Easy vegan hot dog ideas, from plant-based chili dogs to shredded carrot and dairy-free mayo toppings. Packed with meat-free sausage and incredible sauces, these simple appetizer ideas are the perfect party food.
- Firm Tofu & Mustard
- Carrot Sausage & Sauerkraut
- Kidney Beans & Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Baked Chili & Vegan Cheese
- Coney Island Dogs
- Lentil, Oat Flour & Liquid Smoke
- Smoky Barbecue Carrot & Chickpea Salad
- Tempeh Bacon & Quick-Pickled Beets
- Spiralized Carrot, Red Onion & Jalapeños
- Carrot, Tamari & Chives
- Plant-Based Frankfurters & Dairy-Free Butter
- Smoky Carrot & Maple Syrup
- Chili Cashew Cheese Dog
- Homemade Seitan Sausage
- Tofu
- 15 Best Vegan Hot Dog Recipes [Easy Topping Ideas]
It can be difficult to find a vegan substitute for hot dogs. Options at the grocery stores can be limiting too. But the following eleven recipes take a creative spin on the popular picnic food. They range from elevating prepackaged vegan dogs to putting grilled, marinated carrots on a bun. They vary in preparation and in the use of ingredients but pack imagination.
Your family picnics, social gatherings, and summer barbecues won’t be the same with these unique recipes of hot dogs and vegan sauces. Go ahead, try one or eight, and let your taste buds decide which one becomes your favorite.
Firm Tofu & Mustard
These easy tofu hot dogs are coated in a paprika and cumin batter, before topped with a simple plant-based pink coleslaw. In less than 30 minutes, you can enjoy this sweet, spicy vegan take on an American classic.
Carrot Sausage & Sauerkraut
These carrot dogs can be roasted or grilled. To get the most flavor, marinade the carrots a day in advance. The marinade incorporates molasses, chipotle sauce, and coconut aminos. Use traditional hot dog toppings such as ketchup, mustard, and onion and enjoy with chips or salad.
Make sure to use the leftover marinade in the baked beans recipe from the blog.
Kidney Beans & Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Made from scratch, these gluten-free hot dogs combine sun dried tomatoes, garlic, cumin, umami, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Shape the mixture as hot dogs and shallow fry in a frying pan. Top with raw green peppers and vegan mayonnaise. This recipe is a truly unique recipe for those who dare to try new flavors. Recipe from rhiansrecipes.com.
Baked Chili & Vegan Cheese
Brought to you by namelymarly.com, these hot dogs are baked in a casserole dish. The recipe suggests using prepackaged vegan dogs. Place the vegan dogs in buns, top with vegan cheddar, vegan chili, and mayo and bake until browned. Pair these with air fried fries or a salad or slaw on the side.
Coney Island Dogs
You can use any prepackaged vegan dogs for this recipe. The star of this recipe is the Coney Island inspired chili. The textured vegetable protein serves as the base of the recipe. It is combined with vegetable broth, onion, steak sauce, chili powder, and other spices to bring out a comforting, spicy flavor. The recipe is perfect for chilly fall nights or summer soirees.
Lentil, Oat Flour & Liquid Smoke
These carrot dogs are prepared in a marinade of maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, and pickled jalapeno juice. Marinate the carrots overnight and cook on a grill the next day. The recipe is perfect for lunch, dinner, or even mid-afternoon snacks.
Smoky Barbecue Carrot & Chickpea Salad
These barbecue carrot hot dogs combine cooked lentils, vegetable broth, liquid smoke, flax, and oat flour with other ingredients. Roll the mixture into hot dog shapes and cook them in an air fryer. You can cook dry lentils a day prior to cut down on preparation time. Top with your favorite toppings before devouring.
Tempeh Bacon & Quick-Pickled Beets
The recipe blog of vegansandra.com offers another recipe with carrot vegan dogs. Marinate the carrots in soy sauce, paprika, oregano, thyme, and other spices for a few hours. Grill the carrot dogs and top them with chickpea salad containing pickles, onion, vegan cream, and apple cider vinegar.
Spiralized Carrot, Red Onion & Jalapeños
Vegan hot dog recipes are big on possible vegan toppings. Sweetpotatosoul.com offers three options: tempeh bacon with pickled beets, blackberry BBQ sauce with carrot slaw, and spicy mango tomatillo salsa.
If you have plenty of time, go for the tempeh bacon and beet recipe as it takes a little over an hour to prepare. The blackberry BBQ sauce uses grapeseed oil to fuse the blackberries and BBQ sauce and takes about half an hour. The quickest recipe is that of tomatillo salsa and takes 25 minutes to prepare. It uses mango and jalapeno to enhance the bold flavors.
Carrot, Tamari & Chives
Inspriralized.com offers ideas for toppings such as spiral pickles. Other suggestions include a mix of chipotle cheese sauce, jalapenos, and avocado. Asian inspired third recommendation uses diced pineapple, teriyaki, and scallions. These unique recipes show that there is truly no limit to carrot dogs toppings.
Plant-Based Frankfurters & Dairy-Free Butter
Toppings inspired by Seattle, Kansas City, and New York top the vegan dogs in this recipe by thenutfreevegan.net.
Kansas City toppings include sauerkraut and vegan Swiss cheese. New York recipe calls for an onion and tomato paste mix, and the Seattle recipe incorporates flavors of vegan cream cheese and pickled jalapenos.
Smoky Carrot & Maple Syrup
Simpleveganblog.com presents another great overnight marinade for carrot dogs. Cook carrot dogs on a griddle and top them with your favorite traditional or non-traditional toppings. These carrot dogs can keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and can be enjoyed as leftovers! Serve with baked beans, fries, or a salad for a complete meal.
Chili Cashew Cheese Dog
Sometimes, a regular hot dog sounds boring. Nothing hits the spot like a sloppy chili cheese dog, which is more delicious the more napkins that you need after finishing it. Luckily, going vegan doesn’t have to mean giving up this tasty treat. A vegan chili cashew cheese dog requires some prep work, but it’s worth it.
First, make your own vegan cheese sauce using cashews. Soak your cashews for at least two hours (overnight is best). Then, blend the cashews with nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and seasonings such as salt, pepper, and garlic powder for umami kick. Add water as needed until you reach the consistency that you want.
Then, you can start assembling your hot dogs. Put cooked vegan hot dogs in a toasted bun of choice. Top with vegan chili, which you can buy or make at home using beans and stewed tomatoes. Finally, top with the cashew cheese sauce. This perfectly decadent hot dog hits all the notes as your favorite, but does not use any animal products.
Homemade Seitan Sausage
Although you can buy vegan sausage and hot dogs, nothing matches the satisfaction of making your own. Making your own sausage also gives you complete control over the ingredients, flavors, and size of your sausage.
Using seitan is one of the best ways to make vegan sausage. Seitan is a food product made out of wheat gluten that has a similar texture to meat. To make seitan sausage, you will need sauteed onion and garlic. Once the onion and garlic are translucent, take them off the heat and add to a food processor. Pulse with your choice of seasonings. Then, add wheat gluten and pulse until the mixture reaches a sausage-like texture. Shape into sausages and steam.
The best part about making your own seitan sausage is that you control what seasoning goes into the “meat.” If you want an Italian-inspired sausage, add fennel seeds. For a bit of kick, add cayenne pepper and paprika. You can also add your choice of hot dog toppings once you grill the sausage.
Tofu
Tofu is one of the most popular meat replacements for a reason. The mild flavor means that it absorbs sauces and marinades well. It is also versatile enough to use as a meat replacement in many dishes, and hot dogs are no different.
Many of the vegan hot dogs that you can buy in the store contain tofu, but you can also make your own. All you need is extra-firm tofu. Be sure to drain it very well because you don’t want any moisture in this recipe. Then, shape the tofu into sausage-like shapes and marinate the tofu to get all the flavor that you can into it. Get creative with the marinade ingredients and use anything you’d like, from vinegar to paprika to liquid smoke.
Once the tofu is done marinating, bake off the sausages and finish off with a sear in a skillet. Add to your choice of hot dog buns and top with your favorite toppings.
