HOMEMADE HOT DOG SAUCE BY GRANDPA BOB

Jump to recipe

This homemade hot dog sauce has been a recipe creation that Grandpa Bob  has been trying to perfect for the last few months.

Homemade Hot Dog Sauce like you remember as a child.

He is a great cook and we have been enjoying time together in the kitchen since we both retired.  He usually follows recipes and adds a little of his own personal touch to them, but he told me he wanted to totally create a recipe for homemade hot dog sauce.

I told him that I had a wonderful neighbor years ago (Lou Ann) who had the best homemade hot dog sauce recipe. She gave it to me once but over the years, I have lost it.  It originated in a small town in WV  and was served in a popular restaurant  there.  I remembered it was so unique because you covered the ground beef with water and cooked it down.  The spices were added and simmered slowly.  That is all I remembered about her recipe.

We went through my spice drawer and pulled out what we wanted to add.  We used 80/20 ground beef but had way too much grease.  We also had too much red pepper.  The second attempt was an adjustment on spices.  A few weeks later we tried it again and used ground sirloin but it was too dry.

The perfect homemade hot dog sauce with just the right texture, flavor and packed with spices. Great for any cook-out or tailgate party.This week he experimented with this sauce for the fourth time and now feels he got it just the way he wants it.  We used a combination of 80/20 ground beef and ground sirloin to get a better consistency.

Bob and 3 of his friends were heading to the drag races for the weekend so he wanted to test his homemade hot dog sauce out on them.  He said they all thought it was delicious.  He will be making it to take to Deer Camp next fall.

Homemade Hot Dog Sauce like you remember as a child.

He is so proud of his recipe creation that he asked me to post it on my blog.

Our family will be enjoying this several times during the summer. Thank you Grandpa Bob.

This sauce is perfect to make a WV Slaw Dog.

This recipe was shared on Weekend Potluck@ Sweet Little Bluebird
This is a weekly collection of recipes shared by amazing cooks/bakers. Go check them out.

**Recipe updated 5/14/22

Homemade Hot Dog Sauce like you remember as a child. Texture like what was served at drive ins and parks.#hot dog sauce

Please follow and like us:

134 thoughts on “HOMEMADE HOT DOG SAUCE BY GRANDPA BOB”

  1. Looks terrific! One thing I like on an occasional basis is a chili dog. I usually add a canned chili that I know isn’t anywhere near as good tasting as this recipe sounds! I’ll eventually be back to try it. Thanks, Bob!

    1. I have to be in the mood to eat a hot dog and if I am, I do want a good one also.

    2. I worked in a little hotdog stand in the 70s. It was called ” Skeenies,’ it was located on Sissonsville Rd. In Charleston ,West Va..
      My boss made her hotdog sauce but we never knew what she put in it as far as spices. I do know she cooked it with water over it.,
      Thanks for you’re recipe……Rita

      1. Oh my gosh! This is so interesting. The water thing is different, but for some reason it works with hot dog sauce. Please let me know if it seems close to her recipe if you get to make it. Thank you .

    3. Looks good, its hard to find a good HD chili sauce out of WV, i’ve been in Virginia for a few years and the closest i found was Sam’s hotdogs.

      1. My mom used to have a little hot dog shop in the country many years ago, called Sam’s Hot Dogs. Is this the same place you are referring to? It was in Jackson Co. Thx

  2. I’m from Jackson Michigan we are famous for coney sauce. One thing u need to change is your ground beef to a beef heart you’notice the difference. Have the heart ground twice it makes the sauce much finer try this if u like it I have a more simple receipt

    1. Thank you, I did not know this prior to today. Someone else mentioned it to me on another site.

  3. Thank you Bob! We appreciate you sharing your goodness! I’ve heard of boiling the meat to get the consistency right. I”ve never tried it but I will now! Thanks again Bob!

    1. Thank you. Boiling the meat seems to bring a lot of grease out but we just spooned it off, except a little. It seemed to make the make a finer texture and we liked it. Bob is so funny! He kepy saying …why don’t you put my recipe on your blog!! haha..he may start wanting a monthly post!

  4. This sounds good! I love homemade hot dog chili. I have a recipe that calls for corn flake crumbs, and I think it’s to soak up the extra grease! Lol! It’s really good though. I’m sure it’s super-fattening! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    1. Oh wow..have never heard of the recipe with corn flakes in it, I bet you are right about soaking up the grease. Thank you for visiting and checking out his hot dog sauce.

  5. Where was Grandpa Bob last year when I was looking for a good hot dog chili recipe??? haha I am definitely going to try this.
    🙂 gwingal

    1. I KNOW!!! I didn’t get one in the picture with the slaw..was trying to show the sauce but I agree with you and that is how I eat mine too. Thanks for visiting.

  6. I’ve been looking for a recipe just like this. I’ll be Pinning! It reminds me of my carnival days. It looks delicious. Thanks for sharing on Sunday’s Best Linkup.

    1. It does remind me of the carnival days hot dog sauce too! That’s funny.

  7. I hadn’t thought to mix the two types of ground meat. Good idea. I agree that the less fatty meat can be too dry. I am glad that you can freeze it. Looks like a winner for the summer! we love chili dogs. Thank you Grandpa Bob.

    1. Thank you Krista. He keeps getting the big head when I tell him people gave him good comments!! haha

  8. Such a great recipe share at Weekend Potluck, Pamela! I grew up in Flint, Michigan and Coney dogs are a favorite. I always have them with mustard and onions. Please thank Grandpa Bob for encouraging you to share! Looking forward to trying this awesome recipe. Thanks again!

    1. Thank you. I like cole slaw on mine and he likes the mustard and onions. I know in some parts of the country they do not eat them like this so I am happy to hear that you do.

  9. Yum oh yum! Hubby and I both love coney dogs and this recipe sounds awesome. Thanks to you and Grandpa Bob too for sharing! We appreciate your shares at Weekend Potluck also.

    1. Thank you. I enjoy reading others posts on the Weekend Potluck and really see some great recipes and ideas.

    1. Oh my gosh!!! How exciting. We are so honored. You have a great weekend too.

  10. Is this sauce super sweet tasting?? It calls for 1 C. ketchup & 1 C. brown sugar and that seems like a LOT. Is it overwhelmingly sweet? I REALLY want to try it, but, leery about the sugar aspect—Thanks!

    1. We didn’t think it was too sweet and the crowd we fed it to last night didn’t think it was. It seems to balance the heat in it. If you are not sure, I would just start with a lesser amount like 1/2 cup brown sugar and when you taste it you could add more if desired. Let me know if you try that and how it goes.

  11. Pamela – this sounds wonderful. This could also be canned with a pressure canner – then you would have it on your shelf when you wanted it.

    1. Thank you for the nice comments and the thoughts on pressure canning. I just told my husband.

  12. I’m from WV and the hotdog chili sounds like a recipe from Brunswick’s. It was in Williamson, WV and had the best hotdogs ever.

    1. THAT is it!!!! I could not remember of it was Williamson or Kermit. Small world isn’t it.

    2. My dad used to get hot dogs from Brunswick’s in Williamson by the boxful when I was a kid and the sauce was the best I’ve ever had.. They would wrap them in waxed paper and put them in an empty hot dog bun box to take out. We loved them! I’d love to have the original recipe!

      1. Many years ago my previous neighbor had this recipe. She was from Williamson or Kermit and her husband was the other town…I forget which one was from where. I’m going to call her and see if I can get it. I loved that one too. If I get it, I’ll let you know.

  13. Definitely going to make this, love a good chili dog!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.

    1. Thank you so much. Hope your family/friends like it. We served it again this weekend and everyone here liked it a lot.

  14. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe on the #RecipeSharingParty! I hope to see you next week . Pinned and Yummed . Please visit #OverTheMoon on Sunday or #ThursdayFavoriteThings for more sharing fun! Do not forget to comment your link #s so I can be sure to visit and you get a chance to be featured!

    1. Thank you. Love doing the link parties. I always learn so many interesting things! Sometimes it takes me all week to get thru the blogs but I try.

    1. I honestly don’t know. We have only made it in a dutch oven. That is a good thought and I will try it soon, just to see how it turns out. It may become too greasy in the crockpot is what I am thinking. Thanks for bringing this up.

  15. This looks soooo good! I have never heard of hot dog sauce before! I’m going to have to try this out!

    1. Isn’t it amazing the different foods we have in different parts of the country. I love it! Thank you for checking this out and let me know what you think when you get a chance to make it. What do you normally eat on hot dogs?

  16. I’ve made this sauce three times now. The first time I thought it was too sweet so I cut the sugar in half and it was perfect. I’ve also made this in the crockpot and cooked on low for 4 hours. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

    1. Thank you. When you did it in the crockpot did it have a lot of grease on it? I was wondering about trying it in a crock pot

      1. Always looking for good hot dog sauce recipe. This sounds like a keeper, tell Bob I said thanks.

  17. Mixing cuts of meat to be ground is common…. Lots of restaurants do it. Personally, I like 80/20 Chuck and trimmed lean brisket…. Great flavor and a good consistency… I have it ground twice. Your recipe is much like Greek cooking…. It’s a great recipe… I cut back on the sugar a bit and added a quarter tsp of allspice

    1. Thank you!!! I’m happy you like the recipe. Thank you for the info on having the meat ground twice

  18. Going to try this. We had a restaurant in my home town that had the best coney dogs. It was called the Coney Island.

    1. Your restaurant and my sauce do sound like the same thing don’t they Thank you

  19. This was very good! I used 1# ground turkey and 1# ground round and it turned out very tasty! My boys both liked it. I also froze 2 containers as it makes a bunch! Thanks for sharing!!

    1. Thank you so much! We had not tried it with the turkey. I bet it had less grease and was good. I am going to try your way next time!! LOL…great minds…

    1. I have not tried it in the crockpot but it does freeze well. I need to try the crockpot method. What worries me about that is that you have to simmer it a long time to cook the grease out. One lady said she made it that way but I need to ask her some questions. I don’t see how the grease would cook out. Thx

  20. I’m pretty sure I have the original sauce recipe from WV you mentioned. It is declicious! We call it Pearls recipe.

    1. Hi. Jill
      Could you please post pearls hotdog sauce receipe. I am also looking for the famous B& L’s hotdog sauce from fairmont, WV. I used to watch Linda make it all the time while I was going to college there. Also enjoyed Yans hotdog stand there too.

      1. That is the best hotdog sauce. My husband’s famy is crom Fairmont and that’s the first thing we do when we get go town is eat a hot dog!!

        1. Sounds wonderful…wish we had that recipe too! Nothing better than a good hot dog.

      2. Hey Matt…I was at a cook-out tonight and they served hot dog sauce from Yans in Fairmont. I have that recipe if you ever want it. I couldn’t eat it..too spicy hot for me..haha They found the recipe folded up in a bible. This family is from Fairmont.

          1. Hi Jody
            Which recipe is it that you would like? Just wanted to make sure it is the right one. Thanks Pam

        1. Pam, do you still have the recipe for Yann’s hot dogs from Fairmont, WV. I have been trying to replicate it for years but have had no luck. My husband loves them. They are too hot for me.

          I am trying Bob’s recipe tomorrow!

          1. I think I do. If I can’t find it, I will get it again from Bob’s friend that has it. It is way too hot for us too. I didn’t know how anyone could eat it! haha
            I can get it for you tomorrow if that’s ok. Thanks

      1. Hi Sandy, I don’t have one for Pearl’s. I do have a copy of the one called Yan’s and am getting it ready to send to you.

          1. I do have a copy of it that someone sent to me. That sauce was too hot for me but one of my husband’s friends can eat a ton of it. LOL I will send the recipe to your email. Thank you

          2. Could I please get this, as well? (My husband is feeling nostalgic- he just found out that Russell Yann passed away). My email is [email protected]. I’d appreciate it greatly. Thanks in advance!

          3. Sure. I’ll send it to your email. I never ate any of the Yann Dogs but a family friend grew up with those and fixes them frequently. They are too hot for me!! LOL I don’t know where he got the recipe but he swears it is the original one. Thank you

    1. It is to balance heat and sweet. If you don’t think you would like that much sugar, it would be fine to decrease the amount. We are good with it..but..then again I am a sweet-a-holic person! haha.

  21. Looks awesome!!! I’m definitely going to have to try this. I have been looking for a good hot dog sauce. Thanks for sharing!! ?

    1. Thank you for checking it out. We have made it several times now since my hubby got the recipe fine tuned, and everyone has really liked it. It has a little kick of heat but the sweet balances it. Cooking it covered with water does seem to bring out the grease but I spoon it off after it is done cooking and really only end up with about 1/4 cup to throw away. We made it again Friday for a cookout.

  22. I am also from Fairmont, WV and I Remember eating hotdogs from Lupos, who had a small place at the end of the bridge between Fairmont and East Fairmont. I would love to have the recipe. The hot one and the other one. Thanks for posting these.

    1. I haven’t eaten from there. One of our good friends went to college at Fairmont and he has a recipe for “Yan Dogs” that is super hot. Would this be one you are talking about?

      1. Pam, Love your recipe for Hot Dog Sauce, do you have the recipe for Pearls Hot Dog Sauce as well? I would love to have a copy of that also. Thank you!

        1. Thank you. Sorry but I do not have that other recipe. If I run across it, I will certainly pass it on to you.

  23. I would love to have the recipe from Skeenies and Chris’s hot dog sauce. I’m from Charleston WV. I moved to Indiana and the hot dog sauce out here sucks. Going to try this one.

    1. Thank you. I have a lot of friends in Charleston so I will ask around and see if anyone has the recipe you want.

  24. This recipe was great until the brown sugar addition. Now the suace tastes like candy. Delete the sugar or add just a pinch. Very promising but now just a sweet disaster.

    1. Hi. I’m sorry it was too sweet for you. It is sure a personal preference on adding the brown sugar and how much. I haven’t heard this from anyone else, but like I said..everyone has different tastes. Thank you for trying it and if was good for you up to that point, please try it again and leave the brown sugar out.

  25. Oh, wow! Thank you, Grandpa Bob! My Handsome Husband likes to smoke meats and does a little side job catering, pulling his big smoker onsite. He likes to throw on hot dogs, so that as people walk up to visit, there is something to nibble. I bet he will *LOVE* this addition! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

    1. Thank you. I think he would like adding this to his menu. Oh I love meats cooked on the smoker. We have a small one.

    1. Thank you. It has gotten a lot of good comments when we serve it. Only 1 person thought it was too sweet, but the brown sugar can be adjusted to personal preference.

  26. My mouth is watering! This might even be better than my dad’s but please don’t tell him I said so. 🙂

    1. Just to let you know..I didn’t forget. Haven’t heard back yet from the guy with the recipe. LOL

  27. I just tried a copycat chili recipe for Dairy Queen…it was NOT DQ chili. Living in WV, ya know which chili & slaw go together. Its gotta be like this..steamed bun (or toasted English bun if you have them), nice plump dog, mustard, onions, chili & slaw. There’s a place that started out years ago selling their hot dogs & homemade chili & slaw at the State Fair in Lewisburg. Its awesome. Then a few grocery stores picked it up & now a young couple in that family has the recipe & are selling it like crazy. They were on Shark Tank also. They’ve got several stands, I think the 1st 1 was in Flat Woods, WV & then Fairmont. Its called Custard Stand chili, the restaurants are Custard Stand.

    1. I am not familiar with the ones you mention, but I bet they are so good! I’ll try to research it too. Thx.

  28. Made this recipe exactly by recipe. Was very good, however i prefer it to be less sweet. So, I will make again but cut back on brown sugar by half. Thank you for posting.

    1. Thank you. Some people do prefer it to be less sweet using less brown sugar.

  29. Coney sauce was brought to this country by the Greeks. To be authentic it needs cinnamon. Just a touch. Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. And using a stick blender to smooth the sauce out when it’s done. We used to have two Coney Island restaurants(now down to one) both owned by Greeks and their sauce is the very best. Once tasted ,never forgotten.

    1. Thank you for this interesting information. I do think I have heard about the cinnamon, but never the part about blending it. So many different recipes and techniques from people. We love a good sauce and love trying different ones too. I bet it is delicious.

    1. Hi. No I have not. If you do, let me know how it goes please. We like the meat, but I know people have different tastes. Thanks

Comments are closed.