If you love some spicy heat, crunchy texture and delicious flavors these Firecracker Hot Dogs will be a dish the whole family will love. Perfectly cooked hot dogs topped with melted pepper jack cheese, grilled onions and crispy deep fried beer-battered jalapeno pepper slices in a toasted hot dog bun!
Everyone loves ground beef burgers in the summer but they can’t beat out these spicy hot dogs. If you love hot dogs for quick weeknight meals, take it up a notch with these Firecracker Hot Dogs.
Unlike plain hot dogs these are really your own hot dogs and will stand out at any backyard barbecue.
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What’s in a Firecracker Hot Dog?
The Firecracker Hot Dog features:
- a melted slice of Pepper Jack cheese
- grilled or sautéed red onion slices
- topped with crispy, gluten-free or regular beer-battered deep-fried jalapeno peppers (gluten-free or regular) for a kick
- all on a perfectly cooked hot dog with a bun
Each bite is indescribably delicious!
Recipe Ingredients Notes
To make the recipe scalable for any size group we put the ingredient amount per assembled Firecracker spicy hot dog. Multiple the ingredient amount by the number of servings you’ll need.
Hot dogs. Use a good quality hot dog for best flavor. We love all beef hot dogs but any quality hot dogs will work. Reading the ingredients is always crucial to ensure you are buying something which will star with flavor.
Hot dog buns. Regular or gluten-free hot dog buns can be used.
Pepper jack cheese. Deli sliced pepper jack cheese can be purchased in the dairy section which saves prep time! You can also slice it from a block of cheese.
Jalapeno chilies. Plan one large jalapeno pepper per serving. Jalapenos can range in how spicy they are so unless you love a lot of spice start with a smaller serving on the spicy hot dogs until you know how hot they are. Tips on work with jalapenos shared below.
Red onion. Choose a large onion. You’ll need the equivalent of one 1/4-inch thick slice of a large red onion per serving. The onions will be grilled or pan sautéed. Sweet onions could be substituted too.
Cilantro. Fresh cilantro will garnish the finished spicy hot dogs.
Vegetable oil. Use a high smoke point oil for deep frying the jalapeno slices. Sunflower oil is a great choice. You’ll need enough to be 2-3 inches deep in a medium size heavy pan.
All purpose flour. Regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour can be used. We use and recommend Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour if needing a gluten-free option. This will be used in the batter for the jalapeno slices.
Lager beer. You’ll need half a 12-ounce bottle (regular or gluten-free) for the batter.
Cornstarch. Also used in the batter to help make the end result crispy.
How to make Firecracker Spicy Hot Dogs
Detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of the post.
STEP 1. Deep frying the jalapenos
Pour the oil into a heavy pot and bring to 375 degrees F (use a food thermometer to verify the temperature). Slice the jalapenos 1/4-inch thick with all membranes and seeds removed.
Assemble the beer batter. When the oil is to temperature use heatproof tongs to dip the jalapeno slices into the batter and drop into the hot oil. Fry 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Repeat for all jalapeno slices.
STEP 2. Grill or pan fry the onions
Brush the onion slices with some olive oil and follow the instructions in the recipe card to either grill or pan fry in a large skillet the onion slices. Set aside.
STEP 3. Cook the hot dogs
Cook the hot dogs by your preferred method (grilling over medium heat or pan frying over medium-high heat recommended).
STEP 4. Assemble
On a grill or in a heavy skillet on low heat add a slice of pepper jack cheese to each hot dog and allow it to melt. Place the hot dogs in a hotdog bun top with fried jalapeno slices, cooked onions and chopped fresh cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.
Chile Peppers Tips
- Chile peppers’ heat level can vary incredibly. In this case, once fried, the jalapenos almost taste sweet without much heat. The opposite can be true as well. Always best to taste before serving to gauge the spicy-factors for your diners.
- The seeds are what give most of the heat in a chile pepper. Those should be removed before battering and frying.
- When cutting and handling chile peppers consider using food safe vinyl gloves. Also wash your hands diligently, avoiding touching any mucus membranes after handling chile peppers.
Expert Tips
Use a mandoline slicer. If you have a mandoline slicer they work great for slicing the onions and jalapeno peppers. You can set them to any thickness and all the slices will be uniformly thick. It’s very fast too.
Long nose plyers for kitchen use. I keep a pair of long needle nose plyers in the kitchen dedicated for food projects. They work great to remove the membrane of the jalapeno peppers before slicing them.
The beer batter will be thin. When making the beer battered jalapeno peppers the batter will be thin. This is normal.
Use any leftover batter for frying vegetables. If you have leftover batter dip your favorite veggies and deep fry those too!
Have everything ready before frying. Lay out the layers of paper towel to drain the jalapenos, have a food thermometer ready and heat proof tools to drop and remove the fried jalapenos.
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Recipe
Firecracker Spicy Hot Dog
Ingredients
- 1 Hot Dog
- 1 Hot Dog Bun regular or gluten-free
- 1 deli slice Pepper Jack cheese per hot dog (hand sliced equivalent amount may be substituted)
- 1 large Jalapeno chile pepper per serving
- 1 large slice Red Onion per serving: 1/4 inch thick sliced to form rings
- Fresh Cilantro leaves for garnish
Ingredients for Beer Batter and jalapeno deep frying:*
- Vegetable oil or sunflower oil for deep frying
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend
- 6 ounces (1/2 bottle) Lager-style Beer regular or gluten-free
- 2 teaspoons Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper freshly ground
Instructions
Instructions for Beer Battered Deep Fried Jalapeno peppers:
- To prepare jalapeno peppers: Slice off the stem of the jalapeno. Using a paring knife, gently cut out the inner membrane and seeds of the pepper, leaving the outside of the pepper intact. Tip: I keep a pair of long needle-nose pliers in my kitchen tool drawer specifically for cooking projects and they work perfectly for this step.
- Slice the jalapeno(s) into rings approximately 1/4 inch thick.
- Pour 2-3 inches of oil into a medium size heavy pan or pot. Position a cooking thermometer in the oil but not touching the bottom of the pan. Over medium to medium-high heat, heat the oil to 375 degrees.
- Set paper towels on a plate of baking sheet to drain the fried jalapenos.
- In a bowl combine all the dry ingredients for the beer-batter. Slowly pour in some of the beer and whisk to combine allowing the foam to subside. Pour in the remaining beer and whisk to combine. The batter will be thin.
- Using heatproof tongs, dip jalapeno slices individually into the batter, allowing them to be coated fully. Lift coated sliced above the batter and allow to drain slightly.
- Place battered jalapeno slices into the heated oil and cook for a few minutes until they begin to turn golden brown. Remove and place on prepared paper towels. Repeat for all slices.
Instruction for cooking onion slices:
- Grilling: brush each side of the onion slice with oil and allow to grill a few minutes per side until grill marks are present and the onion softens becoming slightly translucent. Separate onion into rings when removed from grill.
- Pan sauteing; Pour a small amount of oil into a heavy skillet. Cook onion slices over medium-high heat, stirred periodically to separate onion slice into rings, allowing them to cook until soft and translucent.
Preparing the Firecracker Hot Dogs:
- Cook hot dogs by desired preparation method (grilling or pan frying preferred). On the grill or in a skillet, place a slice of Pepper Jack cheese on a hot dog and allow it to being to melt.
- Place hot dog in a bun on serving plate. Top with the sauteed onions, fried Jalapeno slices and cilantro leaves; serve.
Notes
- Chile peppers’ heat level can vary incredibly. In this case, once fried, the jalapenos almost taste sweet without much heat. The opposite can be true as well. Always best to taste before serving to gauge the spicy-factors for your diners.
- The seeds are what give most of the heat in a chile pepper. Those should be removed before battering and frying.
- When cutting and handling chile peppers consider using food safe vinyl gloves. Also wash your hands diligently, avoiding touching any mucus membranes after handling chile peppers.
Nutrition
Recipe originally published: July 2014
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