An Underrated Brand Makes Some Of The Best Store-Bought Hot Dogs

Despite their European roots, hot dogs are an American staple that comes in many variations, with the most popular being Chicago, New York, and California styles (in that order), according to a US Foods survey conducted in 2023. While you could make homemade beef hot dogs with the right cut of meat, it's much easier to pick up ready-made franks. Fortunately, Daily Meal ranked 12 grocery store hot dogs and found that Bar-S is an underrated runner-up.

During our taste test, we considered the flavor profile and texture of each store-bought hot dog brand. We were surprised by how much we liked the Bar-S Classic Franks compared to more well-known and expensive brands like Ball Park and Oscar Mayer. The paprika seasoning was well balanced, while the chicken-and-pork combo provided good texture compared to standard all-beef options.

Sparking a debate about whether or not Bar-S Foods sells the best hot dogs, a user on Reddit discussed preferring this budget brand over premium franks. Echoing the sentiment, another user said, "I make six figures, and I literally have the 99-cent pack in my refrigerator right now. One of the greatest midnight snacks is a microwaved hot dog." Beyond social, this dog has some big fans: Former NFL Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews III is a spokesperson for the brand.

Something that we noticed about the Bar-S Classic Franks is that they tasted healthier than their counterparts. While they might not be the healthiest store-bought hot dogs, each 42-gram frank has just 110 calories and 9 grams of fat. These nutritional values are a decent amount lower than the 170 calories and 15 grams of fat in Ball Park's 53-gram Beef Franks and 140 calories and 12 grams of fat in Oscar Mayer's 42-gram Classic Beef Franks. Since the sodium content of the Bar-S hot dogs landed in the middle at 430 milligrams, perhaps the healthier taste results from the main ingredient being chicken, which naturally has less fat than beef and doesn't have as heavy of a flavor.

On the other hand, the flavor profile and texture of the Bar-S Classic Franks weren't good enough to beat out our top pick for best grocery store hot dogs. Nathan's Famous, which also achieved the best fast food hot dogs in our ranking, comes in a package of 43-gram Bun Length Skinless Beef Franks that contain 140 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 410 milligrams of sodium. Maybe the fewer ingredients in the Nathan's Famous franks make the difference, but you'll be far from disappointed if you pick up Bar-S hot dogs during your next grocery trip.