Vegan French Fry Corn Dogs

Recently my friend Yanira was over and stumbled upon a French fry coated corn dog while scrolling through her phone.

I personally had not seen such a thing and when she showed me, but I knew we had to make them.

Then of course, because I am old and lame and know nothing, my kids informed me “its a thing, its on TikTok.” Well there you have it, the teens confirmed its a thing, and everyone is doing it?!?!?

Well I took to google to find out where it started and from what I can gather (can I even google being so old and lame?!?! barely) and found out that it seems to have stared in Korea, and is a popular street food called Kogo!!

I mean I would have really guessed this thing hailed from America. We love to combine all the bad foods together and deep fry them. I really was shocked it did not originate as American Fair food.

All that said I just wanted to get one of these French fry corn dogs in my face ASAP.

Y’all, its perfect really. You get your corn dog and a side of fries ALL IN ONE!! Its magic really!

So I did it. I made a vegan Kogo, or vegan French fry corn dogs, and it is everything I imagined and more.

For everyone who quickly wants to nay say this amazing and brilliant creation, I am sure there is a salad bar somewhere waiting for you, and being honest, I am right behind you in that salad line, right after I stuff a few of these beauties in my face, once or twice a year.

You can make your own vegan hot dogs, I mean I can hook you up with a pretty tasty recipe, or you can just buy a package of store bough. No judgments from me.

The batter mixes up quickly, frozen fries are your friend in this recipes, and really start to finish you can be munching away in about half and hour. It might actually be a little too easy to whip up a batch of these vegan french fry corn dogs, but I am not mad about it.

Thank you Korea!!! I will be forever grateful for this weird but amazing food!

INGREDIENTS:

You will need 8 popsicle sticks or thick wooden skewers

• 8 vegan hot dogs, homemade or store-bought

• 4 cups frozen French fries (I used Trader Joe’s Fries)

• 3/4- 1 cup dairy free milk

• 1 starch egg (1 tablespoons corn or tapioca starch and 3 tablespoons water)

• 2 tablespoons pickle juice (you can omit this but will need a splash more milk)

• 1 tablespoon dijon or regular mustard

• 3/4 -1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup corn meal

• 3 teaspoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Remove the French fries from the freezer and let them sit at room temp while you prepare the batter.

2. Mix the wet ingredients together in a small bowl starting with one cup of milk.

3. Whisk dry ingredients together in a larger bowl

1. Add wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. If the mixture seems too thick, then add a little more milk. You the batter to be on the thicker side so that it will hold the French fries.

2. Once the batter is all mixed up, pour some into a mason jar, tall glass, or pyrex measuring cup. This makes dipping the hot dogs easier than if you try dipping them in the bowl.

3. Poke a popsicle stick into each hot dog about halfway up.

4. Place the French fries in a blender or food processor and pulse until they are chopped up. You don’t want to turn them to crumbs but you want the pieces small enough to easily coat the hot dogs. You could also chop them with a knife if you like. It’s just faster and easier in the blender. Dump the chopped fries onto a plate.

5. Dip the hot dogs in batter making sure they are completely covered. Roll the battered hot dogs in the plate fries, making sure they are completely coated. Repeat with all of the hot dogs.

6. In a medium sauce pan, deep skillet, or deep frier, heat enough oil to fully cover the corn dogs. I suggest frying with grape seed oil or peanut oil.

7. Once the oil is nice and hot, reduce the temp to medium/low. You can test the oil by placing chop stick or one of the popsicle sticks into the bottom of the pan. If little bubbles form around the tip then the oil is ready.

8. Add 1 to 2 corn dogs to the oil at a time. If you do more than one at a time they may stick together depending on the size of your pot or pan.

9. Fry each corn dog for a few minutes, using tongs to turn them several times until they begin to get golden brown all over and the fries seem crispy (unless you are using a deep frier with a basket, in which case just fry until they are golden brown). Then place finished corn dogs on a cooling rack while you finish frying the rest.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Fried Dill Pickles

Fried Vegan Mac and Cheese Balls

Vegan Gorgonzola Fried Brussels Sprouts

Homemade Vegan Hotdogs

Hot diggity dog, y’all.

I love a good vegan hotdog. That said, I have not found many vegan hotdogs that I would consider “good.”

I won’t go name dropping any specific brands here, but if you have ever tried to grill a store-bought vegan hotdog, you may have noticed they can be a little rubbery, and just plain weird.

I am a big fan of Beyond brand sausage, and that is our normal BBQ go to, but they ain’t cheap when feeding a family of 6 and they also are not a hotdog…..they are sausage…..and sometimes you just want a chili slaw dog.

So I finally decided I had enough of subpar vegan hotdogs, and it was high time I just made my own.

Y’all, its not hard to make your own vegan hotdogs! It just takes a pack of super firm tofu, some vital wheat gluten, a few pantry staples, and a little patients.

If you have made any of my deli meats you know how easy they are. These vegan hot dogs are close to that easy. They just take a little more time to wrap up so they can steam and keep their shape.

I know a lot of people have feelings about foil. But because these hot dogs need to steam and keep their shape, foil is in order here. If you are anti foil, you can bake them in a covered dish, but they will NOT hold their shape and the texture isn’t as good as if they were wrapped and steamed. You have been been properly warned.

So, if you have yet to find a vegan hotdog you dig, then try your hand at making your own!! They are pretty easy to make, with fairly easy to get ingredients, and in my opinion (and even my picky kids opinions) they are really pretty tasty!

Hot diggity (vegan) dog!!

INGREDIENTS:

I have some notes for trouble shooting this recipe at the bottom of the page. Be sure to give them a read!

• 16 oz package of super firm tofu, the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water

• 1 and 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/3 cup yellow onion

• 1/4 cup sauerkraut (just the cabbage, not the juice)

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 3 tablespoons ketchup or tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 1 tablespoonNo Beef Better Than Bouillon, or vegan beef bouillon powder

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon dried mustard

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• a few tablespoons water if needed

INSTRUCITONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Dice the onion. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade along with the onion and sauerkraut. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu and onion are broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add a few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more!

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of rectangular shaped loaf with the dough.

4. Evenly divide the dough into about 16 pieces. If you want larger hot dogs you can divide it into 12 or 14 pieces.

5. Using your hands shape the dough into a hot dog shape. Smooth the dough out by rolling it out on a clean cutting board or counter top. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

6. Wrap each hotdog in a piece of foil that has been sprayed with a light mist of oil. Lay the hotdog at one long end of the foil and roll it up, twisting the ends tightly. Make sure the foil is smooth. If there are a lot of wrinkles in the foil it will cause creases in the hotdogs.

7. Place the foil wrapped hotdogs seam side up in a 9x13 baking dish (you will need 2 baking dishes to fit all the hot dogs) fill the bottom of the dish with about half an inch of water ( this is why the seam side needs to be up on the foil, you don’t want water getting into the foil!)

8. Place the pans in the oven and bake wrapped for 30 minutes.

9. Carefully remove the hotdogs from the oven but leave them in the foil. Pop them in the fridge to rest and firm up still wrapped in the foil for at least 5 hours. So if you want these for dinner, bake them up in the morning or the day before.

10. You can heat the hot dogs on the grill, in a pan, in the oven or boil them to serve. If you cook then a pan on the stove or on the grill, make sure to give the pan or grill a good spray so they do not stick. These got dogs will freeze well for up to 6 months or refrigerate for up to 10 days in an airtight container.

NOTES:

*I experimented with cooking methods for these hotdogs. I tired cooking them wrapped in foil, and I also tired baking them on a pan just covered in foil. Cooking the hotdogs unwrapped did not yield a desirable shape or texture. Wrapping them in the foil may seem tedious, but it actually does not take very long.

*I use SUPER FIRM TOFU that is vacuum sealed and not sitting in a tray of water. If you can not find this tofu and use extra firm, then you will need to press as much liquid from the tofu that you can. It will still work but the texture is still much better when you use the super firm.

*If you hotdogs come out bread like, or have little holes in them, your oven likely cooks hotter than what it registers. You can get an oven thermometer or bump the temp down 10-15 degrees the next time you bake. Because these hotdogs stay wrapped the whole time in a water steam bath, they are less likely to have this happen. If it does happen you may also need to knead the dough more the next time.

*When I say let the hotdogs rest, I mean it. Seitan NEEDS TO REST or you are likely not going to be pleased with the texture. Don’t email me if you bite right into one right away and the texture is weird…..the hotdogs MUST REST. Good fake meats come to those who wait..or something like that :)

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Savory Beet and Tempeh Burger

Casey’s Corner Slaw Dogs

The Best Vegan Chili