Classic Coney Island Sauce 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.
Notes About Hot Dog Sauce:
This Classic Coney Sauce recipe is originally from Mrs. Robert Trimble out of our vintage Savory Samplings cookbook.
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.
How to Make Coney Sauce for Hot Dogs
Drain kidney beans and pulse in a food processor until pulverized. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add diced onions and cook until lightly brown. Stir in ground beef, tomato paste, chili powder, salt and celery seeds and cook until meat is browned. Add beans to meat mixture and simmer until thick. Serve over hot dogs.
Full recipe for hot dog sauce is at the end of the post.
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!
Classic Coney Island Sauce 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!
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 3 small onions diced
- 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
- 2 (15 oz.) cans kidney beans
Heat olive oil in a skillet.
Add diced onions, and cook until light brown, stirring constantly over medium heat.
- Add ground beef, tomato paste, chili powder, salt, and celery seed, cooking until meat is browned.
Drain kidney beans; pulse in food processor until pulverized.
- Add beans to meat mixture.
- Simmer until thick.
- Serve over hot dogs.
- 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!
- Love saucy ground beef recipes? Try our Classic Sloppy Joes, Frisco Melt Joes and French Onion Joes Recipe.
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