What makes the best vegan hot dogs? It´s the condiments, of course—the right combination of delicious ingredients and some crispiness from onion crumbs. You get delicious carrots by marinating them in spices and liquid smoke. Added flavor comes from grilling the carrots.
For regular hot dogs, there are so many different recipes and fillings. You can use the same ones for vegan hot dogs. I have 5 different variations of vegan carrot hot dogs in this blog post—all so delicious. My favorite is the IKEA-version, and my husband loves most a traditional with pickles, mayo, mustard, and pickled onions.

Traditional carrot hot dog
A more traditional hot dog is filled with ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and pickles. I love my mustard as a sweet and spicy version. Pickled red onions go perfectly with this one. Crispy fried onions give some nice crunch and flavor.

Ikea style hot dog
Ikea is a big furniture shop worldwide with origins in Sweden. Many know Ikea from their famous meatballs, but they have some nice vegan dishes also. One is the vegan hot dog, not filled with a carrot but their own plant-based sausage. Their hot dog is filled with red cabbage salad, spicy mustard, and crispy onion crumbs.
In my version is some self-made pickled red cabbage and also some mayonnaise-which makes it even better, but a healthier version is to leave it out.

Mexican style carrot hot dog
This hot dog is filled with spicy tomato salsa ( I used ready bought), avocado slices, red onion, crunched nachos, and cilantro.

Curry remoulade carrot hot dog
A very special hot dog. I once saw in a magazine a hot dog version with curry mayonnaise, and indeed if you like curry spice, you will love this version. This is filled with curry remoulade made of tofu, pineapple, onion and pickles. The curry remoulade you can also use as a sandwich topping, filling for oven potatoes or in a wrap, so very versatile.

BBQ coleslaw carrot hot dog
BBQ coleslaw is so easy to make and so delicious in a hot dog or as a relish to some other dish. You grate some white cabbage to thin slices and mix it with barbeque sauce.
Add also regular or plant based cashew mayonnaise, pickles, mustard and spring onions.

Hot dog barbeque party ideas
Why not have a barbecue party for your friends with just hot dogs. Prepare the carrots and condiments the day before. You will need to count 2-3 hot dogs each. Guys might even want to eat 4. This depends on the size of your buns and carrots of course. If you don´t want to serve only carrots as sausage, it can be fun to have different vegan sausages also. You can make tofu sausages or seitan sausages.
As condiments to your hot dogs you can serve:
- Ketchup
- Sweet mustard
- Salsa sauce
- BBQ sauce
- Mayonnaise, traditional or plant-based
- Cucumber pickles
- Onion crumbs
- Pickled red cabbage
- Pickled red onions
- Diced regular onion or spring onion
- Avocado
- Curry remoulade
- Nachos
- Cilantro
Cook or bake the carrots a day before, let them marinate the night in the fridge. Prepare also the day before pickled cabbage and onion. The cabbage and onion taste the best if they can marinate for some hours at least.
What are the healthiest hot dogs?
The healthiest hot dogs are made of whole-grain buns, a vegan sausage such as carrot, tofu, or seitan sausage. Top the bun with delicious condiments such as pickled coleslaw and onions, pickled cucumbers, and onion crumbs.
Adjusting hot dogs for a plant-based diet
If you follow a whole food plant-based diet, you should choose buns that are not made of white flour. Choose ones that are whole grain. The best buns are those you bake yourself, but this takes some time. I love store-bought because I can't get the dough to be fluffy enough for the buns. But remember that store-bought buns often have added oil and sugar and preservatives.
I used buns called the dark dog for these hot dogs in the pictures. They are made of wheat, whole grain rye flour, and some added fiber. (These are only sold in Finland) Skip the mayonnaise if you are avoiding oils and fats. Instead, you can make a plant-based mayo of cashews or tofu.
To make a plant-based mayonnaise, you blend some cashew nuts with a little plant milk, usually ratio 2:1 to a creamy consistency. Add as flavoring some dijon mustard, garlic powder, and a pinch of vinegar and nutritional yeast.
How many calories are in a carrot hot dog?
A hot dog made of a whole-grain bun of 50grams, 1 carrot, some pickled cucumber, cabbage and onions, mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise has a total of :
- Calories 260
- Fat 8,8grams
- Carbs 32 grams
- Sugar 6,2 grams
- Fiber 6,2 grams
- Protein 7,6 grams
If you skip the half tablespoon of mayonnaise you save some 30-40 calories.
How do you make carrot"sausages" for hot dogs?
You can prepare carrot hot dogs in the oven. Roast the carrots in the oven in the marinade for 40-50 minutes, depending on the carrot size. You can also cook your carrots in water for 20 minutes and then marinate them overnight. Carrot "sausages" can also be made in an instant pot. As a finishing touch, grill your carrots to get even more taste to them.
How do you make carrot hot dogs in an instant pot?
Cook the carrots for hot dogs in the instant pot for 3 minutes in the marinade, and then let them cool down in the marinade for 15 minutes. Your carrots should be tender enough so the fork can pass through. After cooking, you can grill the carrots to get some nice surface.
What is in the vegan carrot hot dog marinade?
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoon smoke aroma
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder or 1 clove grated fresh one
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 cm fresh, grated
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
This marinade you can use if you want to boil your carrots first and then marinate them overnight. This marinade is also great if you boil your carrots in the instant pot. In the recipe below, I have a little different marinade for the oven carrots. You can choose either one of these as the marinade.

Carrot Hot Dog
Ingredients
- 6 small carrots
For the marinade
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs smoke aroma
- 1 small diced onion
- 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 2 crumbled bay leaves
- ¼ tsb rosemary
- ¼ tsb thyme
- ¼ tsb coriander
Quick pickled red cabbage
- ½ small red cabbage shredded (600g)
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup boiled water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or sugar
- 1 clove minced garlic
- ½ tsb black pepper
- 1 tsb oregano
Pickled onion
- ½ cup boiled water
- 100 g onion
- 5 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 C or 350 F
- Wash the carrots; if they don't have thick skin, you don't have to peel them. Cut off and peel the ends, so the carrot gets a sausage shape.
- Mix the marinade ingredients and put the marinade with the carrots in an oven pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes under tin foil. Time depends on the size of your carrots.
- To get a better flavor, I recommend to grill them afterward or fry them on a pan with the leftover marinade that did not evaporate in the oven.
Pickled cabbage
- To prepare the cabbage, shred it finely with a cheese slicer or a knife to thin slices. A mandolin slicer is, of course, best for this.
- Mix everything in a jar with a lid. Let sit preferably for two hours before serving and shake the jar once in a while.
Pickled onions
- Slice the red onions into fine round slices and put them in a jar with vinegar and maple syrup or sugar. Rest for 1-2 hours.
Notes

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