Chicago Dog

So, just what is on a Chicago style dog? Well, it starts with a steamed poppy seed bun and an all-beef frankfurter. Then it’s topped with yellow mustard, bright green relish, fresh chopped onions, juicy red tomato wedges, a kosher-style pickle spear, a couple of spicy sport peppers and finally, a dash of celery salt. Many Chicagoan’s say that their hot dog has been literally dragged through the garden due to its notable amount of veggies.

The all-beef hot dog proliferated in Chicago thanks to a wave of Jewish immigrants, who quickly realized that America’s craze for the little sausages made hot dog vending a great way to earn a living. The Chicago dog was a product of the Great Depression, when vendors at the city’s Maxwell Street Market bulked out meager sausage sandwiches with a dramatic pile of relatively cheap vegetables. Like any other hot dog, it was an affordable meal, fast to prepare and fast to eat, that appealed to Chicago’s working-class population.

Now you don’t have to make a trip to the Windy City to enjoy a version of the signature hot dogs smothered in classic condiments. A Chicago-Style Dog or Chicago Red Hot is usually boiled, but we chose to steam ours—it gives the hot dog a good snap, and the steamed buns are warm and squishy in the best way possible.

Not quite what you are looking for? Try these other great recipes:

• Chili Dogs
• Hoagies
• Sloppy Bombay Joes

Chicago Dog

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Now you don’t have to make a trip to the Windy City to enjoy a version of the signature hot dogs smothered in classic condiments. A Chicago-Style Dog or Chicago Dog is usually boiled, but we chose to steam ours—it gives the hot dog a good snap, and the steamed buns are warm and squishy in the best way possible.

• Author: Food Network
• Prep Time: :05
• Cook Time: :10
• Total Time: :15
• Yield: 4
• Category: Lunch
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

4 all-beef hot dogs
4 poppy seed hot dog buns (see Notes)
Yellow mustard
1 dill pickle, quartered lengthwise
1 medium tomato, cut into 8 wedges
Chicago-style relish (see Notes)
1/2 sweet white onion, finely diced
8 sport peppers (see Notes)
Celery salt

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Instructions

1. Fill a large pot fitted with a steamer basket with 1 to 2 inches of water. Cover with a tightly fitting lid and bring to a boil. Add the hot dogs to the steamer basket, cover and steam until the hot dogs are heated through, about 5 minutes. Add the buns to the pot, cover and steam the buns until they are warm, about 1 minute.
2. Remove the buns from the pot and drizzle the inside of each with mustard. Top each with a hot dog, then nestle one pickle wedge on one side of each hot dog and 2 tomato wedges on the other side. Top with more mustard and relish, onions and peppers and sprinkle with celery salt. 

Notes

If you can’t find poppy seed buns, use regular buns and sprinkle the hot dog with poppy seeds at the end. If you can’t find Chicago-style relish, you can substitute with sweet relish. And you can substitute other pickled peppers for the sport peppers.