Vegan Corn Dogs

What if I told you that you can enjoy all the iconic Americana flavors and textures of a delicious battered hot dog on a stick without worrying about the unnamed, unidentifiable mystery meat that is a typical hot dog? Well, with these vegan corn dogs you can, as this won’t be your typical corn dog batter recipe, of course. The hot dogs used for the vegan corn dogs here aren’t going to be made up of leftover bits of animals, but instead from plant-based proteins, which can include anything from tofu, vital wheat gluten, or pea proteins, ect., depending on what kind of plant-based brand of dog that you choose to batter.

So continue reading this post to discover the many secrets to creating a perfect vegan corn dog, plus plenty of more helpful tips and tricks should you decide to take the plunge, poke a plant-based dog, and batter your way to deliciousness with these whimsical, amazing, hand-held vegan corn dogs – a great nosh for summer, as well as a fun snack for the kiddos!

The Perfect Corn Dog Batter

Sometimes corn dog batters can be overtly oily as well as sweet, and they can also lack a definitive crunch. And really, there’s nothing that disrupts the pleasure of eating a corn dog more than a limp batter that’s also too sugary. But not to worry, because that won’t be the case with these vegan corn dogs. Encasing the dogs is a simple cornmeal batter that is much more light and airy, crispy when fried, less sweet, and overall incredibly tasty.

The trick to achieving the best friable batter of your dreams is to adjust, adjust, and adjust again, until you get the right consistency. I talk about this a lot when battering foods to fry, and that’s because recipes can only help you to a point, then the rest is up to your intuition and observation and adjustments.

If the batter is too runny, it will slip off the hot dog, and you’ll be left with a partially battered mess. If it’s too thick, it will clump on the dog and be an inconsistent thickness, meaning that some of the batter will be overcooked and some will be raw, and it’ll also appear to be a strange, uneven shape.

The consistency you want is one where the batter clings to the hot dog without falling off, but also one where you can batter the dog relatively easily, without feeling like you’re dragging the it through sludgy, wet cement. That will get your the perfect vegan corn dog post-fry.

No Deep-Frying Required?

I’m not a strong advocate of deep-frying. I’ve never deep fried anything, and I don’t know if I ever will. It seems an excessive response to something that could be done much more simply.

Usually, I’ve found that a dutch oven pot, or another sturdy cooking pot with decently high edges, with about 1/4-inch of neutral oil (like canola or safflower) or olive oil works just as well as deep frying. There’s really no need to completely submerge anything in hot, bubbling oil.

Indeed, as it relates to this vegan corn dogs, you don’t need much oil to fry these effectively. As stated above, simply plop the battered hot dog in about 1/4-inch of oil in a dutch oven pot, and then turn the dogs frequently with tongs to make sure that each side is cooking evenly. The batter cooks relatively quickly, and so you’ll have to turn it quite often. Anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each side, depending on how hot your oil gets and what type of oil you’re using.

The only noticeable difference between this simpler method of frying and deep frying is that the vegan corn dogs will have a slightly triangular shape to them. This is simply because you cannot fry the corn dog all at once, and so each side will flatten a bit when you frying them separately. Personally, I didn’t find that this disrupted or distracted from the experience of eating the corn dog; In fact, the hot dogs on a stick stand out a bit from your ordinary, pellmell, perfectly cylindrical corn dogs.

Ditch the deep fryer for a this simpler, slightly more triangular-in-result solution. I find that it gives these vegan corn dogs a bit of an unique look.

Some Plant-Based Hot Dog Brands To Batter

If you’re going to use a plant-based hot dog instead of making your own tofu dogs, you’ll have to cook them in a pan with a little oil before you batter them, or even heat them up in the microwave. This will insure that they aren’t tough or cold on the inside once battered and fried.

Since plant-based meat doesn’t have to be cooked through per say, you just have to cook it enough to heat it up and maybe give it a little texture.

Also, make sure that before battering your vegan corn dogs, you remove any excess oil or moisture from the outside of the pre-cooked hot dogs. This will ensure that the batter can easily stick to the outside of the dog without issue.

Some of my personal favorite vegan hot dog/sausage brands that may be good for battering are:

Field Roast Sausages

Beyond Sausages

Litelife Hot Dogs

Most of these brands can be found in stores, as well as several other brands of vegan hot dogs not listed. Choose your favorite and get to corn dogging.

Note: some of these hot dogs are quite large, and maybe have to be halved or trimmed down to size before you batter them. Essentially, you want about a 4-inch dog, as the batter will add some volume to the overall portion.

Reliable & Homemade Tofu Hot Dogs

The hotdogs that I used for this recipe were homemade tofu hotdogs, found in a summer issue of VegNews from a couple years ago. I have made them probably 4 or 5 times, and they’ve always been spectacular. Not only are they super reliable and incredibly delicious, but they are also fun to make and to eat, and I would recommend them whole-heartedly if you’re up for a bit of pre-corn dog legwork.

The recipe can be found below the recipe for the vegan corn dogs, but note that it is not my own recipe. I have made a couple of changes to it, like adding masa harina corn meal instead of medium or fine grind cornmeal, but nothing significant.

I’ll walk you through what to do in order to make them, if you’re interested.

VegNews Tofu Haute Dog Tutorial

Step 1: Combine Ingredients in a Processor

After pressing the extra-firm or firm tofu for half an hour, crumble it up in a food processor, and then add the vital-wheat gluten and spices. Combine until it forms a sturdy dough, and use the dough blade attachment of your processor if you have one.

Step 2: Form the Dough

Once the dough is formed, form it into an oval, and cut into about 8 even portions, then rolled into 4-inch dogs.

Step 3: Wrap the Tofu Dogs in Parchment Paper and then in Aluminum Foil

This is the most tedious part of the whole process: cutting the strips of parchment and aluminum foil. You’re going to need about eight strips, 6-inch wide by 8-inch long, of parchment paper and foil. That should be about enough to easily wrap around the tofu hot dog with margins on the sides, but without completely smothering it in excess paper or foil.

Twist off the ends after wrapping them in parchment and foil to create a seal. Generally speaking, you want to twist in the direction in which you rolled, so that you don’t rip the paper or foil and make a hole through which steam can accumulate.

Step 4: Steam the Wrapped Tofu Dogs for 45 minutes

Break out your steamers, and place your wrapped tofu hot dogs in a steam basket evenly distributed and well away from the boiling water. Close a lid on the top, and let them steam. They should swell up and be firm to the touch by the end of the 45 minutes of steaming.

Step 5: Unwrap, let cool, and then they’re ready to become vegan corn dogs!

Remove the hot dogs with tongs, and let them cool for 10 minutes. Then, unwrap them, and let them cool for another 10 minutes or so.

You’re then ready to prepare the batter, and batter the corndogs.

Note: Unlike the store bought brands of vegan hot dogs, you don’t need to fry these in a pan before battering, as they should be tender and cooked through from the steaming process.

Get to Corn Doggin’!

I highly encourage everyone to try these vegan corn dogs, as they’re the perfect summer food and a great kid-friendly hand-held treat that never disappoints.

Whether you simply buy the vegan hot dogs from the store, or you decide to take the plunge and make the VegNews Tofu Haute Dogs, I recommend everyone discover the beauty and whimsy and wonderfulness that is a vegan corn dog.

Also, if you enjoyed these vegan corn dogs, consider leaving me a comment and recipe rating before you go – it helps me immensely!

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Also, if you loved this battered tofu corn dog recipe, check out these Hearts of Palm “Fish” Tacos – in this post, you’ll see a similar technique of battering, but this time hearts of palm!

Plus, check out the cookbook Vegan 101 – a cookbook from the same authors who wrote the recipe for the VegNews Haute Dogs.

May you have good food in good company,

That Vegan Nephew