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Updated July 2026
We’re getting ready for National Hot Dog Day, the third Wednesday in July. We’re having a “Franked & Loaded” hot dog cookout with quite a few creative hot dog toppings—no mustard, ketchup, relish, and sauerkraut this year.
You can set up a DIY hot dog bar with the toppings below, and let guests create their “signature” hot dogs.
Mustard and sauerkraut were served on America’s first hot dog, back in 1871, when a German-born vendor with a stand in Coney Island began selling a thin, Frankfurt-style sausage in rolls. (In fact, Frankfurt, Germany claims to be the originator of the hot dog and celebrated the hot dog’s 500th birthday in 1987.)
Finally: Sausages that didn’t require eating utensils, a simple, but breakthrough, concept.
The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council established National Hot Dog Day in 1991 to coincide with a hot dog lunch on Capitol Hill. The observance occurs every year on a Wednesday in July.
If you can’t celebrate the hot dog on July 20th, all of July is National Hot Dog Month. There are also:
March 18: National Corn Dog Day
August 16: National Bratwurst Day/World Bratwurst Month
October: National Sausage Month
Below:
> Daddy’s Dogs top 10 hot dog toppings.
> Why are their 10 dogs per package but only 8 buns per package?
> Hot dog trivia.
Elsewhere on The Nibble:
> The history of hot dogs.
> How hot dogs are made.
> How to pack more toppings into your dog.
> Hot dog recipes: BLT, Coney Island, Japanese, Poutine, Southwestern, and Taco Dogs.
> Recipe: Korean Corn Dogs.
> Recipe: Zilla Dogs (hot dogs and chicharrones).
> Top 10 hot dog toppings.
> The year’s 16 sausage and hot dog holidays.
> The year’s 28+ sandwich holidays.
DADDY’S DOGS: WHAT’S ON YOUR DOG?
Take some inspiration from the best hot dogs in Nashville: Daddy’s Dogs. Daddy’s is always pushing the limits of what a hot dog should be, surprising customers with new concepts in dogdom. It has been named Best Hot Dog in Nashville for several years.
Daddy’s Dogs is not your average-size hot dog.
Sean Porter, a.k.a. Daddy, the founder, was a road manager for musicians, finding himself in a new city every few days. He experienced the different flavors of America, and was inspired to create hot dog toppings with them.
Consider topping your own dogs with some of Daddy’s favorities:
Big Daddy: bacon, cream cheese, grilled onion, jalapeño, pickle, and Daddy’s secret sauwce (their spelling).
Carolina: bacon, coleslaw, Daddy’s secret sauwce, and barbecue sauce.
Chicago: pickle, onion, tomato, and mustard.
Chili Dog: Daddy’s chili, cheese, onion, and sour cream.
Eloté: bacon, cotija cheese, grilled corn, Daddy’s secret sauwce, and a lime wedge.
Georgia: cream cheese, peach, jalapeño, and Daddy’s secret sauwce.
Lone Wolf: ketchup, mustard, and relish.
Mac Daddy: mac and cheese, extra Cheddar, and Daddy’s secret sauwce.
New York: sauerkraut and spicy mustard.
Seattle: cream cheese, grilled onion, and sriracha sauce.
Music City: bacon, Cheddar cheese, onion, and barbecue sauce.
There’s also:
Corn dog: dipped in beer batter, fried, and served on a stick.
Plus, three types of tots, regular and:
Loaded Tots: Daddy’s chili, onion, Cheddar cheese, and sour cream.
Eloté Loaded Tots topped with Daddy’s chili, bacon, cotija cheese, grilled corn, jalapeño, onion, Daddy’s secret sauce, and a lime wedge.
There’s lots more to enjoy at Daddy’s Dogs. Check out the website. You may be tempted to head to Nashville.
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[1] Carolina hot dog with bacon, cream cheese, grilled onion, jalapeño, pickle, and Daddy’s secret sauwce [their spelling](all photos © Daddy’s Dogs).
[2] Chicago hot dog with pickle, onion, tomato, and mustard. Simple enough!
[3] Chili hot dog with chili, cheese, onion, and sour cream.
[4] Elote hot dog with bacon, cotija cheese, grilled corn, Daddy’s secret sauwce, and a lime wedge.
[5] Corn dog with a side of tots.
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WHY ARE THERE 10 DOGS PER PACK BUT 8 BUNS PER BAG?
When hot dog buns were introduced, hot dogs were sold in varying quantities at the butcher shop—strung on a long string. The butcher cut off the amount you asked for.
Not until 1940 were hot dogs packaged sold in plastic-wrapped packages the way we currently see them in the grocery store. When manufacturers began packaging hot dogs, they chose the 10 to the pack formula.
So why not package 10 buns to match the dogs? Because the baking pans used to make the buns had 8 slots.
In the last few years, change has come. While Oscar Meyer still sells a 10-pack, they now sell an 8-pack. So does competitor Ball Park announces 8 dogs.
SOME HOT DOG TRIVIA
The average American eats 70 hot dogs a year.
Mustard is the #1 hot dog topping, with ketchup coming in a close second.
Franks and wieners, from the German, were the original names for hot dogs. Why wiener? Johann Georg Lahner, a 19th-century butcher, is said to have brought the Frankfurter Würstchen sausage to Vienna, Wien in German.
Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans eat approximately 7 billion hot dogs.
On July 4th alone, Americans enjoy 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times.
A hot dog is a sausage.
Nathan Handwerker, who was not the first but became the most famous hot dog vendor, opened Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs in Coney Island, New York in 1916.
The Apollo 11 moon voyage in 1969 took hot dogs to outer space, in the form of “thermostabilized frankfurters” with a “thermostabilized cheddar cheese spread.”
Mickey Mouse’s first on-screen words were “Hot Dog!” [source]
Plus:
According to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, it should take you 5 bites to finish one hot dog. For a foot-long, 7 bites.
At the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, champion Joey Chestnut manages to eat two hot dogs together in three bite (see it on YouTube, but don’t try this at home).
CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.
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