These gourmet hot dog recipes make healthy hot dogs inspired by the Mediterranean cuisines of Italy, Morocco and the Middle East. If you’re planning on making hot dogs for the Labor Day holiday in the USA today but you’re looking for healthier hot dog recipes beyond the classics, then try out Italian inspired, Moroccan inspired and Middle Eastern inspired hot dogs.
I love a traditional hot dog spread with mayo and topped with generous squirts of chilli sauce, mustard and tomato sauce or ketchup, if you prefer, as much as the next person. But when I feel like healthier hot dogs or hot dogs that are a bit fancy, I make these gourmet hot dog recipes.
I have to confess to not being a fan of the classic frankfurter style hot dog sausage. I much prefer to buy some good quality sausages from a butcher shop, such as Italian style herb sausages, Moroccan merguez sausages or the Lebanese makanek sauces, and fill the hot dogs with salads and spreads.
But if you’re a lover of the classic hot dog or you can’t source these sausages, you could always use traditional hot dog-style sausages with these spreads and salads. Before I tell you more about the 10 most popular recipes of August, I have a favour to ask.
Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve cooked our recipes and enjoyed them, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon, which you can do for as little as the price of a coffee. Or you could buy us a coffee and we’ll use our coffee money to buy cooking ingredients for recipe testing.
Another option is to use links on our site to buy travel insurance, rent a car or campervan or motorhome, book accommodation, or book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide. Or buy something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, James Beard award-winning cookbooks, cookbooks by Australian chefs, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, travel books to inspire wanderlust, and gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay any extra.
Lastly, you could browse our Grantourismo store for gifts for food lovers, including food themed reusable cloth face masks designed with Terence’s images. Now let me tell you all about the 10 most popular recipes of August.
Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes for Mediterranean Inspired Healthy Hot Dogs
I made all of these gourmet hot dog recipes today. Not that we celebrate Labor Day here in Cambodia, although I was thinking of our American readers out in the sunshine grilling meats and burgers and tucking into hot dogs as they enjoying the last days of summer.
I was just craving healthy fast food and hot dogs in particular and I loathe the frankfurter-style hot dog sausages that we get here. They’re just not the same as the hot dogs we have back in Australia.
When I was a child my parents had a French restaurant but in my late teens they owned a popular takeaway shop near the beach in a surfing community on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in Australia.
They specialised in classic Australian fast food favourites such as burgers with the lot, homemade fries, wedges and sour cream, old fashioned toasties, generously-filled salad rolls, and hot dogs with all manner of toppings and fillings, which were very much 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 for Mediterranean Inspired Healthy Hot Dogs
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.
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.
Likewise, I’ve used spreads from those cuisines, such as wholegrain mustard (said to have been invented by the Romans), 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 homemade creamy hummus recipe, which he learnt to make from a Lebanese work colleague when we lived in Abu Dhabi.
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.
Gourmet Hot Dog Recipes for Healthy Hot Dogs
Italian 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 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
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.
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