Make Grilled Hot Dogs 10x Better With A 3-Ingredient Marinade

Grilled hot dogs are one of the easiest foods to make at a summer cookout. Hot dogs are fully cooked right out of the package, so you only have to heat them through. But one of the biggest hot dog mistakes you can make is not seasoning them, and that can mean marinating the meat. Luckily, there's an easy marinade of Worcestershire, mustard, and a little bit of liquid smoke that brings big flavor.

The mustard adds an acidic, slightly spicy bite to the hot dogs that cuts through their rich, fatty flavor. Worcestershire adds a tangy, complex umami note, and both ingredients pack a punch. Liquid smoke does exactly what you'd expect — it infuses a smoky flavor into the marinade, so the hot dogs truly taste fresh off the grill. This is great l when cooking on a stovetop or gas grill and you can't get that natural smoky char.

You can cut small slits in the hot dog to help the marinade penetrate the exterior. For the best results, let the hot dogs sit for about 30 minutes to absorb the marinade's flavors. Then place them right on the heat and grill them until they're nice and crispy on the outside and heated through. And if you're not grilling in a crosshatch style (those crisscross grill marks), then you're doing it all wrong.

Depending on the ingredients you have on hand, you can bring even more flavor and complexity to this barbecue staple. Add an element of sweetness to the spicy mustard and savory Worcestershire by mixing in a little brown sugar. Just before grilling the hot dogs, sprinkle on an all-purpose or barbecue seasoning to add extra flavor and a lightly blackened finish. Hot dogs naturally contain a lot of salt, though, so be careful about how much is in the seasoning.

If you're in a pinch, keep the marinade even simpler by coating the hot dogs in store-bought barbecue sauce for 30 minutes — just make sure you buy a good one. Worcestershire, mustard, and liquid smoke are all common ingredients in standard barbecue sauce, and you can even find a variety made with brown sugar if you want that hint of sweetness.