Arizona Sonoran Dog

Tucson, Arizona is a hotspot for the Sonoran Hotdog. We actually spent a couple of weeks well north of Tucson, near Petrified Forrest National Park, in Holbrook, AZ. It was a challenging two weeks, weather-wise. The first week was a nice 70 degrees outside, with no wind. The next week, it was very windy and we even had snow!

The weather was as conventional as an American hotdog in the Sonoran region of Mexico. When it comes to Sonoran dogs, I believe there are a few parts to the construction, that are must-haves. A Sonoran dog must have bacon wrapped around the dogs, pinto beans and some type of roasted chile pepper. Oh, and don’t forget the little bit of mayo on top!

Let’s get started on this easy cook. I started with a full chimney of coals for my kettle grill, placed on one-half of the grill. While the coals are settling in, wrap your thin cut bacon around some all-beef hotdogs. Thick-cut bacon is all the rave right now, but I find thick-cut to be a little difficult to work with when wrapping it around stuff.

We secured our bacon with some toothpicks through the dogs. Once the coals are ready, throw on some chiles to roast. We went with some anaheim chiels for the taste and mild heat profile. You could use whatever chiles you like.

Once the chiles are roasted, set them aside and add the bacon-wrapped dogs over the coals. The trick to not burning up the dogs is, to turn them quickly and place the lid back on, so the fire goes out and doesn’t burn everything up. Cook until the bacon is sizzled pretty good. Be careful not to overcook.

Once the dogs are cooked, its time to assemble. We like to use a pretty substantial bun, to hold up with the beans and all the condiments that this dog packs. If you can find some buns that are not pre-cut, get those and you can cut them on the top and make a sort of, pocket for everything to place in.

Oh, the beans! I almost forgot! All the Sonoran dog recipes I’ve seen, call for pinto beans. There might be some exceptions our there, but we went with the majority on this one. We just heated some pinto beans in a pot on the stove and added a pinch of seasoning.

Now, for the construction, again, there are alot of variations, so we went with the most popular we could find through our research. Here’s our order: Bun, beans, bacon-wrapped dog, pico de gallo, roasted peppers and a little shot of mayo.

There it is, the Sonoran-style hotdog! I will say, I was very hesitant about adding mayo on a dog, but this worked very well together and the Sonoran dog may just be my regular method of cooking dogs from now on! Enjoy!

Sonoran Hotdog

This was our regional cook for our time in Arizona
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican

Equipment

  • Webber Kettle

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pkg All-beef hotdogs
  • 1 pkg Thin cut bacon
  • 1 can Pinto beans
  • 2 Anaheim chiles
  • 1 cup Pico de gallo
  • 1 squeeze Mayo
  • 1 pkg Artisan hotdog buns

Instructions
 

  • Wrap bacon around hotdogs and secure with toothpicks
  • Heat pinto beans in a pot
  • Slice anaheim chiles and roast on grill
  • Place dogs on grill, turn often and place lid on to keep from burning
  • Dice up some onion, tomato and cilantro for Pico de gallo
  • Order of construction: Bun, beans, dog, pico, chile and mayo
Keyword hotdogs, sonoran