Seattle Cream Cheese Dog
A butterflied, griddle-browned dog on a toasted bun spread with cream cheese and piled with golden onions, jalapeños optional.
KUOW says Hadley Long, who had sold bagels for eight years in Carbondale, Illinois, ran a late-night vegetarian bagel cart in Pioneer Square. When customers asked for meat, he put cream cheese and a hot dog on a bagel-dough "bialy stick", which became Hadley's Bagel Dogs. KIRO 7 spells his name Longe and says he spread cream cheese on both sides so the dog would grip the bun. Grilled onions came later from other vendors (KUOW), and the Stranger's 1999 review is the first local press mention we found.
🇺🇸 This one is American
A butterflied, griddle-browned dog on a toasted bun spread with cream cheese and piled with golden onions, jalapeños optional.
🇦🇹 The original
In Vienna the same sausage comes in a pair, warmed in water below the boil, with mustard, horseradish and the roll on the side, not around it. See the Frankfurter Würstel with Mustard and a Roll recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Butterflying doubles the browning
Opening the dog flat puts twice the surface on the hot pan, for more savory crust (Cook's Country).
Cream cheese against heat
The hot dog and toasted bun soften the cream cheese into a cool, tangy layer that also glues the toppings in place.
Step by step
- Step 1
Butterfly each hot dog: cut lengthwise most of the way through so it opens flat but stays hinged.
- Step 2
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it just smokes. Add the onions and salt and cook 7 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until golden brown but still a little firm. Move them to a bowl and cover.
- Step 3
Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining oil. Cook the dogs cut side down 3 minutes, until well browned, then flip and cook 3 minutes more, until steaming hot (165°F for higher-risk eaters). Work in two batches.
- Step 4
Toast the buns, cut sides down, in the same skillet 1 minute per side.
- Step 5
While the buns toast, warm the cream cheese in the microwave 15 seconds so it spreads easily.
- Step 6
Spread about 2 tbsp cream cheese inside each bun, add a hot dog and top with onions and any extras.
Seattle Cream Cheese Dog
Serves 4 (2 hot dogs each) · 8 hot dogs · 35 min total
Onions
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- Pinch of table salt
Dogs and buns
- 8 all-beef hot dogs (or Polish sausages)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 hot dog buns
Toppings
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened (about 2 tbsp per dog)
- Optional: 2 jalapeños, sliced into thin rings; sriracha; spicy brown mustard
Method
- Butterfly each hot dog: cut lengthwise most of the way through so it opens flat but stays hinged.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it just smokes. Add the onions and salt and cook 7 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until golden brown but still a little firm. Move them to a bowl and cover.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining oil. Cook the dogs cut side down 3 minutes, until well browned, then flip and cook 3 minutes more, until steaming hot (165°F for higher-risk eaters). Work in two batches.
- Toast the buns, cut sides down, in the same skillet 1 minute per side.
- While the buns toast, warm the cream cheese in the microwave 15 seconds so it spreads easily.
- Spread about 2 tbsp cream cheese inside each bun, add a hot dog and top with onions and any extras.
Adapted from Cook's Country, "Seattle-Style Hot Dogs", doubled from 4 to 8. Warming the cream cheese, and the jalapeño and spicy mustard extras, come from Joshua Bousel's The Meatwave "Seattle-Style Hot Dogs". The split and grilled dogs and the toasted bun match NHDSC. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Keep the onions a little firm; jammy onions slide off. Bousel notes Seattle onions are lighter than a deep caramelize.
- Long's carts warned customers to hold the dog top and bottom because the cream cheese makes it slippery (KUOW). Wrap the bottom in a napkin.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Cream cheese is the one must. Documented (FOX 13 vendor quote; Seattle Met).
- Hot dog or Polish. Both Documented (The Takeout says a grilled Polish; FOX 13 says a butterflied hot dog).
- Caulk-style cream cheese gun. Documented for some vendors, not a rule (The Takeout; KIRO's $350 gun story; DCist 2010). Many vendors just spread it.
- Grilled onions. Documented as standard today, but Long's original was cream cheese and a dog only (KUOW).
- Sriracha and jalapeños. Documented as common extras (FOX 13; NHDSC).
- Disputed, the origin year.
- Disputed, the inventor. Long (or Longe) is most often credited, but The Takeout also names Otmane Bezzaz, and Dante's Inferno Dogs claims it was first with the dispensers.
- Long's home state. Disputed: KUOW says Illinois; Wikipedia and the Seattle Times say Ohio. Both can be true (Ohio native, Illinois cart).
Every other hot dog style
Frankfurter Würstel with Mustard and a Roll
Two slim smoked sausages, warmed in hot water that never boils and served in a pair with sharp or sweet mustard, horseradish and a crusty roll on the side.
Chicago-Style Hot Dog
An all-beef frank in a steamed poppy seed bun, "dragged through the garden" with seven toppings, and never ketchup.
New York Street Cart Hot Dog
An all-beef frank held in a hot "dirty water" bath, in a steamed bun with sweet red onion sauce, sauerkraut and mustard.
Detroit Coney Island Hot Dog
A natural-casing dog in a soft bun under a fine, beanless meat sauce, a stripe of yellow mustard and a pile of chopped onion.
Sonoran Hot Dog
A bacon-wrapped dog in a soft bolillo split along the top, loaded with pinto beans, tomato, onion, jalapeño salsa, mustard and a zigzag of mayo.
New Jersey Italian Hot Dog
Hot dogs fried in oil with peppers, onions and potato rounds, stuffed into a pocket of round Italian pizza bread over a line of mustard.
DC Half-Smoke
A coarse, smoky pork-and-beef sausage, grilled until browned, in a soft steamed bun with yellow mustard, onion and a scoop of smooth, spicy chili.
American Corn Dog
A hot dog on a stick, twirled in a cornmeal and buttermilk batter and fried golden, with a squiggle of yellow mustard.
Chilean Completo Italiano
A long hot dog in a big soft bun, buried under diced tomato, salted mashed avocado and a heavy line of mayonnaise, in the red, green and white of the Italian flag.
Danish Ristet Pølse
A griddle-browned sausage poking out of both ends of a soft bun, striped with ketchup, mustard and remoulade, buried in raw and crispy onions and topped with sweet cucumber.
Korean Corn Dog (Gamja Hotdog)
A hot dog on a stick wrapped in chewy yeast dough, rolled in potato cubes and crumbs, fried and dusted with sugar, then zigzagged with ketchup and mustard.
Coney Island Griddled Dog, Inspired by Nathan's Famous
An all-beef natural-casing frank cooked whole on a flat-top, gently first and hot at the end, for a blistered, snappy skin.
25-Minute Air-Fryer Chili Cheese Dogs
Air-fried franks, a quick skillet chili and melted cheddar, on the table in about 25 minutes.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.