Hot Dog Sauce....or "Chili" if you insist

[klsm54]

Long before anyone ever heard of a "Chili Dog", 1918 to be exact, we had a hot dog joint in town that started serving their Hot Dogs with "Sauce". It was tomato based, and had ground meat in it, but it was not much like "Chili". The restaurant was run by a Greek immigrant family and was called "Nicks". A couple years later another restaurant, this one on Coney Island, run by a Greek guy named Nick, also concocted a similar topping for his Hot Dogs and called it "sauce".

Somewhere along the line, probably out in California... ....they started calling them "Chili Dogs"... Now that is okay...I guess...unless some idiot actually puts "Chili" on them instead of hot dog sauce. I've been in some places that I swear put Hormel Chili on their hot dogs. Where are the Hot Dog Police when you need them? And I've heard that it is common place in southwest Ohio to get Skyline Chili on a dog....gimme a break.

I'm a great lover of Chili, but it has it's place. I prefer my chili in a bowl, thank you. I've even had it on top of spaghetti, the previously mentioned Skyline Chili, and mixed with macaroni topped with cheese and baked isn't too bad. But please, no true "Chili" on my hot dogs. That is why, long before there was a "Pinks" in LA, or Tony Packo's in Toledo, there were hot dog places all over the Atlantic seaboard, many run by Greek immigrants, that served "Hot Dogs with Sauce".

In tribute to that "Sauce", and to those guys named "Nick" who perfected it and were kind enough to let the world taste it, here is a recipe that will get you real close to the "Original". Good stuff. If you are a wiener aficionado, you really ought to whip yourself up a batch. It freezes well, so double up if you please.


Nick's Hot Dog Sauce

1-½ lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove.
Brown together , chop meat with spatula till fine.
Add remaining ingredients.
1 bottle Heinz ketchup (family size 36 oz.)
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp Coleman's dry mustard
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
4 cups water
Cook together for 1 hour or till thick. Makes approximately 1½ pints.

This is a delicious sauce that will have you craving Hot Dogs ! It's a great way to dress them up for a cook out or party. Don't be afraid of the spices used, they really blend together.


You can adjust the spices to suit your tastes, but it is best to use them all, it just isn't right if you leave anything out.

I probably about double the Chili powder, probably 1/2 again as much cinnamon, and a little more ground cloves. But it is good made to the recipe too, I just like a little more tang. Enjoy...

[deputydon]

Sounds GOOOOOODD!!!! I'll mix up a batch and let the family try it...

[jmarriott]

I like a good dog. I like a cheap dog also. Nothing better than dogs on the grill and a beer in the hand.

[bounce]

I don't know the resipe but mom always use to make a home maide Kechup or catsoup I never have figured out that differance for the names, But mom's was just a spicy tomato juce that was thick but not near so as Hinz it would rate very well as a Hotdog sauce in my opinion as I always loved it but she has not made any for a few years now. But I never have found that taste anywere else.

[deputydon]

You NEED to get that recipe from her so that it can be carried on to the next generations....

[Purebred Redneck]

Wow, I'm confused.
I never knew there was a "hot dog sauce"

If you order a chili dog around here you better get chili. That runny @ss stuff they serve on the east coast ain't going to cut it !!!

[klsm54]

Jun 15, 2009 18:37:43 GMT -5 Purebred Redneck said:

Wow, I'm confused.
I never knew there was a "hot dog sauce"

If you order a chili dog around here you better get chili. That runny @ss stuff they serve on the east coast ain't going to cut it !!!

I feel sorry for you Red. I can't believe that there isn't a good dog shop, or two, in the St. Louis area. You make a batch of that sauce and from that day on you'll spit on a hot dog with real Chili on it......


Oh yeah, did I mention that a good hot dog has to be a "natural casing" wiener, none of those "skinless franks". It has to snap when you bite into it.

[Jack]

I'm with you, Klsm- hot dogs with chili sauce has no relation to the kind of chili that comes in a bowl.
I haven't tried your recipe, but it sounds like the chili sauce they put on hot dogs at some of the more discriminating food emporiums in my area.

[Purebred Redneck]

Jun 15, 2009 22:22:54 GMT -5 klsm54 said:

I feel sorry for you Red. I can't believe that there isn't a good dog shop, or two, in the St. Louis area.

I'm sure there probably is but people from this county don't go into that county unless we have to !
Too many rich people, poor people, city people, and traffic. It's very scary over there. ;D

You guys need to come here to the best bar in town Showme's (white trash hooters) and try the Hurricane Hotdog for 6 bucks.

That's a 12" hogie roll with a 1/2 pound sausage covered in thick chili, onion, and cheese. Don't forget fries. They serve it on a pizza pan !!!!! And Pabst is $1 all day everyday ;D

I'm the only one known to have finished the whole thing (3 times)

[jimiowa]

Man I love Chili Dogs, though as you point out may have never had a real one by eastern standards.

[jimiowa]

I'm going to give this Recipe to Jo and see what she does to it.
She is a cook and I've never known her to follow a recipe in the 38 yrs we've been married. She will use one to get ideas and then vary it to her taste.
I know for a fact she will use more garlic, we eat a lot of garlic.

Scott I don't see that the spices seem at all unusual.
The only one some might question is the cinnamon, but Jo tells me it really accents the other spices and works well.

[klsm54]

I don't find the spices unusual either, Jim. But there are a lot of people out there that only have 2-3 spices in their pantry, beyond salt & pepper. To those people....don't worry, it'll taste just fine, and the extra seasoning won't endanger your health.... ;D

I'm a tinkerer when it comes to recipes too. I think most people, with a discerning palette to go along with their cooking skills, usually adapt a recipe to their, and their family's, tastes.


I don't see Hot Dog sauce as an east coast thing, even though it started there. I've had good sauce all over the country, but it does seem that the further west you head, the better the chance you'll get real Chili on your dog instead of sauce.

The famous "Pinks" in Los Angeles calls them Chili Dogs, but their Chili is much closer to Nick's Sauce than the Chili you eat in a bowl. And I'm pretty sure the first Hot Dogs that people called Chili Dogs had Chili that was a renamed Hot Dog sauce. But the fact that they were ever called Chili Dogs led places to start putting real Chili on them, and that is a sin to true hot dog gourmets.

[dovehunter]

I like our "eastern style" hot dog chili sauce and I also like thick western style chili with lots of beans. I do not, however, think I would like regular chili on a hot dog.

Speaking of chili, I finally tried some of Chili's chili and it stunk - all runny and tasteless. I would think that a restaurant with a name like Chili's would have better chili. They should change their name to Big Mouth Burger's!

Oh well, I guess different people have different tastes.

[Jack]

I've seen cinnamon in a number of chili recipes (chili, not hot dog sauce).
Klsm's recipe for hot dog sauce looks about right to me, as I said before. If I were making it, I might cut down on the ketchup - the hot dog sauce around here is heavy on meat, and quite thick. But, I suspect a lot of places have their own recipes/modifications.

[Purebred Redneck]

I might be tempted to put in 2/3 ketchup and 1/3 bbq sauce

And 3 cups water and 1 beer