Hot Dogs are Haute for Summer

What's a summer trip to NYC without a New York street dog?

The simple summer pleasure of enjoying a hot dog at the ballpark, patio of a casual eatery or from a friendly street vendor has evolved into a gourmet event. As part of a nationwide taste trend, restaurants specializing in hot dogs and sausages such as HD1 in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood are putting the “haute” in hot dog. You can still enjoy a “Plain Jane” at HD1 with a choice of two toppings such as mustard, ketchup, sweet relish or onion but chef Richard Blais’ imagination goes way beyond the basic beef hot dog. His menu includes Haute Dogs such as the “Little Italy” featuring fennel sausage garnished with San Marzano tomato ketchup or a Bavarian Bratwurst with beer braised onions.

Dietitian Lanier Dabruzzi likes the high-end dog trend, “I think the "haute" dog rage is actually great. People aren't stuck w/ those mystery meat dogs topped with sugary ketchup and relish anymore. A lot of the dogs are now being made with leaner meats and act as a great medium for people to load on the veggies.”  

Top Dog Toppings

Of course, there are a lot of options to load on other tasty toppings that can really pile on the calories. What’ll ya have? At the Varsity hot dogs are the culinary canvas to take on slaw, cheese, chili or you can get them all by ordering the chili cheese slaw dog.  Mustards, sauerkraut, pickle relish, and chopped onion are the traditional toppings with the least amount of calories. Calorie free, celery salt is an option to sprinkle on at Mike’s Hot Dogs in Sandy Springs. Count about 315 calories for a regular sized dog on a roll with ketchup.

What about turkey dogs? They are generally lower in fat and calories than beef or pork based dogs and most places offer a meatless alternative veggie frank, too. Choose a whole grain bun and you’re on your way to creating a tasty and nutritious summer treat.

Hot Dog Diet Facts

A five inch long, 1.6 ounce beef hot dog: 150 calories, 13 grams fat, 5 grams protein

A five inch long, 1.6  ounce turkey dog: 102 calories, 8 grams fat, 6 grams protein

A five inch long, 1.6 ounce veggie dog: 80 calories, 2 grams fat, 11 grams protein, 3 grams fiber

A one ounce hot dog bun: 84 calories

Toppings: one tablespoon

 Ketchup 16 calories

Sweet relish: 21 calories

Mustard: 12 calories

 Carolyn O'Neil, MS, RD is co-author of The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!

She loves hot dogs with kraut and spicy mustard and a Stella Artois.