If you are looking for plant based alternatives for meat, you have come to the right place. Maybe this is your chance to try something new for Meatless Monday…. or maybe you are exploring vegan recipes as you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint. That’s awesome, more power to you and planet Earth!!
This hot dog recipe is very simple and super easy to recreate. All you have to do is mix the 3-ingredients together and steam it for 10-minutes. In 15 minutes, a protein rich, hearty vegan hot dog (7g of protein per serving) is ready.
A little background, if I may 🙂
The inspiration for this recipe comes from a traditional Indian dish called Besan ke Gatte. This is a dish from the Northwest part of India (Rajasthan), where spices are added to chickpea flour which is then rolled into a hot dog shape and boiled in water. A similar Gujrathi recipe called muthia involves steamed dumplings, just not in the shape of a hot dog. I have adapted these recipes to roughly match the color and texture of a hot dog.
Here are the ingredients I used and why I used them –
Chickpea Flour
A.K.A Besan in Hindi is a good protein rich flour. Lots of Indians are vegetarians. This means they are very creative in their use of plant based protein. Chickpea flour being fairly inexpensive is widely used and a gold-mine for creative protein dishes. I think it is fair to say chickpea is to North Indian cuisine what soy bean is to Chinese.
Chickpea Flour a.k.a Besan
Ketchup
Normally chickpea dumplings in India are yellow in color. Here, I used ketchup to get that pinkish- red color to the hot dog as well as add a sweet-tart flavor.
Vegan Mayonnaise
The reason I used mayo in this recipe is that the whipped, fluffy mayo adds some lightness to the otherwise dense, sticky chickpea flour. Secondly, the oil in the mayo adds the much needed fat for the recipe, otherwise it would be a very dense, protein block.
Traditional mayonnaise uses egg yolks. Vegan mayo, does not use eggs, and has become all the rage in US and you can get it in most grocery stores. Now, if you are unable to get Vegan mayo, you can substitute it with oil or make your own vegan mayo instead.
I have tried this recipe using both traditional and vegan mayo. I find traditional mayo slightly sharper in taste and more lighter. But vegan mayo comes in a close second and also delivers a great tasting vegan hot-dog.
Step By Step Photos
Knead the dough with the 3 ingredients
Add the 3 ingredients and knead
Shape the dough into the shape of hot dog and place it in the steamer
Add hot dog to steamer
Steam for 10 minutes and check if it is cooked all the way through
It should look swollen and cooked all the way through
Hot Dog Recipe
Ingredients
Makes 4 hot dogs
- Chickpea Flour – 1 cup
- Vegan Mayonnaise – 2 Tsp
- Ketchup – 3 Tbspln
Instructions
- Take the chickpea flour in a wide bowl.
- Add the ketchup and Mayo and knead the flour
- Do not add any water. The flour should come together like a ball.
- Shape the dough into hot dog shape.
- Steam it for 10-12 minutes.
- Insert a fork to ensure it is cooked all the way through.
- Serve it with a hot dog bun and your favorite toppings.
Vegan Hot dog Serving ideas
Traditional style
Hot dog
Mayo
Lettuce
Pickled Jalapeno
Vegan hot dog with lettuce, vegan mayo and pickled Jalapeno filling
Indian Style
Hot dog
Spicy chutney (Blend coriander, green chillies, lemon juice, dates, tamarind, salt)
Sliced onions and tomatoes
Indian style hot dog with spicy chutney, sliced onions and tomatoes
My kid (the olive fanatic’s) favorite
Hot dog
Mayo
Lettuce
Olives
Vegan hot dog with olives, lettuce and mayo
All these toppings are just suggestions/ideas for you to try. You love Siracha? Top yours off with that spicy sauce. Your kid loves crunchy cucumber? add that to your hot dog.
Since these hot dogs are firm and not soggy, they hold up really well as a lunch box item. Being protein rich, they sustain you for a long time as well. I hope you give it a try.
Looking for other vegan recipes in this website? Try:
I look forward to your comments/suggestions.
This is a pretty good hot dog replacement, you definitely need the toppings. The texture is a little odd for a hot dog, but I don’t think I’m going to have any problems getting used to it. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thank you for trying the recipe Sall!!
Found your site while looking for a vegan hotdog. This recipe looks great and so much protein. Thank you.
Happy to hear that!! Welcome to my little blog!! 🙂
Great idea for sure! I liked it “as is” but will play around with it as well…thanks for the inspiration!
Awesome!! Happy to hear that, Christy!!
You might try adding smoky paprika. It is the hot dog flavor.
Very tasty, I did add a little liquid smoke. Mine turned out a little dry inside, despite steaming them for 15 minutes. My chickpea flour was a little old, perhaps that’s the reason they were dry.
Good idea with the liquid smoke.
Regarding the dryness – Steaming them too long may also make it dry (I know, it sounds counter intuitive)…but we have an Indian dish called idli, which when steamed too long gets hard and dry. Just a hunch!!
Oh my gosh, who would have thought. Any recourse for returning to a less dry state? We plan on serving the last 2 with vegi chili sauce.
Sorry, not sure how to make it soft again. However, with leftover hard idlis, we usually crumble them and make it into a stir-fry called idli upma. So, maybe crumble and make sloppy Jo’s out it..?? 🙂
I add them to casseroles at the end and they are just fine.
Nice!!…thank you for your feedback,
Hello! I am making these tonight. For once, I have all the ingredients. Have you ever frozen these?
Hi Rose,
Unfortunately I haven’t. However, I have cut up the remaining hot dogs and cooked them in a tomato sauce (I made it Indian style, you can choose any cuisine’s sauce)…served them with flatbreads for the next meal. Comes out very yummy. Hope that’s helpful.
Swetha
I made it, not my cup of tea.
So sorry to hear that. It is never fun to spend time on a recipe and not have it turn out the way you envisioned. Appreciate the feedback, though.
I guess almost no food can be pleasing to every person, different tastes. I started a plant based diet 6 months ago. It’s been a learning journey.
Hello dear i was wondering can i use rice flour or gluten free all purposes flour. i have a allergy to nuts and chickpeas and soy.
Hi Jennifer, The chickpea flour (besan) has a springy, dense and what I consider a slightly meaty texture when steamed which I am not sure that plain rice flour will provide.
I have 2 suggestions for you – and this is just a gut instinct (not tested in the kitchen) – but you could try either sticky rice flour or tapioca flour – both of which has a chewy texture when you bite into it compared to regular rice flour.
I also wonder if you could use any pea protein powder instead of besan – that way you get the satisfaction of eating a high-protein dish.
Hope that helps!!
Why not use vital wheat gluten flour? That’s what is usually used for these kind of meat replacement recipes.
thank you i will try find tapioca flour . i do have a gluten free flour that has tapioca and xanthan gum it is gummy and chewy do you think that could work. im allergic to peas as well all legumes and im celic i cant do gluten so it hard but this seems easy i do have hemp seed idk if i can add those for extra protein but thank you for reply much appreciate it
Hi! This sounds great! Question- I have a microwave steamer- how long should I steam it in the microwave? Do you think it would work? Thank you!
Hi Amanda, I don’t see why not…I feel the microwave method should yield very similar results. However, I am unsure of the timings. You will have to go with your gut instinct, once done – take it out, cut it up and see if it is cooked through and adjust timings accordingly.
Thanks
Swetha
I cannot believe I just made a hot dog with easy ingredients I always have in the house! Love them! Even my carnivore husband likes them. Thank you!
That’s fantastic!! 👍
This was really good! I was looking for something quick and easy and this fit the bill. Can´t wait to try more of your recipes.
Yay…That’s great!! Thanks Teresa!!
Epic fail!!! The instant pot steamer probably wasn’t the best idea. I’m gonna give it another go tomorrow
Oh no!! Sorry to hear that.
I have never quite figured the instant pot steamer mode though. I believe they ask you to close the vent…Wouldn’t that just pressure cook rather than steam?
I hope you have better results with a regular steamer.
Very nice taste and quick to make! Went in my recipe book to make again!
That’s great to hear Teresa!! Thank you for your feedback.
Mine came out very dry. I gave them to the squirrels. I enjoyed trying this recipe; I am new to vegan things, so I still had a lot of fun putting this together!
Haha.. glad it was useful to the squirrels!!
Love this idea! Got my mind working and creative juices flowing. I am thinking lentil flour or adding cooked lentils to this recipe to help the texture? I need to make this first, but great ideas to work with…maybe even puree some cooked carrots and lentils to add in. Wonder if they’d hold together?
Hi James, while besan is very sticky, it also has a prominent flavor. So, I would recommend adding something with a punch.
Adding cooked carrots etc may give the water needed to hold the dough together without providing flavor. You also don’t want to make the dough too watery since you will not be able to shape it, it will stick to your fingers a lot.
This is just an intuitive response based on my experience. But I would not want to prevent you from exploring away. Enjoy! And thanks for your lovely comment.
I want to try these I was just wondering if they can be fried in a pan instead of steamed…I love my hot dogs pan fried..thanx
Hi, I think you could steam and then pan fry it like a momo. But with only pan frying, I am worried if it will cook all the way inside.
What about somehow using a can of chickpeas?
Hi, a good question, but not sure if it will stick together in a shape.
Most shaped foods needs ungelatinized starches that when cooked binds itself holding steady in the formed shape.
Thank you for the recipe. I cut the ketchup a bit and added a little liquid smoke. Dough is very sticky so I used Saran wrap to shape them. 10 mins steaming three for hot dogs was perfect.
This is a keeper. Thanks again. 😊