How to make a West Virginia Hot Dog

If you haven’t tried a West Virginia Hot Dog, you are seriously missing out! A WV Style hot dog is a hotdog piled high with mustard, onions, chili sauce, and coleslaw, garnished with pickled jalapeños if you want some extra spice. The uniquely delicious combination of ingredients has been eaten in this state for decades.

Have you noticed a trend here?? This is the final post of a 4 part series where I’m talking all about hotdogs and have been leading up to this post on how to make the perfect West Virginia Style Hot Dog.

Although I’ve lived in Pennsylvania my entire life, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia has always been <30 minutes away. 

And for the past nearly 15 years, my husband Ray has worked in the Morgantown, WV area and he’s also been enjoying their iconic West Virginia Hot Dog as one of his favorite lunch foods!

I finally decided to perfect making a WV Style Hot Dog at home, so for the past month I’ve been dissecting and recipe testing every part of this unique and delicious regional favorite food. Much like my Wild and Wonderful Ramp Chowder recipe!!

PLUS making a recipe at home, helps to keep it healthier by choosing better ingredients, right??!

What is a West Virginia Hot Dog?

Hot dog lovers’ rejoice!!! I have a heavenly creation, that’s true West Virginia but also 100% delicious! Hot Dogs have been a staple food for West Virginians since the Great Depression. While you may be familiar with national hot dog and regional favorites like a Chicago Style Hot Dog, did you know that a West Virginia takes their hot dogs so sensibly that they have West Virginia Hot Dog Festival dedicated to enjoying deliciously topped wieners?! (I had to use that word at least once in this post, apologies!)

A WV style hot dog is a symphony of taste that make one of the most delicious hotdogs you can find! It combines mustard, onions, chili sauce, and coleslaw on top of a hotdog for a tasty treat. Most aficionados of a WD Dog will also ask for a few pickled jalapeños to spice things up, too!

Different parts of West Virginia may have unique twists on the WV dog, but this post (and all my research) is dedicated to the most iconic true flavor in the entire mountain state.

What do you need to make a West Virginia Style Hot Dog?

A West Virginia hot dog is both simple and complex. Of course you’ll need a few hot dog basics but you’re also going to need to do a little prep work.

1. Hotdog Buns – you was LESS bread not more, choose a small and soft (typically cheap) hotdog bun. We have been enjoying the hotdog buns from Aldi and our grocery store generic versions.
2. Yellow Mustard – like with the buns, less is more. Just grab your favorite yellow mustard, no need to source anything specific. By default, I’ve always kept French’s Yellow Mustard stocked in our pantry.
3. Chopped Onions – noticing a trend?? These first 3 ingredients are pretty basic and we’re keeping with the trend, no fancy sweet onions just a plain white or yellow onion, cleaned and finely chopped.
4. Hot Dogs – when it comes to selecting the best hot dog for a WV Style Hotdog you want to pair quality and flavor. We’ve always been an all-beef hot dog household and recently have found BAR-S Beef hot dogs to be ideal for making the best WV dog. With an added bonus of their inventive fresh pack packaging, their hotdogs offer the best tasting dog with the perfect big dog to small bun ratio that you want for the prefect WV Hot Dog. (NOTE: I have worked with BAR-S recently, but they did not sponsor THIS post, all opinions are authentically mine.)
5. Chili Sauce – not just any ‘chili’ can top a West Virginia Hot Dog! You need a thick and meaty chili sauce, made WITHOUT BEANS. The meat needs to be finely chopped and thickly coated in a perfectly chili powder seasoned tomato sauce based chili-like sauce, so it sticks to the hot dog and the bun without being overly messy. Of course I’ve mastered the prefect Hot Dog Chili Sauce Recipe for you!
6. Coleslaw – as with the chili sauce, not just any coleslaw will do. For the perfect WV Style Hot Dog, you need a unique combination of both flavor and texture. My Hot Dog Coleslaw recipe takes all the guess work out of topping your West Virginia Hot Dog with it’s balanced sweet & tangy sauce and chopped texture (instead of long strings of shredded cabbage) to make this loaded hot dog a little less messy.
7. Pickled Jalapeños – while these are definitely an OPTIONAL topping, they really kick up a WV Style Hot Dog and let’s be honest, foodies like me really enjoy adding a garnish to our meals, hot dogs included! Pickled Jalapeños are a staple at every hot dog joint and they are the perfect way to add some spice to your WV dog. You can absolutely us a jar of them from your pantry, but we prefer to make Homemade Refrigerator Pickled Jalapeños so that we can always be sure they are the best.

How to make a West Virginia Hot Dog at Home

While making the perfect WV Style Hotdog at home might seem like a daunting task, no need to worry! I’ve spend the past MONTH perfecting very aspect to share with you, so that you can confidently enjoy a WV Dog at home.

I suggest making both your Hotdog Coleslaw and Hotdog Chili Sauce first. You can even make them both ahead of time. Both the chili and slaw will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator and the chili sauce can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Next you’re going to need to cook those hot dogs. And honestly I can’t imagine a part of this post that could be more controversial, but I’m not afraid to say it… the best way to cook a hot dog for a West Virginia Style Hotdog is to BOIL your dogs.

Of course you can cook your hotdog anyway YOU want but I’m here to guide you thought making the perfect WV hotdog… and yes that’s a boiled hot dog. The reason we want to boil them (as opposed to grilling) is that we don’t want the skin to become hard and difficult to bite though. You want to keep that hotdog soft and pliable.

Depending on how many hot dogs you are preparing, use a small sauce pan, Dutch Oven or even a big stockpot if you are making WV Dogs for a crowd on a July Saturday afternoon! Lightly simmer those dogs over medium-low heat until heated through. Since hotdogs are a pre-cooked food, we don’t have to worry about achieving a specific safe temperature to avoid any food borne or life-threatening illnesses (inside joke)

While your hot dogs are warming up in the pot, finely chop your onions and get out the rest of your supplies.

To assemble your perfect West Virginia Style Hot Dog you want to start with MUSTARD & ONIONS in the bottom of the bun…

Why should they go on the bottom? Easy so that the mustard soaks into the bread and helps to hold the onions in place… until you add your boiled hot dog…

See how those onions are securely sandwiched between the bun and the hot dog?!?!

Next you’re going to add a generous scoop of homemade hotdog chili sauce on top of your hot dog..

I don’t know about you but my mouth is watering already, just looking at these photos?!?!

After the chili sauce you’ll want to top your WV Dog with your homemade hotdog coleslaw, remembering to be generous but not overly messy! Sprinkle a little Salt & Pepper on top, if that’s your thing.

Last but not least, let’s kick things up with those delicious Pickled Jalapeños!! If you want just a little spice, choose (or make) the pickled jalapeño slices that are all green without the white pith or seeds.

Viola! You’ve just made the perfect West Virginia Style Hot Dog!

If you like this West Virginia Style Hot Dog Recipe, try these recipes next:

• Grilled Dry Rub Hot Wings
• Crispiest Air Fryer Chicken Wings Recipe
• Smoked BBQ Chicken Wings
• Classic Buffalo Wings {Low-Carb & Paleo}

In some areas you make hear this style of hotdog referred to as a “Hillbilly Hot Dog” I’m only mentioning it because it’s relevant to this post, however respectfully I personally don’t call it that because I understand that the term may have hurtful insinuations.