How to Make (and Get Others to Eat) a Dogurito

By Mitch.Kocen
updated 3 days ago

Ah, the Dogurito. A delicious treat that few know of and even fewer will eat once they know about it. Combining all the best parts of a hot dog and a burrito, the biggest challenge is getting other people to share it with you. This two section guide will show you how to make both the basic and the advanced Dogurito, and then tell you how to trick...err...convince others to eat it as well.

What You'll Need

Tortillas: I recommend getting 8”. I always use flour tortillas, but only because I think that corn tortillas are the abominations of the “edible container” world second only to whole wheat bread. You’ll need one per serving.
Hot Dogs: The longer the hot dog, the better. Ideally, the hot dog will stick out from the tortilla, so stack the pack of hot dogs against the pack of tortillas to make sure the size ratio will work. Don’t worry about people thinking you look weird at the grocery store, the looks of distain will pale in comparison to how people will react once they know what you’re making. Not caring about what others think is one of the key steps to making a Dogurito. You’ll need one per serving. If you don’t eat meat, you can use veggie hot dogs, but I’ve never tried this variation so I don’t know how it’ll taste. If you’re using veggie hot dogs, I recommend using the more advanced “Dogurito Grande” recipe because it’ll have more stuff to mask the taste all veggie dogs have.
Refried Beans: You wont need a ton of refried beans, but it is all that spells the difference between “dogurito” and “hot dog wrapped in a tortilla”, so make sure you have enough for everyone. One can for three people ought to do it. Whole beans will not work, it has to be refried. Don’t forget, if you’re cooking for a vegetarian, they make vegetarian refried beans, which don’t use lard. If you give a vegetarian lard filled refried beans and then later they find out you did that they will be a bit upset at you and then all the “trust me and the food I’m cooking for you” cache that you’ll build up later in this guide will be wasted forever. Be considerate. If you’re not making the “Dogurito Grande”, you can stop now. If this is all you need to go the grocery store for, make sure to buy some other “filler” items. I suspect that Just buying hot dogs, tortillas, and refried beans will get you put on some kind of watch list.
Cheese: This is an ingredient for the “Dogurito Grande”, but I think it adds some pizzaz. You can grate your own cheese (cheddar, jack and pepper jack work great. Swiss, gouda and brie do not) or you can use pre-grated cheese. Get more cheese than you think you’ll need, and that way you can snack on the cheese as you grate it and not be in trouble.
Black Olives: If you’re crafty with a knife and don’t mind cutting things while they roll, you can use whole olives. I like to use pre-sliced olives, but that’s because I may be the worst knife user in the history of ever. If you want to mix it up a little bit, you can use diced olives that will help the dogurito roll tighter.
Salsa: You’re going to want to use a really chunky salsa, because too much liquid is going to make this soggy. I use the salsa they keep in the produce section as opposed to the jar stuff because it tends to be the chunkiest.
Tomatoes and Onions: If salsa is too crazy, just dice some tomatoes and onions. These are very much like regular people hot dog toppings, so it might bring a little normalcy to an otherwise whack crazy dish.
Sour Cream: I don’t always like to use sour cream in my Dogurito Grande, but you might, so I’ll list it and let you make up your own mind.

Safeway Food & Drug

1663 Branham Ln, San Jose, CA 95118

This is where I buy all the stuff I need to make Doguritos. You can use your local store. I’ve found that Trader Joe’s hot dogs are just not up to snuff for what you need.

Big Dog's Grill

1401 Foxworthy Ave, San Jose, CA 95118

If you have someone special you want to try your dogurito, take them to Big Dog’s Grill first. They make great hot dogs, and you can gauge their interest in hot dogs in general. If they seem to like it say something like “yeah, these are good, but wouldn’t they be better wrapped in a tortilla,” If your special someone seems grossed out, just pretend you were kidding.

Oki Dog

860 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Not quite a Dogurito, but if you want a similarly crazy hot dog experience and you find yourself in LA, you can give it a shot.

How to Make a Dogurito

To start, you’ll need to heat up the hot dogs somehow. I like to boil my hot dogs, but you can fry them or grill them. Don’t microwave them because it’ll make them all shriveled and angry looking like the hot dogs at 7-11. If you have one of those cool hot dog maker/toaster ovens then you are much luckier than I because I’m not allowed to shop in the Skymall catalog.
While the hot dogs are cooking up, you’ll want to steam the tortillas. I dampen paper towels and then stack the tortillas on a plate with a damp paper towel between each one. Heat them up for thirty seconds and they’ll be soft enough to wrap around the hot dog without cracking.
You’ll also want to heat up some refried beans. Empty the can into a sauce pan and heat them over the stove. I know that sounds like an obvious tip, but I had a friend who had never seen beans cooked outside of seeing hobos cook them on TV. So he heated the beans in the can on the stove. Cook them in a sauce pot, alright?
Once the tortillas are steamed and the beans are heated, you can spread a layer of beans on the tortillas. Don’t make it too thick, but you’ll want to be able to taste the beany goodness.
Once the hot dogs are done, just drop a dog in the middle of each tortilla.
Wrap the tortilla around the hot dog.
Serve and enjoy.

How to Make a Dogurito Grande

Follow steps 1-3 from above.
While the hot dogs are cooking, you can go ahead and prep the rest of your ingredients. Grate your cheese, dice your olives, chop your tomatoes. If you bought food that’s already grated, diced and chopped, do something fun with the time you saved. Pre-grated cheese is more expensive than a whole block of cheese, so make sure you get your money’s worth. You wont be saving a lot of time, but you should have enough to drink a tall cool glass of your favorite beverage. Mine’s ice tea mixed with lemonade, but you can drink whatever you want! Some people think margaritas go well with doguritos, while others insist that several shots of tequila are mandatory before one can fully (or at all) enjoy a dogurito. Use your best judgement.
Once the tortillas are steamed and the beans are heated, go ahead and add the beans, just like if you were making a regular dogurito.
After you have the beans on there, add the olives and the salsa/tomatoes and onions.
It’s hot dog time! Get it right in the middle for maximum awesome!
Add the cheese last, so it melts onto the hot dog.
If you’re going to add sour cream, now’s the time to do it. Make up your mind quick!
Wrap the tortilla around the hot dog.
Serve and enjoy…to the max!

How to Get Others to Eat the Dogurito

This is really the hardest part of the whole process. We both know that this is a delicious treat that’s quick and easy and super tasty, but others may not be so sure. You’re mixing foods that most people never think to mix, so a lot of people are repulsed by the idea initially. Here are some tips to help make the whole concept more appealing.

If you’re cooking for kids, just tell them “It’s time for Doguritos.” When they ask what it is, tell them the truth. From then on, you’ll need my upcoming guide “how to convince your children to let you stop cooking Doguritos and to feed them real food with nutrients.”
For everyone else, it’s best not to lead with the name. The name tends to be the biggest turn off. Be vague. Just tell them you’re making hot dogs and burritos. Don’t let them know you mean “as the same dish.” You can also call them something like “hot dog roll-ups” or ”Ball Park Mexi-melts”, but I don’t know how much that’s going to help. Later, once they’ve eaten them and enjoyed it, you can let them know what they’re really called. Alternatively, you can never let them know the truth. It’s a secret you can take to the grave!
If you’re more interested in getting people to eat Doguritos than you are serving them as a meal, they also make a great appetizer. Make a non-Grande Dogurito and then cut it up in segments. Put a toothpick in each hot dog. You’d be amazed what kinds of crazy stuff people will eat when you’ve cut it into little circles and stuck a toothpick into it.
Ask nicely. A little bit of politeness will go a long way. Promise them that you’ll eat whatever crazy dish they’ve been bugging you to try next time. You can find a way out of it later.
Always cook the doguritos before trying to get people to eat them. Make it look like it took a lot more work than it really did. If you used pre-grated cheese, dirty up the cheese grater anyway. Once they see how hard you worked in a misguided attempt to combine hot dogs and mexican food, they make take pity on you.
Make one “for yourself”, and then ask them to try “just one bite.” Once they’ve taken it from you, start eating the hidden second dogurito. Now that they’ve taken possession of it, they’ll feel obligated to finish it. Never feel bad to take advantage of the good manners of your friends and loved ones.
Show people this guide. Now that it’s on the internet, it’s legitimate. One person wrapping a hot dog up in a tortilla and calling it “a meal” is a crazy person, but when you’re following a recipe, you’re a chef. Just ask the person who invented cioppino.