Why This Recipe Works

For authentic Chicago-style hot dogs, we started with all-beef hot dogs with natural casings. We steamed the dogs using a steamer basket, adding poppy seed buns on top for the last minute of cooking to soften them. We stuck with the traditional toppings: yellow mustard, Chicago-style sweet pickle relish, onion, tomato, dill pickle, sport peppers, and celery salt (and absolutely no ketchup).

Before You Begin

For the most authentic Chicago-style hot dogs, seek out Vienna-brand all-beef hot dogs; they’re available at some well-stocked supermarkets and online. Chicago hot dog buns are coated with poppy seeds; if you can’t find them locally, you can make your own. Chicago pickle relish is neon green. You can order Chicago-style relish online or approximate the hue by adding 1 drop of blue food coloring to 2 tablespoons of sweet relish. You can also substitute traditional sweet pickle relish. Sport peppers are small, spicy pickled peppers with a yellow-green hue. Their signature crunch and heat are needed for a true Chicago-style dog. They can be difficult to find outside of Chicago but are readily available online. In a pinch, you can substitute stemmed pepperoncini, but they have a milder flavor and softer texture.

Instructions

Bring 1 cup water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Place steamer basket over boiling water. Add hot dogs to basket, cover saucepan, and reduce heat to medium. Cook until hot dogs are heated through, 5 to 7 minutes. Arrange buns over hot dogs (overlapping as needed to prevent buns from touching basket) and cook, uncovered, until buns are softened and warmed, about 1 minute. Transfer buns to platter and place hot dogs in buns.

Top each hot dog as follows: stripe of mustard, 1½ teaspoons relish, 1 tablespoon onion, 2 pieces tomato (tucked against 1 side of bun), 1 pickle spear (tucked into opposite side of bun), and 2 sport peppers. Sprinkle with celery salt. Serve.