HEALTHIER HOT DOG PICNIC WITH NO-SUGAR, LOW PRESERVATIVE RELISH, Triple Duty; budget friendly, child friendly

American hot dogs are a favourite English picnic food...

first published 2016; updated June 2025

A hot dog picnic with Make-ahead Easy No/low Sugar Homemade Relish
Photo shows Tivali veggie dogs in Light wholemeal Spelt rolls. 

...and 67goingon50 has developed various strategies to enhance the experience.   

Nowadays popular frankfurters include high-meat beef or pork, lower-fat chicken or increasingly, vegan dogs.  If you're going the no-meat route, vegetarian franks* which the blogger discovered in Israel are recommended.  

In the west we also have high-end vegan frankfurters, developed alongside meatless burgers.

Whatever their origin, frankfurters/hot dogs are best eaten warm.  If you're travelling to a picnic site, try these methods:  

• place the dogs in wide-mouthed thermoses and cover with hot - not boiling - water; drain at the picnic site OR
• wrap the frankfurters in buns  (but without dressing and sauces) and then in foil packets.  Wrap them well in tea towels and place them or near the car engine while travelling to the picnic site.  If you smell burning, move them away or turn them over.  (At the site, don't turn your back on them or they could be nicked!)
• cook over a campfire; load a young strong branch with the dogs and grill over the flames (it's probably best to have jumbo dogs for this)

Traditionally, hot dogs are served with a strip of mustard, a strip of ketchup, some relish and maybe some onions fried in butter.  If travelling, fill a squeezy bottle (from Nisbetts & department stores) with mustard and another with ketchup; before screwing on the lid, cover the tops with a double layer of cling film. Trasport in a plastic bag or container (Try not to tear the cling film or the ketchup/mustard will end up all over the container and people will not be happy!) 

HOT DOG RELISH: Many varieties of hot dog relish - red or green - are available at various prices but most are high in sugar and additives.   67goingon50's easy, colourful hot dog relish is not.  

Crunchy and zippily flavoured, it's a healthy treat.  There's no or very low sugar and it's almost preservative-free.  The relish is easy to put together; an older child with good knife skills could do it under supervision. (Always have a first aid kit in the kitchen!)  

The recipe does use store-bought pickles** but not in huge quantities.  To make your own, go to Faff-free Dill Pickles, which take only a few minutes to make and 3 days to 'cook'.    

67's relish will satisfy sophisticated adults. For kids being weaned off high levels of sugar, it's ok to add half a tablespoon of maple syrup; the chillis and mustard could also be reduced.  The recipe makes 1.5 cups; preparing two batches won't be a burden.  

Any leftovers can be teamed with chicken or cheese with a little yoghurt-mayo for a great sandwich filling.

The relish can be made in advance and keeps 3-5 days in the fridge.   

Cost: £2.50'ish (June 2025) does not include cost of frankfurters

Makes1.5 cups

Ingred:
   5 cherry tomatoes or equiv, in small dice
   3/4 tsp tomato puree, pref low-salt
   small red chilli, top & tailed, de-seeded, finely diced OR 1/2 tsp chilli flakes  
   1/2 cup bell pepper, pref green or yellow, in small dice
   1/3 cup dill pickle  (2 med) in small dice)
   1/3 cup drained corn niblets
   1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

PLUS Hot dogs (cost varies according to choice): meat, vegetarian, vegan 

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients apart from dogs thoroughly; add cracked black pepper to taste 
2. Store in a wide-mouthed air-tight container in the fridge 3-5 days

*Tivali

**Mrs Elswood Dill Pickles

Tips:

• Hot dog buns/finger rolls are sold at most UK supermarkets at good prices; pick up more than you need when  on offer - they freeze well
• Or save money and make your own easy-peasy Light wholemeal Spelt rolls

Please leave a Comment in the box below

This recipe has been developed by B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and can not be reproduced without the author's written permission.