I love veganizing regional foods, like these Vegan West Virginia Hot Dogs. We recently moved to West Virginia from Florida. I was looking up regional foods for WV and surrounding states, when a friend of mine said, “They sure do love their hot dogs!” Well, that piqued my interest!
After a lot of googling, I found West Virginia hot dog recipes vary a lot. What they all have in common is the hot dog is topped with a thick meat chili (sometimes called just “sauce”). Most of the time, the chili is topped with coleslaw. But in some WV counties, they skip the slaw altogether.
I’ve made vegan slaw a dozen times, and vegan bean chili, but never a vegan “meat” chili. Challenge accepted!
Make this recipe with any favorite vegan meat or beef substitute you like. I used Impossible Foods ground for this recipe. But you can use Beyond Beef or any other ground substitute. The important thing with this chili topping is that you cook it until it is seriously thick. To me, it’s the consistency of a Sloppy Joe filling, but maybe even thicker. You want it to set on top of the hotdog, not soak into the bun and make it soggy.
I made an ultra simple vegan coleslaw for my slaw topping. I like to pepper my slaw, but you can leave that to each diner, if you don’t want to pre-pepper it.
Obviously, vegan West Virginia hot dogs are made with vegan weiners. I like to toast my hotdog buns in the toaster or toaster oven, to have that nice crusty bite.
I recommend cooking the chili in a Dutch oven or soup pot. The deepness of the pot prevents splatter on your stove. I made mine in a large iron skillet and I had a hard time controlling the splatter until the sauce thickened. Since you are cooking down the sauce, you’ll want it to simmer uncovered. If you must cover it, be sure to put the lid off center so steam can escape. Because the recipe calls for salt and pepper in both the slaw and in the tomato mixture for the chili, you won’t want to add salt and pepper to the browning vegan meat, even though it probably feels natural to do so.
Serve with gluten-free hot dog buns for a gluten free hot dog.
The recipe below actually serves 4 to 6 hotdogs and the recipe can be exactly doubled to accommodate 10 to 12 hotdogs.
You might also enjoy:
Sweet Spicy Pineapple Coleslaw
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 70 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 cup shredded cabbage or 1-1/4 cup precut slaw mix and omit carrot, below
- 1/4 cup grated carrot (optional)
- 1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise or 1/8 cup for a lighter slaw
- 1 splash apple cider vinegar to taste
- sugar to taste (optional)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 pound vegan ground meat substitute I use either Impossible Plant Based Burger Ground or Beyond Beef
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped small
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1 package vegan hot dog wieners cooked
- yellow mustard
- hot dog buns toasted
- white onion or yellow onion, chopped for topping
Ingredients
For the coleslaw:
For the chili sauce:
For the hot dog:
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- Place the shredded cabbage and shredded carrot (optional) into a small mixing bowl (medium bowl if doubling the recipe). Stir in the vegan mayonnaise and vinegar. Add sugar (optional), salt and black pepper, to taste. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
- In a dutch oven or soup pot, combine the yellow onion, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Add one cup of water. Mix well.
- Bring the chili sauce to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the vinegar and simmer 30 minutes longer, until the sauce is as thick as a paste and doesn't cover the pan bottom after parting it with a spoon. Remove from heat.
- In the meantime, while the chili sauce is cooking, brown the vegan ground (do not season it) and cook 4 to 6 vegan weiners. Set aside. When the sauce is nearly done cooking, toast the hotdog buns.
- Stir the vegan ground into the cooked chili sauce mixture to coat.
- Place a cooked weiner and mustard on each of the toasted buns. Top with a generous amount of the chili sauce. Add coleslaw on top of the chili sauce, then sprinkle with some of the chopped onion. Serve immediately.
- The chili sauce and slaw will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. For serving, they can be made a day ahead, and the sauce can be reheated in a saucepan. The chili sauce can be kept in the freezer for up to two months.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Leave any feedback in comments below. Also, share your comments on Instagram: @key_lime_coconut or on Twitter: @keylime_coconut.
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