Ranking The Best Hot Dog Brands & Toppings
July 4th is a day that a lot of people eat hot dogs. July 22nd is National Hot Dog Day. July is National Hot Dog Month. It’s been a busy month.
In case you didn’t know, I’m pretty into hot dogs. This is a characteristic that generates a lot of shock and disgust from my peers but I choose very strongly to not engage in most discussions on the “health” value of my food decisions. There are a lot of blogs about “health” foods and people you can pay to tell you what to eat. Hot dogs do contain a lot of collagen which is great for your glow. Something you can now call your “hot dog glow” if you choose.
I’m just here to enjoy my hot dogs. For my veg friends, please know that I respect you, veggie dogs do exist if you still want to join in on the fun.
Top dog challenge
I polled my Instagram audience and got a list of 6 Hot Dog brands to put in the running for the coveted spot of top dog. On the 4th of July, a day that I wasn’t feeling as patriotic as some years might allow, I really leaned into hot dogs vs. any other form of celebration.
Watch the video the find out how Oscar Meyer, Nathan’s, Costco, HEB (local flavor), Ball Park Franks and Hebrew National ranked in my blind taste test.
In case you didn’t watch the video, my husband, Alex, does show up shirtless at about 7:45 if you want to just check out that part.
And if you don’t want to watch the video, i’m not trying to game you for watches so here’s the ranking but you do have to watch to get my enlightening commentary on each:
Costco
Nathan’s
Ball Park Frank’s
Hebrew National
HEB
Oscar Meyer
Better hot dog toppings from around the world
I’ve been in quarantine for about 131 days now. I’ve gone to the hardware store, the grocery store and for a brief window patronized some well spaced vintage shops but for the most part I live and breath my home life.
So this July, normally a great time to take off and see something new, we will travel on the only vessel that is safe(ish): hot dogs.
Seriously, there’s a wild world of hot dogs out there. I picked 8 stand-outs to share with you and chose to go to Chile for my National Hot Dog day journey. I may need just a little break from hot dogs, but I will start training soon and potentially taste test and rank all of these for you because that feels like a calling.
Not formally captured but important to note, the best hot dogs I have ever had were in Iceland at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur – which translates from Icelandic into English as "the best hot dog in town." They were the same hot dogs that Bill Clinton could not shut up about in the early 2000s. You can’t replicate these at home because they are made out of much better meat than any of the hot dogs we have access to.