Hot Dog Cart Breakfast Ideas
Are you serving breakfast from your hot dog cart? HDCN reader Bruce Z. is definitely considering it. I wrote an article recently about Bruce’s metal E-Z Built hot dog cart and the unique finish that he applied to it. We got a lot of comments from folks who were blown away by the results.
Bruce followed up with me a few days ago to tell me that he’s been hitting the streets with his awesome cart and doing well, but the part of his letter that really grabbed me was his idea about offering something for the breakfast crowd. He writes…
**********************
Hi Steve,
Just wanted to say thanks again for the nice article you wrote and all of your great programs which enabled me to build and enjoy my own business. I couldn’t have done it with out you.
Just to let you and my fellow slingers know, I purchased the 20 inch aluminum flashing at Lowes not Home Depot. I have to tell you after building the cart and getting the compliments, that I didn’t care if I had even sold a hot dog!
Now I’m working a farmers market Saturdays 7:30am till 12:30pm and I’m loving it. I’m not getting rich, but I’m doing well. My girlfriend and I got lucky when we came across a specific hot dog ( not a major brand ) and the flavor is unbelievable. The expressions and compliments on how good they taste that we get from the customers when they bite into them makes it all worth while !!! I keep the brand classified and Top Secret !!!
I wish the hours for the farmers market were till 2 or 3pm as allot of people walk up in the morning and look at their watches and say, “too early for a hot dog”. I went last night and heated up a couple of dogs & buns and put sugar free pancake syrup on them (don’t make that expression until you try it ), NOT BAD !!! That may be a solution to a breakfast sandwich for the morning crowd.
Thanks again Steve for all your help,
Bruce of “Bruce’s Hot Dog Cartel”
*******************
Once again, great job on your E-Z Built Bruce! I really like your idea of transforming a lunch time staple into a breakfast item by adding the maple syrup to it. I LOVE putting syrup on my breakfast sausages and a hot dog is really just another kind of sausage. Makes perfect sense to me.
O.K. readers, we’re brainstorming in the comments today. Let’s say that you just landed a big breakfast gig for a week from today. What can you come up with to serve all those early risers?
I know that health department rules vary wildly, so let’s just assume for this brainstorming session that we can serve whatever we want. This will help us come up with things that we may not have considered before.
For those of us with relaxed health inspectors, we can take these ideas and run with them. For those with tighter codes, perhaps we can modify the ideas to work in our particular situation. For example, bacon is a breakfast mainstay and would be a great ingredient. Cooking raw bacon on your cart would not work for most of us (imagine how the smell would bring in the customers!) but there are precooked bacon products on the market that many health codes would allow.
The point is to just throw a bunch of ideas against the wall. Then each of us can each pick and choose those ideas that will work in our particular situations.
We don’t need to confine our ideas to just hot dogs. There are a lot of different precooked sausages on the market that would be a wonderful foundation for a breakfast creation. And don’t forget turkey dogs, vegetarian dogs, stuff like that.
Condiments and toppings are what will set these culinary creations apart. I can’t wait to see what we come up with here. Really put on your thinking caps and get crazy with the add-ons. Non traditional combinations of traditional ingredients are all the rage right now.
Finally, don’t forget to play with your buns. There are a lot of options in the bread department. Wraps, tortillas, buns, rolls. Get creative! O.K. slingers…
Ready? Set? BREAKFAST BRAINSTORM!
-Steve
I have never had breakfast on my cart. I do have coffee but I started that in the winter just for me and the next thing I knew people wanted coffee (I don’t do it in the summer 100 plus is just to hot). I would think that because you are at a farmers market that you would have access to a 110 plug. If that is so what I would do is get a microwave and some of the breakfast sandwiches from sams and bingo breakfast. They come in Biscut and bacon and cheese and they have a lot more depending where you live. I would also look into your local bakery and check out donuts and things like that from the locals; add coffee and bingo breakfast. Last but not least, I would get some fruit from sams make some fruit cups up add OJ and bingo breakfast on the go for the health nuts (sorry healthy people). Cost to set up would be food cost, clam shell trays from sams, $50 microwave, $15 coffee pot.
DUGGS DOGGS
GOOD!! GOOD!!
” I do have coffee but I started that in the winter just for me and the next thing I knew people wanted coffee.”
That’s where most money making ideas come from. Having a need for something yourself and realizing others need it too.
Good!! Good!!
Steve. We been doing Farmers market for 2 years now we seve hot home made gravy with biscuits. We now have a lot of same people come every week. This year I started makeing Fried potatoes with three different kinds of sausage cut up mixed in. We call it The Good Stuff. So people come up order biscuits and gravy with a scoop of good stuff on top. We sell over $200.00 every Saturday just in biscuits and gravy.
Ooohhh. Biscuits and Gravy. I loooove the B&G.
Walmart sells frozen pre-cooked pancakes..3 small to a pkg so they become “single serve”..(with about 10? pkgs in the bag) steam them, run a piece or 2 of store packaged preccoked bacon thru the cooking water for about a second to soften, lay out the 3 pancakes overlapping, add bacon then hot dog. Roll it up (pancakes become the bun!), use a couple tooth picks to hold and add syrup. Serve with fork/knife. We do this along with our “breakfast dog” for the auction crowd as they start rolling in around 8:00 a.m.
Mmmmm!
Hi folks. I’m still building my cart and finally getting to where I can seriously start thinking menu. For now I’ll only be able to do Saturdays so I’m looking to be on the street for as many hours as possible which makes breakfast a must! My cart will have a side grill with a flat top Sizzle Q where I’m going to do my version of the old grilled ham sandwich using … SPAM! On Texas Toast. In my random testing amongst friends and family, I’ve found that most people either love Spam or can’t even think about eating it. (More love it than not) For those who don’t, I’ll also have a specialty dog with two dogs split and grilled on Texas Toast which I’ll carry on the menu all day. It isn’t as fast as pulling out a dog and slapping it on a bun, so it might come off and on the menu depending on traffic. I’ve still got to speak to the health department people about what kind of cheese if any they would be friendly to in my neck of the woods. I’ll also serve coffee in the mornings.
Spam, spam, spam, wonderful SPAM!!!
(Name the show…)
Hi Steve you can put precooked sausage patties and bacon on warm bagels and wraps with cheese.
Bob
Nice!
Well being that we are steamer equiped precook the beacon and eggs and pancakes early before going out in the morning you can build like mc griddledons that they serve at mcdonalds. You can wrap link sausage with egg and beacon in a pancake and call them breakfast bombers
Bombers for breakfast. I’d buy one.
Have been toying with this idea for some time. Can’t wait to see some of the suggestions.
Me too. With this great bunch of readers we’re going to see some pure genius ideas.
Whoops, you caught me eating my Waffsage on a stick…………….Using my Fudge Puppy machine, I take a pre-cooked sausage, put it on a stick, and cook it in the machine with my FP mix………….serve with a side of syrup for dipping…………That my friends, is the breakfast of Hot Dog Connoisseurs….!!!
Fudge Puppy!!!
Steve,
I do breakfast sanswiches on my cart on Saturday mornings. Egg & Cheese / Bacon, egg, & cheese, and sausage, egg, and cheese all on english muffins. I get the product from my wholesalers. I cook it on the flat griddle mounted on the side shelf on the cart. It work good.
Sounds good! Thanks Kevin!
Here’s an easy one, if you’re already doing a polish dog. Heat up a flour tortilla, place your polish sausage in it, roll the tortilla up and TADA! You have yourself a breakfast sausage wrap! I’m thinking of using that sugarfree maple syrup idea on a bacon wrapped dog and serving that for breakfast.
Tortillas are great on the cart. They keep well and take up so little space. Great suggestion mi hermano!
Our sams sells a breakfast sausage on a stick dipped in pancake batter, all precooked, looks like a corn dog, sealed in cellophane bag good for steaming. a side of syrup , they work well.
I’ll eat anything on a stick. Almost.
Sounds good Jeff!
Great forum question! I had just went with coffee and pre-wrapped pastries. I was thinking breakfast sausage with cream cheese and bacon! Its not sweet, but its Saweet! Throw a little tomato on there and maybe onions and bam breakfast delivered. That’s my two cents for now.
Saweet! Especially the onions and tomato part…
Another idea would be to make a pancake my Dad called them French pancakes but the are Crepes very thin and he would wrap them around fruits but I’m sure you can warp a hotdog around them . I also make Cinnimon rolls hit in my steam table my early customers live how sweet and gooy they come out .
Laurie, how do you make the cin. Buns in the steam table? I am doing a Downeast Country Music weekend at a campground serving breakfast as well and that sounds like it would be awesome to serve.
Oui!
You can get sausage gravy in a can and top a dog with it. Add maybe bacon and or cheese and top with Onion Crunch. Not as good as fresh made, but meets HD rules.
More sausage gravy please. No. A lot more.
😉
Breakfast Sandwich: Place hashbrown squares in metal baking pan, place in oven at 375, turn once. Meanwhle prepare scramled egg mix with onion, peppers, and ?. When hashbrowns are done pour mixture over them add bacon, sliced ham or both. Bake 15 min.(+ -). Remove from oven, add sliced cheese, cut the indidual squares. place on kaiser roll with special sauce. You can use the same proceedure for burritos only I use seasoned crumbled up tater tots – cheaper than hashbrowns. Shhh- this is my secret recipe so don’t tell anyone
I won’t tell anyone besides the 7000 subscribers here. 😉
Great to hear from you Hank. How’s Colorado working out for you?
You’re all making me hungry for breakfast! Some great ideas here as usual. I think it’s a great idea to expand the cart to breakfast and coffee!
Thanks Robert!
I’m not in the hot dog business, but could you fry some fresh bacon for the smell to attract people and then use the pre cooked to serve?
You’re right on Alan. The two smells that suck folks in are bacon and onions. It’s worth frying some just for that reason.
what about breakfast burritos? we love them here in arizona!
Me too Coop.
Hi everyone its been awhile, I’m the kind of person that likes to keep it easy not alot of fuss and clean up, so here is what I have been doing to satisfy the early birds and the vegetarians cause alot of them eat cheese. First I made about a hundred of these I took 5lb of shred cheese from RD and small flour tortillas from Sams and garlic salt, put about an ounce of cheese, sprinkle of garlic salt, fold in half and wrap in foil sheet, put on grill or steamer, grill is better gets a little crunchy. Now for the fun part I bought a 5lb bag of Hormel bacon bits very good from Sams, They can add whatever condiments they want with it the one that mostly is ordered is 2 tomato wedges, onions, 3 jalopninos, sprinkled with bacon bits, get it nice and hot on the grill and you have a meal Yummy!!!! Simple and easy and sells great I sell them for 2 dollars each, but you could charge 1 dollar more for all the extras!!
I can smell it from here Rick. Custom quesadillas! Good job.
Precooked bacon, sausage and eggs..mix and wrap in a tortilla…wrap all in foil and steam….Breakfast Burrito…. I also like the idea of S.Free maple syrup available..
Great ideas…Thanks..
Howdy everyone,
I am starting tomorrow 7/31/12 with my 1st cart in front of a Lowe’s and I have already thought I would buy a m/wave and frozen breakfast sandwiches and serve them with coffee. I plan on starting at 6 am when contractors go in for their supplies. It will make it a long day but hey I’m 63 and this is my 27th business that I have owned and run along with 32 years of construction so if you want it you have to work it. Retirement is for old guys and I feel that a hot dog cart is a great way to go. Good luck to everyone out there and be safe!
Good luck Steve, at 65 I agree that you gotta work it. Might I ask, how much trouble was it to get approved for the Lowe’s gig? I’ve heard that their corporate standards are quite stringent.
Jack
Steve… I’m interested in how did you get into Lowe’s. I have trying for a year and keep getting a run around. It seems that the manager doesn’t want to help me. I thing he thinks it will be a problem for him. I have tried to sell him that it will be another service his competitors don’t have for his customers. What can I do?
Good luck Steve the Dogger!
From Steve the other Dogger.
I tells ya matey, a dog wrapped in bacon would set me up till lunch !!
Or 2 or 3 of those pancake sausage dogs on a stick with syrup !!
Yummm !! Arrggg !!
1st mate Jim.
Aye, ye be blessed with a salty palate. To the galley with ye!
Great column today–lots of wonderful ideas. Umm well, I have to take exception about the part where you bake stuff at 300 degrees. are you sure you’re on a hot dog cart?
Everything else id doable. I just bought a 300 piece pre cooked bacon today to use on my chicken burgers. costs about 10 cents a piece (of bacon) awful thin slices.
The baking can be done in the commissary. Your bacon chicken burgers sound wonderful! Thanks Bob!
Even tho I am still in the planning stage this has given me another menu idea. How about a smoked sausage, wrapped in a pre cooked pancake, or waffle. It keeps with the dog/bun concept just puts a breakfast spin on it.
Yep. Do it.
Here is something to think about for Breakfast!
Omelet in a Bag
Ingredients
2 eggs
2 slices ham, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon chopped onion (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped green bell pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tomato (optional)
1 tablespoon chunky salsa (optional)
2 fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
Directions
Crack the eggs into a large resealable freezer bag. Press out most of the air, and seal. Shake or squeeze to beat the eggs. Open the bag, and add the ham, cheese, onion, green pepper, tomato, salsa, and mushrooms. Squeeze out as much of the air as you can, and seal the bag.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place up to 8 bags at a time into the boiling water. Cook for exactly 13 minutes. Open the bag, and let the omelet roll out onto a plate. The omelet should roll out easily.
I hope you injoy Tom,
That is so cool. Thanks Tom!
I tried this without all the optional ingredients just to see how the egg comes out, and it was gorgeous… Perfect… Nice tip, My question is: If you make a bunch of these up in advance of going out, can you steam them back up to temperature while they are still in the same bag? Do they hold up well? I think we definitely have a winner here?
I bought a dog cart 2 years a go had a corner in a small town did OK not great.Any how I got a gig with and Auctioneer and I go were he go’s we do 3-5 auctions a week mostly real estate and content auctions ..Bottom line is we do over 200 auctions a season the crowds are a captured audience any were from 100 to 500 people at a time equipment auctions are a guy auction and the boys can eat. I just keep it simple dogs burgers salt potatoes sweet sausage W/onions peppers and a bacon mushroom Swiss burger and drinks..Freez pops for the hot days Auctions last 4-6 hours .coffee and bacon or sausage egg and cheese on a muffin in the A.M
That is brilliant T! Thanks for sharing some solid gold.
Do you have trouble with the health department if and when you travel to an auction in another county? Does your local Health Departments not have any jurisdiction in another county.
Hey I’m not a CIA or FBI guy, just ask Steve! I just got a cart should get approved and ready to go in 2 or 3 weeks and I want to get a jump start on everything. Laugh but we’re going to try sunglasses, earrings and a Fedora Hat at the Night Club we have our eyes on.
You need to comply with the health codes of whatever county you are working in. If you are traveling, you can usually get a temporary health department permit instead of paying for a full year.
Don’t sell yourself short Boo, you would have made a great FBI guy 😉
Beginning in Sept 2012 we are going to be open for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast we would like to serve the precooked sausage covered in pancakes. Cincinnati has geotta which is a favorite, biscuits and gravy, and I like the omelet in a bag. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Apple juice, coffee, and oj also.
Goetta? Must be a lot of Germans there in Cinci.
I just wanna throw out a suggestion for folks that are able to get to a Restaurant Depot ( and maybe other places), they sell a 5# bag of pre-cooked bacon bits which I will be using for dogs. Put in a 1/4 or 1/6 pan to warm… may as well incorporate them into a breakfast & beat the health inspectors that are too tight…
Great tip – thanks Greg!
Bagel dogs. Vienna Beef has them
Nice. They are good!
Never heard of pre-cooked bacon, gonna have to check out Sams. But I’m leaning in the direction of the Jimmy Dean or one of his competitors for the breakfast sandwiches. I’m crazy about biscuits and gravy.
Thanks for any help.
Warm up the gravy in a steam pan sitting above the water in your spillage pan. Similar to a hot dog cart chili set up.
Great post. After reading this, we came up with the following and now serve it up every morning. The Memphis- Two breakfast links on grilled flatbread, served with country gravy, shredded cheddar, bacon bits and topped with fresh basil. It’s been a hit.
I’d eat it!!!
Ive thought about this alot, just as soda,water,tea,lemonaid are your money makers. Dont forget coffee,orange juice,chocolate milk,ect. Maybe different flavors for coffee to.make it different than a convenience store. Sell some news papers. A sausage on a bun with gravy on top sounds good to me. Everyone is late for work so make it quick. Also have some good lighting on your signs. God bless.
Great ideas Ed. God bless you too!
Hey Steve, we do Farmers Market too. To catch the morning crowd we take a smoked sausage on a hot dog bun. We top with cheese, scrambled egg, bacon bits (real), and more cheese. Served with optional maple syrup, or Frank’s hot sauce. A favorite every week
Yum!!!
Steve, we sometimes do industrial auctions and they want breakfast. We serve Biscuits & Gravy (Biscuits from GFS heated in steam pan, Gravy from Sam’s – customers rave about it, I don’t know I don’t like B & G), Scrambled Eggs with Biscuits(Again GFS has pre-mixed eggs – can buy either frozen or refrigerated), Precooked Bacon from Sams. You can heat and crisp up either on flat top or skillet. Croissants (from Costco – they would be good at a Farmer’s Market, don’t do as well at an industrial auction) OJ, Muffins (Costco or Sams)and of course coffee (don’t stint on the quality of coffee. I get preground Gelvalia from GFS and get raves Also do a breakfast eggs and bacon burrito. At the auctions I serve coffee all day and the pot never gets stale. In the mornings I can hardly make it fast enough! Any eggs left over I take home, the premixed keeps for about a week. You can get Hormel pre-cooked bacon at both Sams and Costco. Costco has the thick sliced and Sams the thin sliced. Costco 50+ pieces for package, Sams 72 slices per package and it crisp up faster. (In oven EXACTLY 2 minutes per cookie tray. By the time you’ve laid out a new tray, the one in the oven is ready. All 72 pieces done in about 20 minutes! Or in frying pan on grill as needed, depending on # of customers in line.
Thanks for the in depth tips Dorothy!!!
I don’t have my cart up and going yet, but I think here in Colorado breakfast burritos would go over well. The fajita sized tortillas (8″?), with potatoes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. Maybe smothered with green chili and cheese and served in those little paper boats.
I love green chili. Spent some time in southwest Texas as a kid and green chilis were in everything. Yum!
Still working on my cart but ran into this idea at a neat bar/restaurant last year! They serve Tortilla chips covered with scrambled eggs & Mexican cheese, served with sour cream & salsa and call it breakfast nachos! More thoughts…..you could also put your chili on top to make it South of the Border Breakfast nachos aka “chilaquiles!” Most would rather just say SOB nachos! LOL Or corned beef hash…bacon-wrapped dogs…..dogs in cresent rolls!! Lunch idea?? Hot dog topped with mac and cheese! So many variations…All are making me hungry!!
Great ideas Susie!!! SOB nachos, lol. I love it.
Add. Extra battery’s inverter and a couple toasters
Pop tarts,egos,toaster strudel,toast waffles,pancakes
I, too, love the B&G although I’ve never tried it on a cart. The family favorite I make is with 1/2 milk and 1/2 sour cream blended together before adding to the browned and floured sausage. I made the mistake of getting sour cream and chives once and found it to be delicious also. It doesn’t seem to work to add chives to the mix, but pre packaged seems to do the trick. Also, make sure you add some cream of tartar to the biscuit mix for better flavor and lighter, thicker biscuits. Happy sloshin’ and slingin’.
Sour cream! I’ll try it! Thanks Dave.
If I could cook from home I’d be serving Eggs Benedict from my cart.
And I’d buy them, lol!
Steve: Help me out here in San Diego I’m told only precooked food on cart. And you can’t store it at home. Any suggestions ???
You’ll have to use a commissary. Email me and I’ll send you some tips on how to get one for free.
I have pondered putting a griddle on my cart and do egg bacon and cheese on a hard roll for breakfast possible French toast rolled around hot dog with syrup
Thanks larry
I’d eat it!
New to the site. One of the late night snacks I used to get in Thailand after way too many adult beverages around 3am from the 7/11 were those sammiches (sandwiches for those uppity types) in the press. Turns them into little grilled triangles. Very portable snackage served in a cardboard pocket. Why couldn’t you throw a couple slices of bread in there with breakfast sausages, egg, and cheese and press away? Add a cup of sausage gravy or maple syrup for dipping.
Welcome Travis. I love your idea. Making me hungry.
We have a small but growing vegetarian and vegan crowd at the Farmers Market I’m at, love the idea of fruit and syrup wrapped in a warm tortilla. Southwest crepes!
Tom, your omelette in a bag is ingenious! Since my cart isn’t ready, this will be great for our camping trips! I also used this method to make scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa-oh so good.
Have you tried freezing them? Thanks again for the recipe!
Mary @ Delish Dawgs
loved all the ideas. I am looking into buying a cart in riverside county ca. hope it works out. love the idea of eggs in a bag. hope they will let me do them in this county.
Just now getting into this whole dog slinging idea. So this article was great. Where we are moving (Mohave county,Az) is pretty strict. No chili or nacho cheese. Boo to that! It’s ok though. Lol ok, as for a suggestion. If you happen to have a microwave on your cart, or use a commissary and pre-wrap here’s another quick and easy sandwich. I actually make these at home all the time for the simple fact that I get hungry and I don’t want to do a billion dishes after eating.
Ingredients:
Ham (lunch meat) – I use deli sliced since it’s a little thinner and sits better on the bun.
Egg
Sliced American cheese
Bun of choice
Non-stick spray (depending on how you do up your egg)
Method:
I use a little Pyrex condiment bowl that has a lid (or you can buy one of those microwave egg things from the store).
Spray with non stick spray lightly.
Crack your egg, add S&P cover with a paper towel and microwave for approx 1 minute.
(Now before I go on… TEST YOUR MICROWAVE!) each is different and I’ve blown my eggs up many MANY times. Which is a mess and annoying. I cook them for 40 sec then 20. Viola! Usually.. Anyway…
Assemble the rest of your sandwich
1) bun
2) cheese on one side
3) ham on the other
When the egg is done pop this into the microwave for 30 seconds. Then all you have to do plop the egg on, put the sandwich together and boom.
I’ve enjoyed reading other peoples ideas! Thanks much.
Great idea Kristen. Thanks for the detailed instructions!
This is all good but for those that have to have pre cooked food like me, I think a microwave and a inverter would be good with some battery’s. This is why I’m building an extra big cart.
Good plan Barefoot Bob!
You guys in america with al those ideas are great,i live in australia wanting to start up a dog cart.having trouble to purchase a cart,any ideas woukd be great.laurie future slinger.
Steve, SPAM was from Monty Python!! For those asking about how hard it is to get into Lowes and Home Depot. I applied to Street Eats a company that issues the permits to operate food vending trucks, carts at all Home Depot locations across the country. Since COVID hit they have shut down all locations and will not answer emails or phone calls. Home Depot corporation has contracted with Street Eats to issue the permits. You might want to look at contacting them rather than management at the Lowes itself. hope this helps
Jim
Hi Jim, Street Eats is horrible to deal with from the vendor’s side. Many Lowe’s and Home Depots managers will deal directly with you. That is why I still highly recommend talking to your local store manager before you go the Street Eats route. Yes, Monty Python!