Chicago-Style Dill Pickle Dip Hot Dogs
If you think pickles are only meant to be a hamburger topping, then you’re missing out on putting them on your hot dog. While putting relish on a hot dog sounds familiar, putting a full pickle spear may not. But that’s only because you’ve never had a Chicago-style hot dog before, where they put both relish and a pickle spear on their hot dogs, amongst a bunch of other toppings. You know I like a good amount of toppings on any burger or sandwich, so why not amp up your hot dog too, I fully endorse the amount of toppings on a Chicago-style hot dog – there is usually seven toppings total: yellow mustard, chopped white onions, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices/wedges, pickled peppers and celery salt, all on a poppy seed bun. I kept true to the Chicago-style dog tradition for some of the toppings and then of course gave it my own amped up twist to bring my hot dogs up a level. Instead of my second kind of pickle being relish, I decided to make my own dill pickle cheese dip to go on top of my hot dogs. That wasn’t my only addition, I also smoked my hot dogs first before searing them on the Alchemy and then used brioche top-cup hot dog buns, a sprinkle of poppy seeds on top as a nod to the usual poppy seed bun and crushed dill pickle chips. So all together the final dish was smoked and seared all-beef hot dogs in a toasted brioche bun, topped with chopped onion, pickle spears, tomato, pickled peppers, an epic dill pickle cheese sauce, poppy seeds and crushed dill pickle chips. This Chicago-Style Dill Dip hot dog platter hit it out of the park and if you want to find out how to make it, keep reading or jump to the full recipe.
Set smoker to 250F. Score your hot dogs on a diagonal, then rotate and score on a diagonal the other way to get a diamond pattern.
Place them in a cast iron pan and into the smoker for 8 minutes.
Take six of your pickle spears and finely chop, finely chop the fresh dill, red onion and garlic.
Remove the hot dogs from the smoker and place on the plancha to sear.
Bring the smoker temp up to 300F. Add the pickle, dill, onion and garlic mixture to the cast iron pan the hot dogs were in, and add the shredded cheese and cream cheese.
Mix, pour in 1-2 tbsp pickle juice and mix. Place the dill dip into the smoker for 30 minutes.
Cut the three remaining pickle spears in half. Finely chop the 1/3 white onion. Thinly slice your tomato.
Add the brioche hot dog buns to the plancha and toast on both sides.
To plate, add the toasted buns to a platter and add in the hot dogs. Add two slices of tomato per bun and one pickle spear. Sprinkle with the chopped onions and garnish with pickled green chilies.
Remove the dill dip from the smoker and stir. Pour over the hot dog platter and smooth out with a fork.
Sprinkle poppy seeds on top of the dill pickle cheese sauce and garnish with crushed dill pickle chips.
And now for the full recipe...
Chicago-Style Dill Pickle Dip Hot Dogs
Makes 6 hog dogs
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
6 hot dogs
6 brioche hot dog buns
9 pickle spears, divided
¼ cup chopped fresh dill
¼ red onion
4-5 cloves garlic
1 cup shredded white cheddar
½ cup cream cheese
2 tsp pickle juice
1/3 white onion
1 roma tomato
6 Pickled green chilis
2 tsp poppy seeds
Dill pickle chips
How to Make Chicago-Style Dill Pickle Dip Hot Dogs
Set smoker to 250F.
Score your hot dogs on a diagonal, then rotate and score on a diagonal the other way. Place them in a cast iron pan and into the smoker for 8 minutes.
Take six of your pickle spears and finely chop, finely chop the fresh dill, red onion and garlic.
Remove the hot dogs from the smoker and place on the plancha to sear.
Bring the smoker temp up to 300F. Add the pickle, dill, onion and garlic mixture to the cast iron pan the hot dogs were in, and add the shredded cheese and cream cheese. Mix, pour in 1-2 tbsp pickle juice and mix. Place the dill dip into the smoker for 30 minutes.
Cut the three remaining pickle spears in half. Finely chop the 1/3 white onion. Thinly slice your tomato.
Add the brioche hot dog buns to the plancha and toast on both sides.
To plate, add the toasted buns to a platter and add in the hot dogs. Add two slices of tomato per bun and one pickle spear. Sprinkle with the chopped onions and garnish with pickled green chilies.
Remove the dill dip from the smoker and stir. Pour over the hot dog platter and smooth out with a fork. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top of the dill pickle cheese sauce and garnish with crushed dill pickle chips.
Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you never miss out on a new recipe, follow me on all my social channels @chefmattbasile and check out my new project @alchemygrills for updates, recipes and videos.
