LA8403 Beef Dog | LA8370 Haute Dog Roll de Luxe | LA1000.2 MexMix Cheesemix

🌭 Hot Dog San Francisco Style

This is a true supreme-style hot dog that will make any bacon lover’s mouth water. The sausage is wrapped in bacon and topped with creamy smoky mayo, delivering deep, warm flavors. It’s typically balanced with lettuce and tomato for a refreshing contrast—basically a BLT dog.

LA8370 Haute Dog Roll de Luxe | LA901.1 Bacon Sweet ‘n Cured | LA77 Smoky Hemp Sauce

🌭 Newark Hot Dog

Italian style! So much of what’s great in American food came from immigrants, and the Italian influence on hot dogs is simply genius. In Newark—known for its airport just outside New York—they’ve created their own regional hot dog. Loved far beyond the city limits, this beef dog is topped with peppers, onions, and fried potatoes. Originally served on an Italian-style bun, but works perfectly on a good hot dog roll too.

LA8403 Beef Dog | LA8370 Haute Dog Roll de Luxe

🌭 Sonoran Dog

From Tucson and Phoenix. Close to the Mexican border and the Sonoran region, America blends two cultures and cuisines: American and Mexican. And the Sonoran Hot Dog is where they meet perfectly. A jalapeño cheese dog wrapped in sweet cured bacon, topped with frijoles, onions, mustard, smoky mayo, salsa, and jalapeños.

LA8405 Jalapeño Cheese Dog | LA8370 Haute Dog Roll de Luxe | LA901.1 Bacon Sweet ‘n Cured | LA78 Smoky Mountains American Mustard

Where do hot dogs come from?

The hot dogs above already show it: hot dogs—done right—are prepared in countless different ways. They can be wrapped in bacon, topped with cheese, drenched in tomato relish, or served with nacho chips and a rich smoky mayo. And all of these topping variations can be found in different cities and neighborhoods across America. Every city has its own signature hot dog, forming part of its local street food identity. And it all started with the original first American hot dog.

There’s still debate about the true origin of the hot dog and who actually invented it. You can’t say with certainty who made the first hot dog, but there is a strong suspicion.

The hot dog didn’t originally come from America at all. The sausage is German. It came over with the immigrants who moved from Germany to America starting in the 1800s. From there, several stories emerged claiming to be the origin of the modern hot dog. And although the exact truth may never be known, it is widely believed that Charles Feltman deserves the credit. On Coney Island, this German immigrant ran a sausage stand where he sold frankfurters, just like the ones he knew from Germany. It’s said that in his first year, he sold nearly 4,000 sausages. His business—Feltman’s—still exists on Coney Island today.

Hot dog: a sausage in a bun!

Feltman wasn’t the only one. Around 1880, in St. Louis, there was a sausage stand where these same frankfurters were selling really well. The vendor noticed that his customers didn’t like burning their fingers on the hot sausage. So he put it in a bun. A brilliant hit.

But that still didn’t make the hot dog popular across the country. That happened only when Nathan Handwerker—a Polish immigrant and employee at Feltman’s—opened his own hot dog stand. He sold them at a lower price than Feltman did. Which meant more people could afford them. It was his hot dogs people started talking about, and that became famous all over the country. Americans loved them so much, they turned into a national dish. Hot dogs are eaten on the street, at BBQs, during baseball games, and of course—you’ll find them on restaurant menus too.