As extremely serious BBQers and smokers, surely many of us spend our precious time thinking about heavy-duty dead meat projects. Things like brisket, ribs, and whole-roasted pig seem to dominate the conversation.

But sometimes the complexity pulls us away from a simple truth: meat + flame + creativity = delicious. And nothing screams simple meaty truth like a hot dog.

If you want to step your hot dog game up to the level of your high-end BBQ dishes, just look South of the border for inspiration. Per TexasMonthly.com, it’s starting to look like Mexican hot dogs might be the missing piece to make hot dogs great again.

Sonoran Dogs

Created in the state of Sonora in the 1970s, the Sonoran Dog has become a staple of the Southwest food experience. To try it yourself, you’re going to want to:

  • Wrap your dog (your HOT DOG, just to be clear… not man’s best friend) in bacon

  • Sauté onions low and slow, and grab a steamed & toasted bolillo bun

  • Top with pinto beans, your sautéed onions, diced raw onions, tomatoes, mayo, mustard, and jalapeño salsa

But wait, there’s more…

A late night in Tucson will inevitably lead you to a Sonoran Hot Dog stand. But there are more styles worth trying (or, preferably, making yourself).

Like the Yucatán dog, with a slice of bologna (see smoked bologna below). Or a Tijuana dog, topped with potato chips or nacho cheese. Or how about a “Porky Chunky dog” with pork al pastor, cilantro, and pineapple?

Any way you slice it, there’s more you can do with a hot dog than just charring it up next to the burgers on the grate as an afterthought.

How are you going to level up your hot dog game?