Entertaining does not have to be fancy to be delicious and delightful to your guests. We love having friends over in the summer for a backyard barbecue, and instead of spending hours prepping for a fancy feast, we like to have a really fun menu like this Semi-Homemade Hot Dog Bar. We love that we can cook hot dogs to order and let everyone fend for themselves with the hot dog bar ingredients to make their own meal. We have included suggestions for some of our favorite summer hot dogs below, and also encourage our guests to create their own flavors! If you are really in host and hostess mode, you can write out our ideas below (and some of your own!) to help guide your guests through the hot dog bar. The key to success with a menu like this is to think smart, not hard. You’ll notice that there are some repetitive ingredients amongst the list. We have also “semi-homemade” some of the ingredients, including the bbq pulled pork and chili, which have come from the prepared food section at the grocery store. If you want to make all of the bar toppings from scratch, by all means have at it. But if you don’t have time, you can still pull this off pretty easily. Having repeat and pre-made ingredients helps eliminate a ton of prep time in the kitchen, but doesn’t take away from the fun of the presentation. For reference, we like to plan for 2-3 hot dogs per person when making our ingredient list.

The Hot Dog Lineup:

1. Asian Slaw Dog: Asian slaw, cilantro, sesame seeds, sriracha ketchup.
2. The Cincinnati Dog: chili, onion, mustard, cheese.
3. BLAT Dog: bacon wrapped dog, tomato, arugula, avocado, mayo.
4. BBQ Pulled Pork Dog: pulled pork, barbecue sauce, everything bagel coleslaw.
5. Chicago Dog: tomato, mustard, giardinara, sliced dill pickle.
6. Mexican Dog: avocado (or guacamole), pickled jalapeños, cilantro,