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Sweet, smoky, tangy, and just a little bit saucy, my Hot Dog Onions recipe is sure to take your franks to a whole new flavor dimension. You only need 10 minutes and a handful of pantry staples to prepare this onion sauce and make your dogs 100% New Yorker-approved!
Table of Contents
About these hot dog onions
Give your foot-longs the New York treatment with these tasty, melt-in-your-mouth pushcart onions. This copycat recipe for Sabrett onions is simple to follow and will make your dogs taste better than you ever thought possible!
More than just caramelized onions or plain Jane sautéed onions, these NY Hot Dog Onions are a step above the rest. Sweetly caramelized onions meet tangy apple cider vinegar, peppy hot sauce, umami tomato paste, and a smattering of herbs and spices for the best dang hot dog sauce you’ve ever tried.
Why you’ll love this recipe!
Best of all, this delicious copycat recipe:
- Takes just 10 minutes of prep time. Just slice, sauté, add some flavor, and then let your stovetop do the rest.
- Allergen-friendly. It’s gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, and vegan, so you can rest assured that it’s perfectly acceptable for most diets.
- Budget-friendly. Even with grocery prices skyrocketing lately, onions and hot dogs are still pretty darn affordable. Plus, making these frankfurters at home is MUCH cheaper than a plane ticket to NYC, amirite?
- Make ahead of time for meal prep. Store these beauties in the fridge for up to 5 days, or pop them in the freezer for up to 3 months. You + Dinner = Winning.
Ingredients to make the best onions for hot dogs
As promised, the best onions for hot dogs come together with just a few pantry staples. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Neutral Oil – Canola, corn, vegetable, grapeseed, avocado, or peanut oil will all do the trick!
- Yellow Onions – You can use white and yellow onions interchangeably in this recipe. When shopping, choose onions that are firm like baseballs, don’t have soft spots, and have taut outer skin. They should feel heavy for their size and shouldn’t have any small green sprouts coming out of their top.
- Garlic – Fresh cloves will give the best flavor, but feel free to swap in ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder for each clove.
- Paprika – I used a 50/50 mix of sweet paprika and smoked paprika.
- Chili Powder – Feel free to adjust to your heat preference.
- Substitution: If you’re a fiery kind of person, try swapping in cayenne powder.
- Ground Cinnamon – Just a pinch adds a warmth you didn’t know you wanted.
- Tomato Paste – For deeply concentrated, borderline umami flavor.
- Pro Tip: Get the kind in a tube! It lasts for several weeks, so you don’t have to worry about wasting anything.
- Brown Sugar – Either light or dark will work just fine!
- Substitution: You can also swap in maple syrup, agave nectar, or date syrup if needed.
- Broth – You can use water or unsalted beef or chicken broth, depending upon your preference or what you have on hand. The broth will add a richer flavor. However, I’ve made these onions both ways (water, beef broth, and a combination of both) and it’s not a dealbreaker to use water!
- Hot Sauce – I believe Frank’s Red Hot is probably the most traditional, but feel free to swap in your own vinegar-based favorite here. Cholula, Crystal, Tabasco, you name it.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – For a twangy, zingy, mouth-puckering pop.
- Substitution: Feel free to swap in white wine vinegar, rice vinegar, or red wine vinegar if needed.
Recipe variations
These Sabrett-style onions for hot dogs are pretty perfect just the way they are. That said, you do have a few options to customize them to your liking:
- Make them mild. The recipe as written is spicy and smoky. For mild onions, use all sweet paprika and reduce the amount of chili powder and/or hot sauce.
- Make them as rings. To cut into rings, peel the outer layer of the onions back to the root end; however, do not remove it. Leaving this attached helps give a little handle to hold the onion while you cut. Use a sharp knife to slice across the onion into a ¼-inch thickness.
- Or Half-Moons. Cut the onion in half, tip to root, making sure each half retains half the root to hold the layers of the onion together. Peel and remove the outer skin layer. Cut the halved onion across into ¼-inch half-moon shapes.
- Chop them. The quickest and easiest option, which also happens to be the easiest to eat, is to roughly chop your onion in a medium to large dice.
FAQ: frequently asked questions
How can I keep from crying when I cut my onions?
That question is nearly as old as time, and I’m happy to report I’ve found the best fix. Pop your onions in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes prior to cutting them! Don’t take my word for it. It’s science!
How do you cut onions for hot dogs?
Personally, I prefer chopped onions because they are quicker to cook and easier to eat when they’re piled high on the dog as I like them to be. That said, it’s a personal preference. J Kenji Lopez-Alt would argue that cutting them into vertical slices is the best, but pushcart vendors seem to serve them as rings or half-moons. You do you!
What do New Yorkers put on hot dogs?
As far as I can tell, there are only three acceptable hot dog toppings in New York: spicy brown mustard, sauerkraut, and/or this delectable tomato-y onion sauce.
Tangy, smoky, sweet and impossible to beat, these truly are the best onions for your hot dogs!
Craving MORE? Follow all the deliciousness on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram!
More recipes for hot dog toppings!
- Chipotle Corn Salsa (Chipotle restaurant copycat!)
- Vegetarian Chili (three types of beans)
- No Bean Chili (all beef and no beans)
- Easy Pickled Onions
Hot Dog Onions recipe
Equipment
- Measuring Cups + Spoons
- large skillet
- Kitchen Utility Spoon
Ingredients
- 2 TBS Neutral Oil – such as Canola or Vegetable
- 1 ½ Pounds White or Yellow Onions – peeled & sliced into ¼-inch rings or half-moons; OR chopped (SEE NOTES)
- 2 cloves Garlic – minced
- 2 tsp Paprika (I use an even split of sweet and smoked)
- ½ tsp Chili Powder – or more to taste
- 1/16 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- Kosher Salt & Ground Black Pepper – to taste
- 2 heaping TBS Tomato Paste
- 1 tsp Light Brown Sugar – packed, or more to taste
- ¾ Cup Unsalted Broth or Water (SEE NOTES)
- 2 tsp Hot Pepper Sauce (such as Frank’s Red Hot)
- 1 ½ TBS Apple Cider Vinegar – or more to taste
Instructions
- Sauté onions: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and barely golden in color, about 8-10 minutes. (Note: Reduce the heat as needed to prevent the onions from browning.)
- Add aromatics: Add the garlic, paprika, chili powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add tomato and sugar: Add the tomato paste and sugar to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly until the tomato paste is caramelized, about 2 minutes.
- Add broth and hot sauce: Add the broth (or water) and hot sauce to the pan. Stir, scraping up any brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Cook: Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the onions to a rapid simmer. Immediately reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very tender and the liquid is almost evaporated, about 20 minutes. (Note: If the heat under your pan is too hot and the liquid evaporates too quickly, simply add more broth or water to the pan as needed.)
- Add vinegar: Stir the vinegar into the onions and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 5 additional minutes, or until the onions are meltingly tender and the sauce is thick, Taste and adjust for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, or hot sauce as desired.
- Serve or Store: Serve over your favorite hot dogs, burgers, wraps and more! Or allow the hot dog onions to cool completely to room temperature before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Onions: You can use white and yellow onions interchangeably in this recipe. For rings and half-moons, I recommend cutting your onions to be about ¼-inch-thick. Any thinner and they fall apart; any thicker and they aren’t as pleasantly palatable.
- Rings: To cut into rings, peel the outer layer of the onions back to the root end; however, do not remove it. Leaving this attached helps give a little handle to hold the onion while you cut. Use a sharp knife to slice across the onion into a ¼-inch thickness.
- Half-Moons: Cut the onion in half, tip to root, making sure each half retains half the root to hold the layers of the onion together. Peel and remove the outer skin layer. Cut the halved onion across into ¼-inch half-moon shapes.
- Chop: The quickest and easiest option, which also happens to be the easiest to eat, is to roughly chop your onion in a medium to large dice.
Selecting Onions: When shopping, choose onions that are firm like baseballs, don’t have soft spots, and have a taut outer skin. They should feel heavy for their size and shouldn’t have any small green sprouts coming out of their top.
- Liquid: You can use water or unsalted beef or chicken broth, depending upon your preference or what you have on hand. The broth will add a richer flavor. However, I’ve made these onions both ways (water, beef broth and a combination of both) and it’s not a dealbreaker to use water!
Nutrition
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Joe Amato
can you jar/can these onions with this recipe
Cheyanne Holzworth
Hi Joe,
Great question! Unfortunately, canning this recipe for hot dog onions is not ideal without extensive recipe modification since it’s not acidic enough for preservation. However, both freezing and refrigeration are safe and effective storage methods.
Cheers and warmest wishes for a wonderful week,
Cheyanne
Warren
I worked for Nathan’s, all it is is Paprika, nothing else. If you really want the proper flavor, they arent even sauteed, just put them in a sauce pan, put some water, the onions, paprika, and let it cook. This is the true traditional NY method.
Cheyanne Holzworth
Hi Warren,
That’s incredibly interesting! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on how Nathan’s makes their onions – I appreciate it.
Cheers and warmest wishes for a wonderful rest of the week,
Cheyanne
Mark
Dad-gum good recipe! Mucho better than what you buy in a jar from a grocery store. I can actually taste an onion flavor, and the sauce does not overpower the taste of the hot dog.
Cheyanne
Hi Mark,
I’m honored you decided to try these onions for hot dogs and absolutely thrilled you enjoyed them! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a review. 🙂
Cheers and warmest wishes for a wonderful day,
Cheyanne