The West Virginia Slaw Dog Recipe

Many hot dog stands offer coleslaw as an optional topping, commonly called a slawdog, but in much of West Virginia it is required.

The slawdog is a tasty but improbable construct of bun with a beanless ground beef sauce sometimes forming a bed for the frank, sometimes forming a blanket on top, yellow mustard, and finely chopped creamy sweat-sour green cabbage coleslaw crowning it all in place of the sauerkraut found in New York.

Similar slawdogs can be found from Alabama through Georgia into South Carolina and North Carolina (where the slaw has ketchup, hot pepper, and lots of vinegar). A cheap meal with two kinds of meat, veggies, and starch all in one hand.

Slawdog Recipe

Ingredients
8 all-beef frankfurters
8 buns
2 cups Meathead's All-Purpose Hot Dog Chili
Yellow mustard
1 sweet Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cups sweet-sour creamy coleslaw

Method
1) Prepare the coleslaw (here are two good ones to try: Mayo dressed or sour cream dressed). Prepare the meat sauce.

2) Cook the franks on the grill. Steam the bun. Put the dog in the bun, top with mustard, then the meatsauce, then the onions, then the slaw. The sequence varies from joint to joint, and I've even seen the meat sauce under the dog, but this is the way I like it. So there.

This page was revised 6/25/2009