Coney Island Sauce Recipe for Hot Dogs - These Old Cookbooks (2024)

Classic Coney Island Sauce recipe is an easy way to recreate your favorite drive-in treat. Served over hot dogs and topped with cheese, this sauce is finger-licking good!

Classic Coney Island Sauce

Growing up one of our favorite places to go in the summer was our local drive-in restaurant. It had the old menu boards at each parking spot and you ordered by pressing a button and talking into a speaker. Your meal would be brought out by a car hop (not on skates – bummer, I know) and they would hook this giant tray to your rolled down window.

We loved ordering big frosty mugs of root beer and a hot dog coney to eat in the car with our windows rolled down. Luckily, the Bear’s Den is still in business and now we get to take our families there to enjoy the same experiences we did as children. Check out our Instagram post for a taste of our latest trip there.

Recipe FAQs

This Classic Coney Sauce recipe is originally from Mrs. Robert Trimble out of our vintage Savory Samplingscookbook. The dishes in this cookbook are the ones that you find handwritten in your grandma’s recipe box. Mrs. Trimble’s recipe included “5 or 6 onions” and “celery seeds to taste” so we did work out some more specific measurements and directions for you!

This recipe makes enough coney hot dog sauce to feed a large family. Some people might even want to eat it without the hot dog! If you’re a fan of saucy ground beef recipes, try our sloppy Joe recipes in several different versions—Frisco Melt, Classic and French Onion.

Ingredient List

• Canned Kidney Beans
• Olive Oil
• Onions, diced
• Lean Ground Beef
• Tomato Paste
• Chili Powder
• Salt (black pepper, optional)
• Celery Seeds

How to Make Coney Sauce for Hot Dogs

Step By Step Instructions

1. Drain kidney beans, and pulse in a food processor until pulverized.
2. Heat the olive oil in alarge skillet. Add dicedonionsand cook until lightly brown.
3. Stir inground beef,tomato paste,chili powder,saltand celery seeds and cook until meat is browned. Add beans to meat mixture andsimmeruntil thick. Serve overhotdogs.

Storage Instructions

1. Letleftoversof thehot dog chilicool. Transfer to anairtight container, and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Full recipe and ingredient amounts for hot dog sauce is at the end of the post.

Hot Dog Toppings

How do you eat your hot dogs? Ketchup, yellow mustard, pickle relish, chopped onions, cheddar cheese, diced jalapenos, the toppings are endless. I suggest you add Coney Island Hot Dog Sauce to the list. It is sure to become a summer staple. Not a huge fan of hot dogs? Try our Tuna Salad Coneys or Farmwife Cooks’ Crock Pot Taco Joes – both are served on hot dog buns! This Cincinnati Chili Recipe would also be great on hot dogs!