These gourmet hot dog recipes make healthier hot dogs inspired by the Mediterranean cuisines of Italy, Morocco and the Middle East. If you’re planning on making hot dogs for a casual weekend get-together or a game day gathering, but are looking for healthier hot dog recipes beyond the classic hot dog, try out our Italian inspired, Moroccan inspired and Middle Eastern inspired hot dogs.
I enjoy a traditional hot dog spread with mayo and mustard and topped with generous squirts of chilli sauce or ketchup as much as the next person. Add caramelised onions, bacon and melted cheese and I’m in heaven. But when I feel like healthier fast food or hot dogs that are a bit fancier, I make these gourmet hot dog recipes.
My parents owned a take-away specialising in hot dogs when I was a teen, so I’m a hot dog lover. Although I have to confess to not being a fan of classic frankfurter sausages used in hot dogs. I prefer to buy good quality butcher’s sausages, such as Italian herb sausages, Moroccan merguez and Lebanese makanek and fill the hot dogs with salads and spreads.
Now before I tell you more about my gourmet hot dog recipes, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve cooked and enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by using our links to buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; or buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers or classic cookbooks for serious cooks. Now let me tell you all about my gourmet hot dog recipes.
Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes for Mediterranean Inspired Healthier Hot Dogs
I’m re-sharing these gourmet hot dog recipes for our readers in the USA gathering for Super Bowl Sunday and looking for game day food recipes or healthy Super Bowl food recipes. I first shared these gourmet hot dog recipes a couple of summers ago, when I was thinking of our American friends enjoying Labor Day in the sunshine, grilling burgers and tucking into hot dogs, as they soak up the last days of summer.
I was at home in Siem Reap at the time and recalling late-summer weekends with loved-ones in Australia. I was craving healthier fast food and good gourmet hot dogs in particular, as I loathe the frankfurter-style hot dog sausages we get in Cambodia. Thai-produced, they’re not the same as the hot dogs back in Australia.
When I was a small child my parents had a romantic ocean-side French restaurant in a New South Wales holiday town in Australia. But in my late teens they opened what would become a hugely popular takeaway shop near the beach, in a surfing community on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
They specialised in classic Australian fast food favourites such as burgers with the lot, homemade fries, wedges with sour cream, old fashioned toasties, generously-filled salad rolls, and hot dogs with an array of toppings and fillings, which were considered to be gourmet hot dogs at the time.
We’ve been meaning to share some of those recipes with you, such as my dad’s burger with the lot recipe, and I will do that soon, but in the meantime these are my favourite gourmet hot dog recipes inspired by our former home, the Middle East, and our Mediterranean travels.
Tips to Making these Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes
Just a few quick tips to making these gourmet hot dog recipes as they’re not hard at all and the salads can all be made ahead and kept refrigerated.
Sausages
Try to use gourmet sausages or quality artisanal sausages from a good butcher. I’ve used Italian herb sausages, Moroccan merguez and Lebanese makanek sausages in these recipes. But if you’re a lover of the classic hot dog or you can’t source fancy sausages, by all means use traditional hot dog-style sausages.
Salads
I’ve kept my salads in theme with the hot dogs, such as a simple take on the Sicilian caponata for the Italian inspired hot dog, a basic version of the Moroccan carrot salad for the Moroccan style hot dog, and an easy tabbouleh without the bulgur for the Lebanese-leaning Middle Eastern inspired hot dog.
Spreads
Likewise, I’ve used spreads from those cuisines, such as wholegrain mustard (said to have been invented by the Romans) for the Italian-inspired hot dog, spicy harissa from Morocco, and hummus from the Middle East.
You could buy store-bought hummus to save time, or you could make Terence’s authentic homemade creamy hummus recipe, which he learnt to make from a Lebanese work colleague when we lived in Abu Dhabi.
Sauces
I’ve skipped the classic tomato sauce or ketchup, mayo and mustard but there’s no reason why you can’t squirt them on for a trad-mod hot dog combo.
Note that the recipes below make two hot dogs in each style for six hotdogs in total, which you could slice into halves, thirds or quarters, or simply adjust the servings in each recipe depending on how many people you’ll be feeding.
Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes
You’ll find three recipes below for each of our Italian, Moroccan and Middle Eastern inspired hot dogs.
Italian Inspired Hot Dog Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Italian herb sausages
- 2 hot dog buns
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 aubergine - small, diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot - small, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove - minced
- 1 red capsicum - small, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp tomato paste - or tomato sauce
- 1 tsp capers
- 1 tbsp fresh basil
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 6 slices Italian salami
- 2 tbsp fresh rucola
- 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tbsp Italian parsley - fresh , finely chopped (celery leaves)
Instructions
- Cook the Italian herb sausages according to butcher’s instructions.
- Slice the hot dog buns down the centre and warm in the oven on low until you’re ready to fill them.
- Sprinkle the salt on the diced aubergine and set aside.
- In a wok or fry pan, heat the olive oil on medium until it shimmers, fry the shallots until soft, add the garlic and fry until fragrant, add the red capsicum and fry until soft, then the diced aubergine, and continue to stir-fry until the aubergine is soft and red capsicum starts to blister and onion starts to brown. Add the tomato paste, capers, fresh basil, stir to combine well, then set aside.
- Remove the hot dog buns, use a pastry brush to brush on extra virgin olive oil, lay out three slices of Italian salami on one side of the bun, spread out the fresh rucola on the other, spoon half the mixture of shallot, garlic, capsicum and aubergine onto each bun, pop the Italian sausages on top, add tiny dollops of wholegrain mustard and sprinkle on Italian parsley or celery leaves, and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Moroccan Inspired Hot Dog Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 hot dog buns
- 2 merguez sausages
- 1 carrot - medium, peeled and shredded
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp coriander - fresh, roughly chopped (or mint)
- 2 tbsp harissa
Instructions
- Cook the merguez sausages according to butcher’s instructions.
- Slice the hot dog buns down the centre and warm in the oven on low until you’re ready to fill them.
- In a small salad bowl, combine the shredded carrot, cumin, salt, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sesame seeds and half the fresh herbs and set aside.
- Spread a tablespoon of harissa onto each hot dog bun, distribute the carrot salad between the buns, transfer the sausages to the buns, and sprinkle on the rest of the chopped fresh herbs.
Nutrition
Middle Eastern Hot Dog Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 hot dog buns
- 2 makanek sausages
- 40 g parsley - fresh, finely chopped
- 20 g mint - fresh, finely chopped
- 1 ripe tomato - small, finely diced
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp hummus
- 2 tbsp toum - (garlic sauce) – optional
- 1 tbsp pickled green peppers and/or cucumbers and/or pink shallots – optional
Instructions
- Cook the makanek sausages according to butcher’s instructions.
- Slice the hot dog buns down the centre and warm in the oven on low until you’re ready to fill them.
- In a small salad bowl, combine finely chopped fresh parsley, fresh mint, finely diced tomato, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and salt, and set aside.
- Spread hummus onto one side of each bun and toum (Lebanese garlic sauce) onto the other; if you’re not a garlic lover, spread hummus on both sides.
- Spread a generous layer of our simple tabbouleh onto the hummus, then the sausages, then optional pickles.
Nutrition
First Published 5 September 2022; Updated and Re-Published 11 February 2024; Last Updated 26 April 2025
Please do let us know if you make any of our gourmet hot dog recipes in the comments below as we’d love to hear how our recipes turn out for you.
