Mini Hot Dogs

Mini Hot Dogs are a super quick and easy recipe that get the party started! Using simple grocery store ingredients they take minimal prep work and only a 10 minute oven bake. Perfect as finger food, game day snacks, a weekend treat or party food. These miniature hot dogs are cute, fun and popular with all ages.

Recipes like the Roast Beef Sliders, Wagyu Meatballs and the Cocktail Sausages are all meaty party foods.

The Mini Croissant Sandwiches, Mini Meatballs and Mini Sausage Rolls are all about easy, tasty and mini finger foods.

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: you will be able to get everything you need to make these mini hot dogs from your local grocery store. If you can't see the mini hot dog buns in the bakery section, head to the bread aisle and have a look there.
• Finger food: is always the best thing at the party right 😉. These mini hot dogs are great for parties as they appeal to everyone of all ages, don't take long to make and don't have any 'too hot' or 'too spicy' tastes about them.
• Back to basics: anyone of all cooking levels and capacity will be able to make these miniature hot dogs. It is an easy appetizer and a simple recipe. We cut some bread, cook some cheerios, bacon and onion, pile it all into bread rolls, top them with cheese and pop them in the oven.
• Mini hot dogs: they are fun, they remind us of weekends and parties and get togethers with family and friends. They tick the homemade box but are similar to food found at local show days.
• Taste and texture: there is the tang of the American mustard, the golden brown melted cheese, the juicy cheerio and the soft mini bread rolls. This combination will tick both the taste and the texture boxes easily.
• Multiple serving suggestions: these mini hot dogs work for birthday parties, hot dog appetizers, snack food, super bowl treats or picnic food. They are very versatile, simple and lend themselves to being served here, there and everywhere.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Tomato sauce: also known as ketchup or tomato ketchup. This is used when we are getting ready to serve the miniature hot dogs.
• Mustard: I am usually use 'All American yellow mustard'. It comes in a squeezy bottle making it handy and easy to use. A delicious sauce to use for mini hot dogs as the flavor is complementary to the bacon, onion and cheese combo 😉👌.
• Cheese: freshly grated is best if you can. We sprinkle this over the top of the hot dogs and the cheese melts and turns golden brown in the oven. I am using grated tasty cheese, you can also use cheddar cheese.
• Onion: skin peeled and diced. This combined with the bacon helps to give the mini hot dogs more flavor and texture. They bring more than simply a sausage in a roll to the recipe.
• Bacon: we use store bought diced bacon for the recipe. We fry this off on the stove top then add the onion and this mixture is used to top the mini sausages.
• Cheerios: these are small sausages that have a red skin on them. They are usually available both at the delicatessen section of the supermarket and where the lunch meats like bacon and chicken are. Other names for them are mini cocktail franks, mini sausages, lil' smokies, mini frankfurts and wieners.
• Mini hot dog buns: sometimes referred to as mini bread rolls or dinner rolls these are small rolls that are the perfect shape and size to fit a mini sausage.

Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by preparing the bread rolls.

• Slice buns (Photo 1)
• Cook bacon (Photo 2)
• Add the onion and cook (Photo 3)
• Cook the cherrios (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Mini Hot Dogs

Start to make the mini hot dogs by slicing each of the bread rolls open. We don't want to fully slice them in half, but to create an opening that we can fill.

Next place a large frying plan on the stove top and turn the heat to high.

Cook the bacon for 2 minutes then add the diced onion to the frying pan and cook both the onion and the bacon for another 2 minutes.

Next add the cocktail frankfurts to a heatproof jug pour room temperature water over the top and microwave them on high in 1 minute increments for a total of 3 minutes.

• Add the cheerios to the buns (Photo 5)
• Add the bacon and onion (Photo 6)
• Top with cheese (Photo 7)
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes (Photo 8)

🌭 Miniature Hot Dogs

Once the cocktail frankfurts are cooked add them to the buns.

Then scoop 1-2 teaspoons of the bacon and onion mixture on top.

Once done, sprinkle cheese over the top of each miniature hot dog and then transfer them to a baking tray.

Next place the baking tray into the oven and bake the mini hot dogs for 10 to 12 minutes. During this time the cheese will melt, turn golden brown and the buns will toast and crisp up a little.

Once done, you can use oven mits to remove the mini hot dogs from the oven, place the tray onto a heatproof surface and after a minute or 2 use kitchen tongs to transfer them to a serving platter.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

Sauce is an obvious choice when it comes to serving your miniature hot dogs👌 . Some people like tomato and some like a drizzle of mustard.

If its a party, it is a good idea to pop a bottle of each on the table, that way you are across all needs. Add some barbecue for the bbq sauce lovers.

The bacon and onion is really a simple combination that doesn't take much time yet does add a whole lot when it comes to texture and flavour in the hot dogs.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftover hot dogs on a plate with cling wrap or in an airtight container and place them into the fridge. They can be kept for 1 to 2 days and are best reheated before being consumed.

How to Reheat

Place leftover mini hot dogs onto a silicon mat and reheat in the oven for about 2-3 minutes.

You can also use the microwave on high which will take only 1 to 2 minutes, however the buns won't crisp up and will remain soft yet heated through.

How to Freeze

This recipe is best cooked and consumed without freezing leftovers.

As a means to be organised however, you can purchase the mini hot dog buns and freeze them then remove and thaw when you are ready to make the recipe.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can get these mini rolls in multigrain style as well if you want to use them (see the Air Fryer Mini Hot Dogs as I used them for that recipe).
• If you want to use 'real sausages' you can use beef chipolatas, pork chipolatas or chicken chipolatas.
• BBQ or barbecue sauce is a serving idea as well if you prefer it to tomato sauce (ketch up).
• Or you can use chili sauce (mini chili dog if you please) or your favorite dipping sauce if you wish to.
• Add some pickle relish if you can't hot dog without it.
• If you want to add a bagel seasoning with sesame seeds and poppy seeds you can see that ingredient combination in the Mini Croissant Sandwiches or the Brie Croissant. Personally I prefer to keep things simple when it comes to making hot dogs, but if you wish to, I won't stop you.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• We only need 12 cheerios (1 for each hot dog) however, you can get a few extras so that if they split when you are cooking them you have some spares.
• We don't want to cut all the way through the buns. Rather, we want to make an opening to fill them with the cocktail frankfurts, bacon and onion.
• If you accidently do cut all the way through a bread roll you can use a toothpick to push it back together. Then remove this once you have baked them as the cheese will then hold them together.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

What goes with mini hot dogs?

Here are 9 easy sides to pair with mini hot dogs:

1. Potato chips
2. Fries
3. Sweet potato wedges
4. Onion rings
5. Potato salad
6. Coleslaw
7. Pasta salad
8. Caramelised onions
9. Curly fries

How do you make plain hot dogs better?

Add some cooked bacon and onion to the hot dogs before adding the cheese topping, use a spicy tomato relish to serve them and your favorite cheese.

Should you cut hot dogs before boiling?

I do not recommend cutting the hot dogs before boiling them. Doing so allows too many of the juices to flow from the hot dogs.

😍 More Easy Party Food Recipes

If you are looking for more party appetizer recipes to kick things off, here are some ideas that you can try:

• Crumbed Mushrooms
• Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs
• Pork Meatballs
• Brie Grilled Cheese
• Chicken Ribs
• Roast Beef Roll Ups
• Rolled Sandwiches
• Jalapeno Pinwheels
• Ham Cream Cheese Roll Ups

It is time to get our mini hot dogs on my friend! You can also find all of my appetizer recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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