Seattle Dog (Cream Cheese Hot Dog)

5 from 2 votes

Seattle Dog (Cream Cheese Hot Dog)

A grilled beef frank on a toasted bun spread with cream cheese, topped with slow-cooked onions and mustard. The cream cheese melts into the bun and is what makes it a Seattle dog rather than an ordinary one. About 20 minutes.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 324kcal

Author: Rose Sioson

Equipment

1 Grill, Skillet or Air fryer

Ingredients

4 pieces all-beef hot dogs or Polish sausages
4 pieces Hot Dog buns
½ cup whipped cream cheese (about 2 tablespoon per bun)
Yellow mustard, to taste
Sliced jalapeños, optional

For the Onions

2 yellow onions thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Cook the onions. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and salt and cook 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until soft and golden. Set aside.
2 yellow onions, 1 tablespoon butter, ¼ teaspoon salt
Cook the hot dogs. Grill over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, turning until charred in spots and heated through. A skillet, grill pan, or air fryer at 380°F also works.
4 pieces all-beef hot dogs or Polish sausages
Toast the buns. Cut side down on the grill or in a skillet, about 1 minute, until lightly golden.
4 pieces Hot Dog buns
Spread the cream cheese. About 2 tablespoons per bun, spread edge to edge on the toasted bun.
½ cup whipped cream cheese (about 2 tablespoon per bun)
Assemble. Place a hot dog in each bun, top with the onions, and finish with a line of yellow mustard. Add jalapeños if using. Serve warm.
Yellow mustard, to taste, Sliced jalapeños, optional

Notes

Cream cheese goes on the bun, not the dog. This is the one people get wrong. It goes down first, edge to edge, so it softens against the heat and holds the onions in place. Cream cheese spooned on top just slides off.

Use about 2 tablespoons per hot dog. A thin smear disappears under the onions and the frank, and then you've made a regular hot dog with onions. This is the ingredient the dish is named for.

Whipped cream cheese is easier. It spreads straight from the fridge and is less likely to tear a soft bun. Block works if you let it sit out about 20 minutes first.

Toast the buns. A minute cut side down is enough. Untoasted bread goes soggy under cream cheese, and a warm surface makes spreading much easier.

Start the onions first. They take 15 minutes and everything else takes about five. Getting this backwards means the hot dogs sit and cool while you stand over a skillet.

Onion doneness is up to you. Fifteen minutes gets you soft and golden with some onion flavor left. Thirty or more takes them jammy and deep brown. Either works.

Bigger dog, smaller bun. Once the cream cheese and a pile of onions are in there, a standard frank gets lost. Go a size up if your store carries them.

Jalapeños are optional and genuinely debated. Some people who grew up in Seattle say a real one is just cream cheese and grilled onions. Plenty of carts serve them with jalapeños. Make it the way you want it.

No grill needed. A skillet, grill pan, or air fryer at 380°F all work for the hot dogs, and the buns can go in a toaster.

Make the onions ahead. They keep 4 to 5 days in an airtight container and reheat in a pan in about a minute. Doing this turns the second batch into a 5-minute dinner.

Storage. Don't store these assembled, the bun goes soggy within a couple of hours. Keep the components separate: onions 4 to 5 days, cooked hot dogs 3 to 4 days, buns in the bag on the counter. Rebuild with a freshly toasted bun.

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