Patriotic American Hot Dog Bar – Affordable, Simple & Fun!
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Patriotic American Hot Dog Bar – Affordable, Simple & Fun!
Looking for some fun hot dog bar ideas? Check out this one for a patriotic American hot dog bar for the 4th of July or anytime of the year. It is a really fun way to set up a hot dog bar, that is themed for the 4th.
The other thing that I love about this idea, is it has got to be one of the easiest ways to feed a crowd on a budget. Not only is it affordable, it also does not require long cooking hours, so it is simple too. It looks so fun though, so no one will give a second thought to how much money or time you put into it – they will just love that they were invited to eat at this hot dog bar!
4th of July Ideas for a Hot Dog Bar
The really fun thing about this idea, is you can do it super simple (and affordable) or go gourmet. We show you had to set up this hot dog bar for a fun patriotic theme for holidays here, using basic hot dogs. We also give you some ideas below on how to make it a more gourmet bar using sausage or brawts too. You could use pretzel buns, add chili and lot of other things if you want it to be something a little bit less basic too. Or if you are looking for quick, simple and affordable – stick to the basics! It is a flexible idea to fit with different preferences.
Ingredients for this Hot Dog Bar –
Here are the basic ingredients to make this hot dog tray. You can of course include additional ingredients on the side for folks to add to their hot dogs, like mustard, relish and diced onions – but these are the ingredients required to make the Hot Dog tray we show here.
- 10 Hot Dogs
- you can use beef hot dogs, veggie hot dogs, kosher hot dogs, pork, chicken or whatever variety you want to serve up
- 10 Hot Dog Buns (warmed)
- Ketchup
- 1 Cup Blue Tortilla Chips
- 2 Slices White Cheese
- Small Sized Star Cookie Cutter
- Large Cutting Board
Patriotic Hot Diggity Dog Bar!
How to Make This Hot Dog Tray for your Hot Dog Bar –
You will need to start by cooking your hot dogs. This idea is really all about how you would display them in a fun themed fashion for a 4th of July celebration, or any other patriotic event. That means that you can make air fryer hot dogs, grill them, or boil your hot dogs. Whatever your favorite hot dog recipe is, it should work for this presentation! You can even warm them in the microwave if you want. Once your hot dogs are cooked, here is how to put your hot dog tray together.
- Place a small bowl in the left corner of the cutting board & fill with blue tortilla chips.
- Cut stars out of the white cheese slices and place the stars on top of the blue tortilla chips.
- Lay out the hot dog buns to create flag stripes.
- Place a hot dog into each bun and squirt with ketchup.
American Hot Dog Bar
Hot Dog Bar Ideas for Toppings-
There are so may fun ideas for hot dog bar toppings. You can keep things simple, or offer a bucket full of options. Toppings are what take a hot dog bar from ordinary to extraordinary. If you are keeping things simple the basic hot dog toppings are ketchup, mustard and relish. We have listed lots of ideas below if you want to offer your guest more options.
American Hot Dog Bar Topping Ideas –
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Relish
- Diced Onion
- Chili
- Cheese (shredded or cheese sauce)
- Crushed chips for some crunch (Fritos work great here)
- Sauerkraut
- Sliced Jalapenos
More Inspiration for the Best Hot Dog Bar Ideas:
If you want to serve something like this, but with a gourmet hot dogs, you could use the same idea with these Brawts – just configure them in the same way for a 4th of July display that will fit the theme of the table.
We also have some ideas on toppings you could use in this Loaded Chili Topped Brawts Recipe here as well.
Looking for ideas for an appetizer platter? Use the mini hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, then display them in a similar manner.
What Side Dishes to Serve at your Hot Dog Bar –
A hot dog bar lends itself well to lots of picnic style dishes. The simplest thing to do is to serve a couple of chip options with it and some sodas and be done. If you want to include more than just chips though, here are some fun ideas that will go well as side dishes to any hot dog bar.
Fruit Salad – this recipe is easy to throw together quickly with just a few ingredients, so it is perfect to serve up on your hot dog bar too.
Strawberry Lemonade or Simple Sun Tea are both the perfect option to go along with the picnic theming, but offer your guests something delicious to drink. You could also just do infused water (maybe cucumber and mint), if you want to keep it really simple but still elegant.
A Caprese Salad is an easy way to get something fresh on the table, that just requires a few ingredients and not much time to make. It also adds a little bit more of an adult element to your spread if you are looking for ways to do that.
If you really want to continue the patriotic theme through to your side dishes, here are some more ideas too :
Red, White and Blue Jello Cups – this is another patriotic theme recipe idea that uses very affordable ingredients (basically Jello) so a great option if you are trying to make a budget stretch!
This Patriotic Flag Snack Tray is a fun way to get some healthy items on the table too, and kids will gravitate towards this snack tray for sure (and the adults too)!
Or, if you just want to add some strawberries on the side, try this recipe for red, white and blue chocolate dipped strawberries. They take just a bit longer to make (still pretty simple) but guests will love them. This recipe is also fun to involve kids in helping you make.
