I don't know why, but when I think of what kind of food should be eaten on Halloween it usually comes down to either nachos or hot dogs. Oddly enough I can't recall enjoying either one of these foods in the holiday's past, but nonetheless that's where I'm taking us today. It might have to do with the fact that I know if I serve hot dogs on Halloween I can call them "halloweenies" and I'm all over justifiably throwing the word weenie into my everyday vernacular if only to make my 6 yr. old roll her eyes.
I recently heard tell of a few food carts that marinade their hot dogs in a mixture of apple cider vinegar and brown sugar. So, clearly, as soon as I learned about this I knew I had to try it. But first, what to top it with? Mustard… pickles? It didn't take long before I remembered a little hot dog stand in Provo, Utah called J. Dawgs who tops their dogs with their "special sauce" that's basically a sweet BBQ sauce of sorts. Perfect! So today I'm going to show you a sweet/tangy marinated hot dog topped with a sauce that could definitely award any given hot dog cart a run for their money. These dogs are so good that I don't even know if I can feel good about calling them "halloweenies" come the 31st. Though I make no promises, my daughter is pretty cute when she thinks I'm ridiculous.
You'll start by combining ½ C of apple cider vinegar, 1 C of brown sugar, and 2 cloves minced garlic. Stir until the sugar dissolves and set aside.
Using a sharp knife, score the hot dogs in a diamond-shaped pattern. Doing this will allow them to soak in more marinade and also gives lots of surface area for the sauce to adhere to when all is said and done.
Place the dogs into the prepared marinate and let them do their thing for 30 minutes up to overnight. The longer they marinade the better.
Prepare your sauce by combining chili sauce, prepared BBQ sauce, honey, soy sauce, and apple cider vinegar. When I say chili sauce, I don't mean sriracha, or even sweet chili sauce from the Asian food aisle. I'm talking about the chili sauce found next to the ketchup at the market, like this one. They really need to be more creative with names for sauces, don't you think?
Give all the ingredients a stir and you're good to go.
Grill the marinated hot dogs until hot and just starting to char around the edges. Serve on buns topped with the sauce, onions, pepperoncinis and pickles.
Fancy Pants Street Vendor Hot Dogs
Ingredients
- 6 all beef hot dogs
- ½ C apple cider vinegar
- 1 C brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ C Chili Sauce found in the ketchup aisle
- 1.2 C prepared BBQ sauce
- ¼ C honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Combine apple cider, brown sugar, and garlic for the marinade and stir until sugar is dissolved
- Score hot dogs in a diamond shaped pattern and place in marinade for 30 minutes up to overnight
- Remove from the marinade and grill until hot and slightly charred around the edges.
- Combine all sauce ingredients and stir. Serve over hot dogs with onions, pepperoncinis, and pickles.
Daniel says
Is the 1.2 cups of bbq sauce correct or should it read 1/2 cup?
Kathy says
We are going on a long roadtrip camping. We have a freezer in our camper. What do you think about freezing the hotdogs in the marinade until ready to use? I would keep the sauce separate, because I don’t think it would go bad in a week.
Sheilah says
This recipe turns a hotdog into a 5 star dinner! I'm serious!!!!!!