Our Vegan Carrot Hot Dogs with Crazy-Good Slaw start with carrots soaked in an easy gluten-free marinade topped with a super-simple secret coleslaw – taste BETTER than regular hot dogs!

If we could say this one thing right out of the gate, give yourself and your friend and family the gift of trying this recipe – there’s nothing like it!

A Special Hello to New Plant-Based Vegans

If you’re new to eating plant-based vegan, welcome to one of the best decisions you’ve ever made! Given that you are in the stages of beginning to think differently about what you consider as food, you might relate to this next part, particularly well. 

Oh, and we want to be sure to extend a warm welcome to all of you who are also trying to avoid gluten. Eating plant-based vegan and gluten-free is the diet we try to follow as well, so, we’re glad to have you here.

By the way, sometimes, it feels like only yesterday that my family and I started on our veggie-loving path. It’s been more than a handful of years now, and wow, has the time ever flown. It’s true what they say; time flies when you’re having fun!

Anyhow, a few years back, when we first started following a veggie-loving lifestyle, I recall scampering through grocery stores looking for anything and everything labeled vegan. 

Now, as I look back, I wonder what we were thinking. Before going vegan, I’d always loved to cook. My family and I had rarely depended on pre-cooked or packaged type meals.

But I’m thankful for those early days of discovering the massive variety of foods available to those wishing to avoid eating meat and dairy! There are plenty of options for vegans out there, folks – lots of them. And like everything packaged, some products are healthier than others. My family and I especially appreciate one or two brands like Enjoy Life, Kite Hill, and Amy’s, all of which offer convenience foods that have helped us out multiple times.

So why all of this reminiscing about packaged vegan foods? Well, we’ve got a challenge for you!

Plant-Based Vegan Carrot Hot Dogs vs. Processed Vegan Hot Dogs

Without even touching the subject of taste, in this section, we’re going to show you where the carrot dog or carrot hot dog outshines both packaged vegan hot dogs and conventionally hot dogs.  

Nutritionally speaking, there’s no competing with the Vegan Carrot Hot Dog. 

Here are only a few of the nutritional benefits of carrots. We won’t bore you with transferring info from the label of traditional or vegan hot dogs because it isn’t necessary. There’s no nutritional contest between plant-based oil-free vegan carrot dogs and processed hot dogs of any type.

The Cotton-Tail-Thumping Nutritional Benefits of Carrots

According to this article from Web MD, those cartoon bunny rabbits have good reasons for hunting down gloriously bright and enticing carrots. We encourage you to read the entire informative article to learn more about the following nutritional benefits of eating carrots.

• Carrots help your eyes.
• They can lower your risk of cancer.
• And carrots help your heart.
• Carrots boost your immune system.
• And carrots can help you with constipation.

Carrot Dogs are the Most Natural Low-Fat Low-Cal Veggie Dogs, Ever!

At the bottom of every recipe we provide a chart with Nutritional Information. If you aren’t into fat, calories, nutrients, and such, we urge you to get into those details. Even us plant-eating vegan have to be aware that we are what we eat. If the plant-based foods you eat are higher in fat and sugar than anything else, guess what?

I know. It may be politically incorrect to say anything other than that every shape and body type is cool. And all of that sounds nice and accepting of everyone and all of that good stuff. But we believe that by sharing recipes, we have a responsibility to share what we learn through nutritional sciences. And nutritionally, for our wellness, we all need to watch the kind of fat and the amount of fat that we eat each day.

So slip down to the bottom of this lean recipe for vegan carrot dogs topped with our secret coleslaw and take a look at the low-fat low-cal nature of these tasty cookout faves. These delicious vegan carrot hot dogs with crazy-good slaw is a memorable dish for more reasons than one. We bet you’ll be crazy-thrilled by what you read.

To Peel or Not to Peel the Carrots for Vegan Carrot Hot Dogs; That is the Question!

To peel or not to peel is a question that came up while testing out gluten-free marinades for this recipe. What we conclude is that peeling is entirely up to the eyes of the beholder. We’d been concerned that if we skipped peeling the carrots, we’d perhaps limit the saturation capabilities of the marinade. As it turns out, that was pretty much a non-issue.

But when you peel your carrots, you do lose some of the surface texture and lines that we found rather interesting. The peeling practically looks like traditional hot dog casing when left in place.

If you decide to leave the peeling on the carrot, be sure to wash and scrub them thoroughly.  

On a personal note, on occasions when we cannot find organic carrots, we wash them and then peel them, no questions asked. When we are preparing organic carrots, we almost always clean them but leave the peeling intact.

If you are in the market for a wonderfully easy to hold and use, vegetable peeler, we use this one and love it! It’s specially designed to work on super thin skinned fruits and veggies such as tomatoes – it’s a well made, handy, kind of a tool.

How About An Easy Marinade to Make Carrots Taste Like Hot Dogs?

After only a few months of enjoying a plant-based vegan lifestyle, we found this one thing to be true – it’s nearly always about the sauce! That’s most certainly the case with this easy marinade and the secret coleslaw gets its flavor from the dressing in the crazy-good slaw recipe, too!

Sauces, seasonings, and marinades are the flavor masters, meaning, it is they that hold the keys of all cooking. Plant-based food is no exception other than rather than covering up the food we’re seasoning; it’s more of a celebration! 

Now that makes our hearts go pitter-patter much like that bunny tail we mention above – how about you?

Let’s get into talking about what you need to make an incredibly easy marinade that’s not only refined oil-free, but gluten-free, too.  

If you happen to follow a gluten-free diet – that’s excellent news to you. So many packaged sauces and seasoning have gluten in them as thickeners and such. 

The other surprising little fact about this marinade besides that it’s gluten and oil-free is that it taste like hot dogs. I kid you not – this marinade holds hotdog magic. It smells like hotdogs, (in this case, that’s a good thing) and it makes carrots, c a r r o t s taste like traditional hot dogs rather than carrots on a bun! It’s nuts!

We tried a whole bunch of combos, and this one, right here, no matter what any other recipe might suggest, is the tastiest! Better still, it is so tweakable! If you like things a little hotter, add a bit more pepper. Is tartness your thing? If you like something a bit tangier, amp up the Dijon mustard.

The first time you make it, though, taste as you go and follow the recipes as closely as possible. When you do, you will find yourself in vegan hot dog heaven!

So what you will need for the marinade are ingredients you probably already have in your pantry or fridge. And don’t get worried about the number of components as this saucy little number comes together in minutes.

How to Make Our Easy Carrot Dog Marinade

To make the most excellent and easy hot dog marinade you’re ever tasted, combine the following ingredients in a blender, food processor, or an immersion blender mixing cup and blend until smooth. (Precise measurements provided in the recipe below.)

Easy Marinade Ingredients:

tamari sauce or soy sauce or liquid aminos

apple cider vinegar 

vegetable broth or water

tahini  – It makes all the difference!

pure maple syrup or another sweetener

liquid smoke

Dijon mustard or another prepared mustard

onion powder

garlic cloves or garlic powder

brine from your favorite pickled pepper, or pickle juice or more vinegar

How to Make Crazy-Good Slaw (Secret Coleslaw) for Your Slaw Dogs

First, if all, if you happen to have a crazy-good slaw or prized secret coleslaw recipe that you adore, by all means, make a batch to top off your grilled carrot dogs. But if you want to try the best ever secret coleslaw, or crazy-good slaw, as we like to call it,  that will knock you veggie carrot dogs out of the ballpark, then do try our crazy-good secret coleslaw recipe! 

By the way, if you’re familiar with our recipes, you may notice a common theme when it comes to ingredients.  Maybe one day we’ll do a contest and ask a few questions about which ingredients we’d choose for this or that – some of you would guess correctly without breaking a sweat!

In the meantime, we found this simple test to judge your nutritional knowledge of a few common ingredients. Take this fun little “What’s Healthier?” quiz by Nutritionfacts.org to find out why we use red onion over white or yellow whenever possible. Whoops, spoiler alert!

Here’s a list of ingredients for you to gather. Once you read it through, you’ll know the crazy-good secret ingredient in our secret coleslaw. That’s cool. If you haven’t noticed, we are kind of in the practice of sharing what works – it’s what we do to help you enjoy plant-based living to the fullest! (Exact measurements for our secret coleslaw provided in the complete recipe below.)

(Secret) Crazy-Good Coleslaw Ingredients:

green cabbage
red onion
organic unrefined coconut sugar or another sweetener
apple cider vinegar
the juice of one lemon
crushed fennel seeds
pink Himalayan salt, or another salt to taste
fresh cilantro leaves
an optional fennel slices and a few fronds for garnish

To make our crazy-good slaw, we pour hot water over the prepped cabbage, drain, and then rinse again with cold water. You don’t have to do this step, but it adds a tiny bit of tenderness and moisture.

Then we combine the rest of the ingredients and taste, taste, taste before stirring the cabbage into it along with the remaining ingredients. The longer your crazy-good slaw sits, the more the cabbage and other veggies absorb flavor from the dressing.

See, so once again, the real flavor is all about the dressing, seasoning, marinade, or sauce.

By the way, in case you are wondering where we find our gluten-free, organic buns, we get our bread at DeLand Bakery.  They offer online ordering – woot, woot!

How to Cook Carrot Dogs on the Grill for Tailgating, Picnics, and Cookouts!

Whether you are cooking up a batch of vegan carrot hot dogs on the backyard grill, game-day tailgating, taking some along to share at a picnic or cookout, these babies are crowd-pleasers. Lucky for you, this marinade recipe makes plenty to share! You could easily marinade a few dozen or so carrots at a time, providing you have a pot that’s big enough to hold a bunch.

As you’ll see in the recipe that follows, we provide instructions for marinading stovetop blanched carrots for hours in the fridge.

We also give instructions for preparing your carrots for grilling by partially cooking them in an Instant Pot directly in the easy gluten-free marinade.

Whichever method you try, as long as you get the marinade tasting just like you like it, you better get ready for some ballpark worthy, home run kinds of a hotdogs! And speaking of home runs, have you ever had a crazy-good slaw dog at Casey’s Corner?

Casey’s Corner in Disney’s Magic Kingdom has Vegan Slaw Dogs

Casey’s Corner is an iconic quick stop dining experience in Disney’s Magic Kingdom featuring favorite baseball park food favorites and beverages. And guess what? Now Casey’s Corner offers a vegan hot dog option complete with a slaw dog topping if you like! No, it’s not exactly the same as our crazy-good slaw (aka secret coleslaw) – but Casey’s reputation is pretty darn good!

The vegan hot dog at Casey’s Corner uses a plant-based processed meat alternative made by the company,  Beyond Meat. They’re a delicious vegan option when you’re visiting the parks, and they’re becoming more popular by the day.

By the way, word has it that Disney is currently incorporating plant-based alternatives in every venue menu. And many of the various restaurants in the parks and resorts are also including plant-based menu options.

Inspiration for this Dish: Slaw Dogs at “The Varsity” in Atlanta

The Varsity, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is where we first tasted a slaw dog. Mind you, our first slaw dog experience was back in the days before we were following a plant-based lifestyle. Still, it was their slaw dog all of those years ago that inspired our authentic tasting veggie dog version.

And most importantly, the lite seasoning of the slaw at The Varsity , inspired the flavors we wanted in our secret coleslaw. On that secret coleslaw note, I want to take a second and share why The Varsity is a wildly fun place to visit, vegan or not.

Eating at The Varsity was quite a memorable experience. It’s a retro outfitted walk-up order type of diner, but that’s not that uncommon. Where it differentiates itself is when it comes to ordering.

To place your order, you walk up to a counter where you yell your order. That’s right, you pretty much bark your order, and you need to be quick about it as there’s no patience for indecision either. It’s loud. It’s a riot.

If there were a vegan dining option at The Varsity, we’d stop back by for old times’ sake, but so far, there’s not. If you are vegan at The Varsity, you’ll be happy to know that they do have onion rings, fries, and of course, a humble side salad.

But aside from lack of veggie-loving options at The Varsity, Atlanta is still one of our favorite destinations for a getaway filled with vegan dining options. Atlanta has everything from juice bars and ice creameries with gluten-free and dairy-free delights to casual restaurants and full-on fancy, time to be impressed, plant-based dining.

All in all, Atlanta is a pretty cool city that offers fantastic museums, a gorgeous arboretum, hiking trails, excellent concert venues, and of course, incredibly delicious vegan food around every bend. Check it out when you have the chance.

Carrot Hot Dogs with Crazy-Good Slaw Taste Great with All Sorts of Tasty Sides

Lately, we’ve been adding in a few recipes to each new recipe post. We think you will enjoy the following recipes alongside or drizzled across a grilled carrot hot dog with slaw.

Often the dishes we gather are ones that we have ready to go here on VEEG. Other times we bring in recipes from incredibly talented fellow bloggers and chefs to keep what we are offering you as fresh, exciting, and as helpful as possible!

So, in addition to providing our new recipe for Vegan Hot Dogs with Slaw (our Secret Coleslaw) – but we’re also inviting more talented bloggers to the cookout!

So below we’ve gathered sides, toppings, and condiments that are perfect to pair with your first batch of vegan carrot hot dogs with slaw, also known as slaw dogs. Even with carrot dogs topped with crazy-good slaw, a few delicious extras on the side never hurt!

And by the way, the recipes we share from other bloggers are either already plant-based vegan , oil-free, and gluten-free or can be made so with simple adjustments.

Ketchup, Mustard and BBQ Sauce to top Grilled Vegan Carrot Dogs:

Homemade Ketchup means you never need to buy bottled again, and it’s not only easy but healthy too. It’s sugar-free and gluten-free, made with pure ingredients and spices. Plus, it’s the perfect dip for those fries or a classic condiment for all your flavor needs!

Maple Mustard Dressing, Dip, or Sauce is a perfect topping for a grilled carrot dog or a veggie burger. Try it with roasted potatoes, too – it has fantastic flavor, and it’s so simple to make it’s ridiculous!

Homemade BBQ Sauce is sweet and tangy; first, you taste the sweet, then the tangy hits. The sauce is really versatile, and you can change it up by using less sugar or more vinegar. You can also add Sriracha for a little more kick.

Spicy Sriracha Barbecue Sauce is homemade from scratch with chiles – no store-bought bottles required!

Creamy Vegan Mayonnaise and Dressings for Your Carrot Dogs:

Raw Oil-Free Cashew Mayonnaise is a plant-based mayo that turns everything it touches into gold. It’s a standby in our kitchen, always ready to dress, smear, or otherwise adorn whatever we’re making. Nothing tastes as good as this mayonnaise on our green veggie sandwich. By the way, a little of this on your vegan hot dog topped with secret coleslaw tastes unbelievable!

Creamy Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing is a show-stopping cheesy topping for everything under the sun. From Buffalo seasoned grilled tempeh or tofu, to steak-y grilled mushrooms, this creamy dressing is bound to become a fave!

Easy Vegan Chipotle Mayo is so creamy, with the perfect level of spice, and just a hint of lime. Perfect for veggie burgers, sandwiches, fries, and more!

Vegan Sunflower Seed Mayo is a super creamy mayo made almost entirely of sunflower seeds. It’s impressive and tastes better than any store-bought oil-free mayo we’ve ever tasted!

Quick Pickles and Chutney Toppings for Grilled Carrot Veggie Dogs:

Peanut Tomato Chutney is a popular chutney recipe from Andhra Pradesh, India. It serves as an excellent side for Idli/Dosa/Uttapam/Pessarattu. Simple & delicious.

Quick Pickled Red Onions is a must for summer BBQ burgers everywhere! It’s made with wholesome red onions pickled with spices and just a bit of heat.

Quick Pickle Cucumber Slices with Fresh Dill is slices of cucumber transformed into pickles in very little time and practically no effort. And yes, of course, they’re delicious – did you have to ask?

Satisfying Savory Sides to Enjoy with Vegan Carrot Hot Dogs with Slaw:

Cucumber, Mint & Tomato Salad is sweet, tangy, and just a bit salty, but not too much. And best of all, it’s gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, oil-free, and all of those other beautifully healthy things you crave in a side dish!

Creamy Greek Summer Salad makes for a delectably simple side dish, filled with fresh ingredients, that is great for summer parties!

Sweet Corn And Zucchini Salad is a refreshing combination of fresh sweet corn, zucchini, and edamame – it’s summer’s dinner salad tossed with a sweet herby dressing.

Rocca Salad is a tasty mix of arugula (rocket) with walnuts, pomegranate, and a Persian dressing. It’s a delicious salad with a Middle Eastern flavor.

Warm Street Corn Salad is like Mexican street corn but in salad form!

Black Bean Salad is a southwest style dazzler drizzled with a delicious but straightforward lime dressing – it’s a proven favorite to share at your next picnic or potluck, and tastes terrific in your lunch, too!

Don’t Forget the Potato Salad to go with Your Grilled Carrot Dogs:

Mama’s Vegan Southern-Style Potato Salad is a recipe that’s a happy marriage of our modern vegan and a timeless classic! We skip the oil and eggs but hold tight to the wonderfully bright and sunshiny note of yellow mustard.

Tarragon Dill Potato Salad is everything you want in a savory potato salad. It’s lite but satisfying. And it’s remarkably rich but low fat, compared with most potato salads, because it’s refined oil-free!

French-inspired Vegan Potato Salad is a flavorful twist on a classic dish. With its delicious herb and mustard dressing, this easy side is always a hit at gatherings.

Super Sweet Potato Salad is an amazing twist on traditional potato salad. It’s full of sweet, tangy flavor and is a hit at potlucks and picnics!

Delicious Pasta Salads Pair Beautifully with Veggie Hot Dogs with Slaw:

Oil-Free Confetti Macaroni Salad is a gorgeous bowl that everyone will ask you to bring to the cookout time after time. Best of all, it’s as easy as it is delicious!

Vegan Pimento Macaroni Salad is a secretly healthy pasta salad that will instantly become a new favorite for potlucks, parties, and backyard cookouts. It takes the irresistible flavor of pimento cheese and marries it with macaroni salad. Your choice of pasta makes this dish whole-food plant-based (WFPB) and or gluten-free.

Vegan Greek Pasta Salad is easy to make with simple, healthy ingredients like pasta, olives, cucumber, red onion, tomato, herbs, and tofu feta. This recipe is oil-free and can easily be gluten-free.

More Delicious Recipes for Plant-Based Vegan Grilling:

Pumpkin Seed Veggie Burgers are a classic plant-based vegan take on a burger recipe that brings tons of delicious flavor to your plate. When you bring these to that next cookout, everybody is going to want what your having – these burgers are terrific and tasty!

Veggie Skewers, or Grilled Vegetable Kabobs, are the easiest way to eat a rainbow of delicious veggies during summer. The perfect side dish for your weekend bbq or grill party.

Air-Fryer Lentil Sliders are a great appetizer to make for get-togethers or cookouts.

Thank You for Reading about Vegan Carrot Hot Dogs with Crazy-Good Slaw!

Even though we share these kinds of words at the end of all of our posts, they matter deeply. It’s important to us that you know we appreciate you taking the time to explore our original plant-based vegan recipes.

We want you to know too, that we especially enjoyed preparing this particular recipe for hot dogs with slaw, or slaw dogs, featuring our crazy-good secret (crushed fennel seed) coleslaw. It’s a fun recipe that we know you will love because of how useful it will become to you.

And finally, as always, if there is ever any question you’d like to ask about this or any of our recipes, we’re here and happy to do what we can to help. Until next time, take care!

Happy Eating!