Knock At-home Hot Dogs Out Of The Park This Baseball Season

This weekend, see nan Dodger Dog. On Thursday, our shot boys successful bluish returned to Chavez Ravine for nan 2025 MLB season.

But nan crippled besides marked nan return of 1 of nan world’s astir legendary stadium eats: nan Dodger Dog, an icon since 1962, which features a 10-inch pork basking canine that’s either grilled aliases steamed. Whatever your preference, it’s ever a nostalgia trip.

Its recipe, of course, has changed complete nan years. For astir of its life, nan canine itself was made by Farmer John successful Vernon, which called for much than 5,000 pounds of meat, spices and maize syrup in a azygous batch. In 2021 Papa Cantella’s — besides based successful Vernon — took up nan meaty mantle and remains nan existent maker. At nan stadium, location are corn-dog variants, plant-based spins, bacon-wrapped iterations, kosher versions, chili-topped options, fried dogs, gluten-free alternatives and more.

The glut of glizzies is never-ending because, contrary to L.A.’s estimation arsenic a green-juice-guzzling corporate of wellness fanatics, this is simply a basking canine city.

According to nan National Hot Dog and Sausage Council’s latest published records, Los Angeles was nan country’s apical user of basking dogs successful 2023, eating much than 30 cardinal pounds annually. That aforesaid statement recovered that Major League Baseball fans consumed 18.3 cardinal basking dogs successful 2019 — pinch Dodger fans eating 2.7 cardinal of them.

Whether nan Dodger Dog is simply a awesome basking canine is a decades-old debate among Angelenos, but 1 point is certain: This basking canine is undeniably a portion of nan city.

Tommy Brockert pinch handfuls of basking dogs successful La Sorted’s Chinatown.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

“I don’t deliberation anyone thinks it’s a bully basking canine and that’s OK, you know?” said restaurateur Tommy Brockert, a lifelong Dodgers fan. “But it’s nostalgic, it’s portion of nan experience. It doesn’t person to beryllium good, it conscionable feels right.”

Brockert owns La Sorted’s, a celebrated Dodgers-themed pizzeria. After operating successful Silver Lake since 2021, past autumn he debuted a Chinatown tavern that’s plastered pinch memorabilia adjacent nan stadium. He added basking dogs to nan paper astatine this location successful grant of nan Dodger Dog and occasionally serves a Dodger Dog-inspired pizza, which tops a condiment guidelines of yellow-mustard béchamel pinch mozzarella, provolone, sliced basking dogs, fried onions and cornichons.

This season, he’s besides readying connected offering a Japanese basking dog, positive a rotation of glizzy specials themed to immoderate nan visiting team’s location basking canine mightiness be. (This weekend, La Sorted’s ran Coney chili dogs successful a motion to nan Detroit Tigers.)

La Sorted’s pizzeria successful Chinatown features vintage posters, trading cards, programs, summons stubs and different memorabilia collected by proprietor Tommy Brockert passim his life.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

A basking canine “is a portion of nan shot experience, you know?” Brockert said. “I deliberation that it benignant of made sense, being nan marque that we are.”

The edifice serves a Vienna all-beef frank, arsenic opposed to Papa Cantella’s, which is traditionally each pork. La Sorted’s slides its dogs into murphy buns, and splits nan franks down nan mediate for other char. Brockert’s preferred toppings — called “Tommy’s Way” astatine nan Chinatown pizzeria — are adjacent slicks of Dijonnaise and Philippe’s basking mustard.

Dodger Stadium proudly squirts Morehouse mustard and basal ketchup from its condiment dispensers, but astatine your ain grill you tin beryllium nan spirit MVP and operation it up for illustration Brockert. Here are a fewer ways to pine up basking dogs for home(-viewed) games.

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Make-Your-Own Hot Dog Cart

When feeding a crowd, it doesn’t get much festive — aliases L.A.-appropriate — than re-creating 1 of nan city’s street-vendor icons: nan roving basking canine cart, pinch its scent of bacon, basking dogs, jalapeños and onions heavy successful nan air. Former L.A. Times Test Kitchen head Noelle Carter crafted her ain makeshift type for location parties, and you tin too. “Bacon-wrapped basking dogs,” Carter wrote, “They’re nan unofficial thoroughfare nutrient of Los Angeles. It’s each but intolerable to flight their seductive aroma aft a sporting event, performance aliases nighttime connected nan town.”
Get nan method.

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Homemade Hot Dog Buns

This look tin beryllium made by hand, mixer aliases breadstuff machine, and leans connected optional ingredients for illustration malt powder and sesame seeds to customize nan basking canine bun of your nostalgia. Here, cookbook writer and look contributor Marcy Goldman shares her bun how-to (and a fewer memories of coaching her sons’ shot team) pinch nan L.A. Times.
Get nan recipe.
Cook time: 2½ hours. Makes astir 10 buns.

(Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles Times)

Curtis Stone’s Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)

Australian cook Curtis Stone whips up his ain “tomato sauce,” aliases ketchup, for sausage rolls, but this condiment is versatile and delicious connected conscionable astir thing that calls for a dip aliases dispersed (I’ve moreover utilized it atop meatloaf). Certainly location are Heinz purists, and if ever a origin called for nan bottled stuff, it’s a accepted basking dog, but if you’re looking to return your dogs to caller gastro heights, opt for Stone’s take. It’s sewage sweet, roasty notes from caramelizing onions pinch herb paste and extent from chipotle, which each find equilibrium acknowledgment to nan subtle wound of pome cider vinegar.
Get nan recipe.
Cook time: 1 hr positive chilling time. Makes astir 1½ cups.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Hard Cider Mustard

A elemental yellowish mustard does nan instrumentality for astir dogs, but sausages — and immoderate grilled meats, genuinely — are often bettered by nan tang of a sharper mustard. Carter, our erstwhile Test Kitchen director, crafted a look for a mustard that uses difficult cider, pome cider vinegar and caller apples for a fruitier edge, but 1 that still packs a punch. If you’re making this recipe, beryllium judge to fto nan mustard beryllium a fewer days earlier use, arsenic it takes clip for nan flavors to mellow and coalesce. “Once you’ve perfected it, you’ll want to make a larger batch to share,” Carter writes. “Homemade mustard makes a awesome gift. And nary 1 has to cognize really easy it was to make.”
Get nan recipe.
Cook time: 15 minutes positive chilling time. Makes astir 1⅔ cups.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Corn Dogs

Fluffy-battered and fried to a aureate crisp, maize dogs are astir arsenic iconic arsenic their much straightforward glizzy brethren. Get Goldman’s look here, which calls for a fewer elemental ingredients and comes together quickly. Just don’t hide nan woody skewers.
Get nan recipe.
Cook time: 35 minutes. Makes 10 maize dogs.