Restaurants›Hank's Garage and Grill›Classic Chicago Dog Recipe

Classic Chicago Dog Recipe

Inspired by Hank's Garage and Grill
Time20m
Serves4

Tomato, onion, dill pickle, sport peppers, celery salt, mustard, pickle relish, poppy seed bun

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Ingredients

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Hot dogs & buns

Toppings

Optional / serving

Method

Hot dogs & buns

1

Prepare cooking method

Choose your preferred cooking method: simmer, steam, or grill. For authentic Chicago dogs, steam or simmer is common. To simmer: bring a medium saucepan of water to a gentle simmer (not a rolling boil). To steam: set up a steamer basket over simmering water. To grill: preheat grill to medium heat.

2

Cook the hot dogs

Place the 4 all-beef hot dogs into the simmering water or steamer and heat for 5–7 minutes until heated through. If grilling, grill over medium heat 3–4 minutes per side until nicely marked and warmed through. Remove and keep warm.

3

Toast the buns (optional but recommended)

If toasting, butter the inside of the 4 poppy seed buns lightly. Toast on a griddle, skillet, or grill for 30–60 seconds per side until lightly golden and warm. If steaming the buns, briefly steam them 20–30 seconds until soft and warm.

Toppings

4

Prep vegetables

Core and wedge the tomato into 4 wedges (one wedge per dog). Peel the onion and slice into thin half-moon rings; separate into rings or small diced pieces per taste (traditional uses thin rings). Have the 4 dill pickle spears ready whole. If the sport peppers are whole and very large, halve lengthwise; otherwise leave whole.

5

Assemble each dog

Open a toasted or warmed poppy seed bun. Place one cooked hot dog into the bun. Add one tomato wedge along the inside of each bun so it sits between the dog and bun (toward the side). Add a few rings of raw onion on top of the dog. Lay a dill pickle spear lengthwise beside the frankfurter inside the bun. Tuck 2 sport peppers per dog along the top (or 1 large pepper if large).

6

Finish with condiments and seasoning

Squeeze 1 teaspoon yellow mustard in a squiggly line down the length of each hot dog. Add 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish down the length of each dog over the mustard. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon celery salt evenly across each finished dog (adjust to taste).

Optional / serving

7

Serve immediately while warm. Optionally offer extra sport peppers, extra relish, or additional celery salt at the table. Classic Chicago dogs are not served with ketchup; avoid ketchup for authenticity.