Mexican Street Hot Dogs
A Sonoran Hot Dog is a mashup of a hot dog and a taco PLUS BACON. Top with your favorite Tex Mex condiments and get ready for a flavor explosion.
You need to try a Sonoran Hot Dog
If you’ve never tried the street food delight that is the Sonoran hot dog, you might not know what what you’re missing.
It’s like a mash-up of a really great hot dog and a really great taco, PLUS BACON.
I’ve been perfecting this recipe at home for years, since I first tried it at a local restaurant and decided I loved it, but would love it more if it were homemade, with the exact toppings I wanted.
It might look complicated but I assure you it’s anything but. Simply wrap a slice of raw bacon around a hot dog and put it on the grill. The bacon will crisp up at the same time as the hot dog cooks on the grill.
Then, you can finish it off with whatever toppings you love. Refried beans, queso fresco, tomato, avocado, cilantro and sour cream are thought starters, but the sky’s the limit.
Why you’ll love these Mexican Hot Dogs
- The combination of smoky bacon, savory hot dog and cool creamy condiments makes each bite a flavor explosion.
- It’s perfect for any occasion where you want something different and exciting – parties, BBQs or casual dinners.
- You can easily adapt the toppings to suit each diner’s preferences and dietary needs. My kid gets a bacon-wrapped hot dog with no toppings, and I get a fully loaded Sonoran hot dog!
Sonoran Dog ingredients
- hot dogs – I like the all-beef variety for a Sonoran dog, personally, but use whatever kind of dogs you like best. Bun-length is best so you have room for all of the toppings!
- bacon – just regular hardwood smoked bacon, for wrapping around the hot dogs.
- hot dog buns – I really like brioche buns for these Mexican hot dogs if they are available, but any type of bun will work.
- sour cream – for making a drizzly crema-style sauce.
- lime juice – this will thin out the sour cream so you can drizzle it.
- refried beans – these will be spread into the hot dog buns as a base for the Sonoran hot dogs.
- avocado – nothing beats the rich creaminess of a ripe avocado!
- tomato – chop up a Roma tomato or even a handful of grape or cherry tomatoes.
- queso fresco – this crumbly, salty Mexican cheese is perfect for Sonoran dogs. If you can’t find it, shredded Monterey Jack cheese works, as well.
- cilantro – this adds some herby greenness to all of the rich flavors going on here.
- onion – a little bit of chopped red onion adds a kick to these Mexican street hot dogs. White onion works, too!
- hot sauce – for drizzling on top, but this is optional. You could also add heat with pickled jalapenos.
How to make Sonoran Hot Dogs
1. WRAP AND GRILL. Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium heat. Wrap 1 slice bacon around each hot dog. Grill hot dogs 10 to 12 minutes or until the bacon is crisp, turning occasionally.
2. LIME SOUR CREAM. While the hot dogs are cooking, stir together the lime juice and sour cream in a small bowl.
3. BEANS. Spread the beans on the inside of the hot dog buns, then place the hot dogs in the buns.
4. TOPPINGS. Top the dogs with avocado, tomato, queso fresco, cilantro, onion, hot sauce and lime sour cream.
Home Chef Tips for Making Mexican Hot Dogs
- Prepared guacamole from the store works just as well as chopping up an avocado for this Mexican hot dog, and you might just prefer it this way! Or, try our Simple Guacamole Recipe.
- Another shortcut here is using store-bought pico de gallo in place of the tomatoes, onions and cilantro. After all, pico de gallo IS tomatoes, onions and cilantro.
- While wrapping the bacon around the hot dogs only takes a few minutes, another option is that you could make a batch of bacon in the oven, bacon in air fryer or turkey bacon in oven and simply crumble it over the Sonoran hot dogs.
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How to serve Mexican Street Hot Dogs
My very favorite side dish to serve with a Mexican hotdog is my Elote Salad. This corn salad actually has several ingredients (cilantro, lime juice, red onion) in common with these Sonoran dogs, so preparing both dishes at the same time is pretty easy!
Other side dish options that work well here are:
Storing a Mexican Hotdog
Sonoran hot dogs are best eaten the day they are made, but if you have any leftover dogs and toppings, transfer them to separate storage containers and place them in the fridge for up to 3 days. Rewarm the hot dogs in the microwave or air fryer before assembling them with toppings.
Sonoran Hot Dog FAQs
Sonoran style refers to a way to preparing hot dogs that originated in the Sonoran region of Mexico. The style features hot dogs wrapped in bacon and topped with a variety of ingredients like beans, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos.
The Sonoran hot dog originated in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. It has become a popular street food in the United States, particularly in the border states of Arizona and California.
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Mexican Hotdog Recipe
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Ingredients
- 4 slices hardwood smoked bacon
- 4 bun-length hot dogs
- Juice of 1 lime
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 cup refried beans warmed
- 4 hot dog buns
- 1 avocado peeled, pitted and chopped
- 1 Roma tomato chopped
- ½ cup crumbled queso fresco
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
- Hot sauce for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat outdoor grill or grill pan to medium heat. Wrap 1 slice bacon around each hot dog. Grill hot dogs 10 to 12 minutes or until bacon is crisp, turning occasionally.
- Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together lime juice and sour cream.
- Spread beans on inside of hot dog buns. Place hot dogs in buns and top with avocado, tomato, queso fresco, cilantro, onion, lime sour cream and hot sauce, if using.
Notes
- Prepared guacamole from the store works just as well as chopping up an avocado for this Mexican hot dog, and you might just prefer it this way!
- Another shortcut here is using store-bought pico de gallo in place of the tomatoes, onions and cilantro. After all, pico de gallo IS tomatoes, onions and cilantro.
- While wrapping the bacon around the hot dogs only takes a few minutes, another option is that you could make a batch of bacon in the oven or turkey bacon in oven and simply crumble it over the Sonoran hot dogs.
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I have loads of visitors coming this summer to my fish camp and can hardly wait to serve these to them. I usually prefer to do everything fresh from scratch as the recipe is written, but in the interest of keeping meal prep times to a minimum for serving a lot of friends, I’m going to utilize the suggested store-bought recommendations. Bonus that I can easily substitute with turkey hot dogs & turkey bacon for those with a preference. (Me!) Thank you for yet another great recipe, Lori.
Yesssss! Use those grocery store shortcuts, Cindy! That makes these SO easy for a crowd of people. If you do turkey bacon, I would suggest just making the bacon separate, and crumbling it over the dogs, as opposed to wrapping them in turkey bacon (only because I haven’t tested how that would crisp up on the grill). Enjoy your summer!
Delicious, going to be made more oftennthis summer
Enjoy, Gertie!
Heya .. don’t know if you are still out there, but found this while searching for bacon wrapped dogs. I don’t have the ingredients to do it tonight, but will definitely tuck this away for future reference. Your blog lives! hehe
Glad to hear it, Jim!
So drooling over this hotdog, love it!!
Thanks so much, Tara!
Haha, I actually had Sonoran hot dogs on my calendar to make on the 4th in anticipation of National Hot Dog Day! Yours look beautiful!
Awesome! Can’t wait to see your version, Jennifer!
I’m so happy to hear that, Julie! I hope he loves it!
This is just in time! A male friend was just asking me for a recipe using hotdogs, bacon and garnish. You saved me, Lori! I’ll just send him this link. Problem solved 😉
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
I love the sonoran hot dog . . . Then again, I live with a woman who has made me eat tacos every week and I put bacon on, literally, everything. Nice job hon!
A “mash-up of a really great hot dog and a really great taco. It sounds crazy, but it just totally works” <– girl, you don't know me very well because as soon as I heard these words, I thought "that's fracking brilliant" and then immediately followed by "get into mah belly". Damn these look delicious. I must make a hot dog/taco hybrid as soon as possible!
Yesssss! You’ll love them, Nancy!
Imperial?! This hotdog is my husband’s favorite. He would be thrilled if I made them for him.
Yes, we LOVE Imperial! But honestly, these dogs were so easy to make at home that we might be going there a little less now 😉
He wants to know your hot dog of choice.
Oh geez, I feel like the hot dog options at my store are always changing, so I have no one particular one. But I always choose Michigan-made. Usually Dearborn, but sometimes Kogels! I get the all beef ones, no skin. And bun-length if possible!
Oh YUM – a hot dog with Mexican flavors?! How could I say no to that?? Not sure why I’ve never put avocado on a hot dog before, but that sounds awesome.
Thanks so much! And actually, I recently had an avocado that I NEEDED to use. We were having hot dogs for dinner that night, so I just mashed the avocado into the buns, and it was soooo good! Didn’t even need any other condiments!