Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs
Holy hot dogs, Batman! No need for the oven here. These Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs are cooked on the grill and served on a garlic bread buns. Yum!
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From the file of “Bacon makes everything better” comes these Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs. To be fair, my 7-year-old son Robbie came up with this idea. He loves bacon, and he loves hot dogs. The other night, he said “Dad, you know what would be good? Bacon on a hot dog.” I laughed and agreed that it would be good. Then I got to thinking…
I can now say with 100% certainty that bacon on a hot dog is amazing. These Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs were a huge hit in our house – and they’re super easy to make, too! Laura noted that these hot dogs were “fancy and delicious,” and Robbie called them “the best hot dogs I’ve ever eaten.” That’s a pretty resounding thumbs up if you ask me!
But I didn’t just stop with the bacon on the hot dog. I buttered the hot dog buns with a bit of garlic butter…and then grilled the buns. Holy hot dogs, Batman! Put a batch of these on the grill and then just sit back and get ready for a flavor explosion. These Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs (on garlic buns) are basically summer on a plate!
Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs
These hot dogs are super easy to make, too. However, there are a couple key things to remember. Normally I always use thick-cut bacon, but for this recipe make sure to use “regular” cut bacon (i.e. not thick-cut). The bacon takes a bit of time to cook on the grill, and thick-cut bacon would throw the timing all off.
Another tip? Toothpicks. Just wrap one slice of bacon around each hotdog and then secure the bacon to the dog with a toothpick at each end. The toothpicks will make it a bit interesting to flip the hot dogs on the grill, but it’s not too difficult. Then once the hot dogs are done, just pull the toothpicks out and discard. Without the toothpicks, the bacon wouldn’t stay on the dogs.
It might seem like overkill to brush the hot dog buns with garlic butter, but I highly recommend it! The buttery, garlicky buns paired with the smoky bacon hot dogs? Amazing.
While I thought Robbie came up with this idea for Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs, it turns out they have another name: Danger Dogs. To be fair, a danger dog is a hot dog wrapped in bacon…and then deep fried. Yes, you read that correctly. Deep fried bacon wrapped hot dog. Woah. Danger Dogs originated as a popular street food in Mexico. I’m sure the deep-fried option is delicious, but I’m kinda partial to this grilled version!
We normally pile our hot dogs with all sorts of condiments and toppings – ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, sauerkraut. A bit of shredded cheese sometimes makes an appearance. Even mayonnaise mixed with bbq sauce has shown up in our house. Not this time. We didn’t add any of our favorite condiments to these Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs. The taste was amazing, and they didn’t need anything else!
It is important to keep the grill at around medium(ish) heat. Our grill has a thermometer on it, and I kept it somewhere between 350°F-375°F. Anything more and the bacon would just burn rather than cook. It’ll take ~20 minutes for the bacon to fully cook. I rotated the hot dogs about every 6-7 minutes. In the end, the crispness of the bacon was perfect. It wasn’t as crispy as when I fry bacon in a skillet, but it wasn’t floppy either. It was grilled to perfection!
Bonus tip! If you use a full pack of bacon for this recipe, then you will have leftover bacon. I wrapped a small baking sheet with foil and set it on the grill next to the hot dogs. The bacon “baked” in the grill, and we used it for BLT’s the next day! (I absolutely love these quarter-sheet pan baking sheets. They’re the perfect size for carrying food out to the grill and back!)
Mix it up! We personally loved these bacon wrapped hot dogs, but you could also use sausages or kielbasa, too.
If you’re looking for a fun hot dog recipe for summer grilling, then this is it! Serve ’em up with a side of potato chips, and you’ve got a summer meal at its best. I hope you enjoy these hot dogs as much as we do! Happy grilling!
Did you make a batch of these Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs
Ingredients
For the Garlic Butter
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ½ Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tsp kosher salt
For the Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs
- 8 whole hot dogs
- 8 slices bacon not thick-cut
- toothpicks
- 8 hot dog buns
- {optional} favorite hot dog toppings i.e. ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.
Instructions
For the Garlic Butter
- Using a small bowl, whisk together all butter ingredients; set bowl aside.
For the Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs
- Preheat grill to medium (~350°F) heat.
- Wrap bacon around each hot dog; secure bacon with 2-3 toothpicks per hot dog.
- Grill hot dogs for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally, or until bacon is fully cooked and crispy.
- Meanwhile, butter the insides of the hot dog buns with the Garlic Butter mixture.
- When hot dogs are almost done, place buns on grill (buttered side down) for 20-30 seconds. (Tip: If your grill has a top rack, use this for toasting the buns!)
- Assemble hot dogs and top with desired condiments.
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Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use vegan butter / tofu and mushrooms cant wait to try this in my air fryer at home as i don’t have grill at home i never had grilled bacon wrapped hot dogs before perfect for my after office meals
Hmmm, I’m not sure how this recipe would work with tofu and mushrooms, but it might be a good inspiration to try it out! Let me know how it turns out!
Such a fun recipe, David! And talk about a fun way to talk hot dogs up a notch! These would be perfect for a summer get-together. I’d have to make sure to put on extra because I know they’d disappear in a flash. 🙂 P.S. Love sauerkraut on hot dogs!
Oh my gosh, Dawn…these hot dogs. SO GOOD! And I hear ya on the ‘kraut on hot dogs, but with these you just don’t need any toppings. 🙂 Although, with that said, I might have to try these again and add some kraut…because kraut. Haha!
Holy batman garlic butter! These bacon wrapped hot dogs look mighty fine, and super flavorful!
Garlic, butter and bacon make everything better…and when they’re all in the same recipe? Well, you’re set for something delicious! 🙂 Thanks, Michelle!
David this sounds delicious and delightful. If only we still ate bacon, and butter 🙁 My waistline just can’t do it anymore – hehehe …
Oh I totally get it, Sherry! We wake up earlier than the birds several days a week to work out. Without that, my waistline couldn’t do it either! 🙂
These look decadent delicious, David! (that’s a lot of Ds, lol!) I bet these would disappear in a second at a backyard BBQ.
Oh these hot dogs didn’t last long at all, Marissa! Perfect summer fare here. 🙂
I haven’t had a hot dog in ages David! Cannot wait until next time I pull out the BBQ and give these a go. Love the addition of the bacon and garlic butter. Yum!
You definitely need to put these on the grill sometime this summer, Neil! There is SO much flavor going on here – your tastebuds won’t know what hit ’em! 🙂
Holy hot dogs indeed! These Grilled Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs sound absolutely mouthwatering and perfect for a summer grilling session. I can see why your son’s idea was such a hit – bacon really does make everything better!
It’s simple really. Add bacon. Recipe instantly becomes better. 🙂 And when that recipe also happens to involve grilled flavor? Even better! Thanks, Raymund!
Funny, whenI first read bacon wrapped hot dogs, I thought, “talk about overkill…” But then I saw the photos and thought, “You know what, these look really good.” I’m going to have to give it a try. We have some friends coming for a cookout this weekend and I bet this would be right up their alley.
Out of the mouths of babes, as they say…
Haha – I mean, you’re not wrong there, Frank. Wrapping hot dogs with bacon and then serving them on garlic bread buns is pretty ridiculous. But then you take a bite and realize that they’re amazing! 🙂 Robbie was definitely onto something…at least this time.