Vegetarian Hot Dogs

There is something about summer that makes me really want a hot dog. When I became a vegetarian a few years ago, I felt like my hot dog days were over. I did find a few types of plant based dogs at the grocery store, but we live in a small town and there weren't very options and we didn't care for any of them. After searching online I found that people were making them from carrots. My initial reaction was "Eeewwww!!!! Carrots can NOT be a hot dog! I don't want a carrot flavored Hot Dog!" But after a while, I figured I'd give it a go. I tried a few recipes, but none of them turned out quite right. I mixed and matched different parts from the recipes I had tried, plus some stuff that I thought might work. Here are the results!

You'll Need:

-whole carrots, this recipe works for 1-16 carrots. Each carrot will make a "hot dog" so how ever many you need for your meal

-1 TBSP Ketchup

-2 TBSP Soy Sauce

-1 TBSP Mustard

-1 TSP Paprika

-2 TSP Onion Powder

-1/2 TSP Garlic Powder

-1/4 TSP (a pinch) of salt

-1/4 TSP sugar (a pinch)

Step One

Clean and carefully peal your carrots. This step can be super quick and easy, but, if your feeling fancy, you can totally take the time to shape these smooth with tapered ends to look like an orange colored hot dog. This does not affect the taste, and really, once you put toppings on it, all your handy work will be lost. I usually just try to get them close to bun length.

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Step Two

In a small bowl combine all of your ingredients.

Off topic, I really love this little whisk! I got it as a Christmas present a few years ago, it was attached to a mug filled with home made hot cocoa mix. It is the most used whisk in my kitchen! For reference, the bowl I am mixing this all in holds exactly one cup.

Step Three

Place your carrots and mixture into a pot with plenty of water to cover the and boil. This takes 20-40 minutes, depending on how many dogs you are making, as well as the thickness of your dogs. Jumbo hot dogs take a little longer haha!

You'll want to give them a stir occasionally to make sure that they don't stick together and keep the sauce moving around them.

You'll want to cook them until they are soft, but firm.

Always be carful when using the stove and never leave unattended. If your water starts to evaporate to much, just add more water carefully.