Hot Dog Spices: What Goes Inside the Sausage and What Goes on Top

A hot dog gets seasoned twice: once in the sausage, and again on the bun. Inside, extension-service formulas for wieners and franks lean on salt, coriander, nutmeg or mace, pepper, mustard, and onion and garlic. That mustard isn’t only there for flavor, either. Yellow mustard also binds water in prepared meats. On top, the classic American lineup is yellow mustard, chopped onion and, in Chicago, celery salt.

At a glance

What counts as a hot dog

USDA’s standard groups frankfurters, franks, hot dogs, wieners, vienna sausage, bologna and knockwurst together as finely ground cooked sausages, seasoned and cured. The finished product can’t contain more than 30 percent fat.⁵ The regulation doesn’t list which spices go in, so the seasoning is up to the maker.

The spices inside the sausage

Two extension publications give working formulas. They’re one-off recipes from named authors, not an industry standard, but they share the same core set.

The NDSU amounts season a large batch of beef and pork trim plus water, and salt makes up 50 percent of the flavoring weight.¹ The scanned Idaho bulletin is hard to read, so we’ve given only the ingredient names, not its quantities.² In the NDSU method, the mixture is stuffed into sheep casings for wieners, then smoked and cooked to 155°F internal temperature.¹

Coriander

Coriander shows up in both publications.¹² Its flavor is mild, sweet, warm and aromatic.

Nutmeg and mace

NDSU uses nutmeg; the Idaho franks use mace.¹² They come from the same fruit: mace is made from the dried covering of nutmeg. FAO’s table of nutmeg uses lists meat products, sausages and frankfurters among its industrial applications.⁶ For how the two differ, see mace vs. nutmeg.

Pepper

Black pepper goes into the NDSU base and the spicier Idaho frank. The mild Idaho frank uses ground red pepper instead.¹² For a pale sausage, some cooks prefer white pepper; see white pepper vs. black pepper.

Mustard

NDSU’s formula has mustard at 14 percent of the flavoring weight but doesn’t say whether that means seed, flour or prepared mustard.¹ Saskatchewan’s agriculture ministry notes that yellow mustard also works as a water-binding agent and protein extender in prepared meats, so in a sausage it does more than add flavor.³ See mustard powder.

Onion and garlic

NDSU adds dehydrated onion and garlic together. The Idaho mild frank uses fresh minced onion, and the spicy one optional garlic.¹² See onion powder and garlic powder.

MSG is not a spice

FDA considers added MSG generally recognized as safe.⁷

It isn’t in either extension formula above.¹² NDSU notes that MSG intensifies and enhances flavor but has no flavor of its own,¹ while FDA’s account describes glutamate as the source of a broth’s savory taste.⁷ They’re describing the same effect from different angles, and neither gives a hot dog dose. For more, see monosodium glutamate, cooking with MSG and MSG vs. salt.

Reading the label

Under USDA’s meat labeling rule, the terms “natural flavor” or “flavoring” can stand for spices and powdered onion, garlic and celery, so a hot dog label doesn’t have to name each one.⁸ MSG is different. FDA requires added MSG to be listed as “monosodium glutamate” and doesn’t allow it to be listed as “spices and flavoring.”⁷

The toppings

Yellow mustard

Saskatchewan lists traditional hot dog mustard among the main uses of yellow mustard seed.³ Katzer notes that some brands of mustard contain turmeric for a bright yellow color.⁹ Yellow (white) mustard isn’t heatless. Its pungent compound is non-volatile, so you get a bite on the tongue instead of the nose-clearing rush of brown mustard.⁹ See yellow mustard seeds.

Onion and celery salt

NPR’s Chicago-style recipe dresses the dog with yellow mustard, finely diced onion, green relish, tomato, a dill pickle spear, sport peppers and celery salt on a poppy-seed bun.⁴ Celery salt is the one dry seasoning in that list; see celery salt.

Related

• Coriander
• Mace
• Yellow mustard seeds
• Celery salt