Nakkikastike (Finnish Hot Dogs in Sauce)

So, I don’t really know anything about this recipe. I just happened to stumble upon it when looking at funny Finnish recipes. If there are any kind Finns who would love to enlighten me on the history of this dish, I’m all ears.

Essentially, the dish calls for simmering hot dogs (or mild sausages) in a tomato-based sauce, which based on my research often consists of ketchup and a few spices. It basically looked like a Chef Boyardee creation to me at first glance. Intrigued, I decided to deconstruct the sauce using more nutritious ingredients – from uncured German weiners to a sauce made with tomato paste, onion, carrot, and broth.

In the end, it didn’t quite capture the canned goodness (or lack thereof) that is Chef Boyardee, but what resulted was a tasty combination of warm tomato flavors that paired perfectly with some comforting boiled potatoes. At the end of the day, this is an easy, interesting dish that’s fun for the whole family.

Nakkikastike (Gluten-free, Paleo, Primal)

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

2 tbsp butter or ghee, divided
1 pkg hot dogs or weiners of your choice, sliced
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp brown mustard
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, more to taste
1 pinch nutmeg

1. In a skillet, warm 1 tbsp of the butter/ghee over med/high heat. Add the hot dogs and saute until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove the hot dogs and set aside.

2. Turn the skillet heat down to medium, and add the other 1 tbsp of butter/ghee. Add the onion and carrot; saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until aromatic, another minute, then add the mustard, tomato paste, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Reduce heat to med/low and simmer until darkened, about 20 minutes.

3. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth, then return to the skillet. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Add the hot dogs and simmer for another minute or two before serving.

** This dish traditionally is served with boiled potatoes, which can be cooked while the sauce is simmering. The bland taste of boiled potatoes perfectly pairs with the robust sauce. To do so, simply add some peeled potatoes to a pot of water, add 1/2 tsp of salt to the water, and boil over med heat until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Toss with some melted butter and garnish with fresh chopped parsley if you’re up for it.

51 thoughts on “Nakkikastike (Finnish Hot Dogs in Sauce)

    1. This is so-called everyday food:) It´s cheap, children and men love it. In traditional recipe there`s no tomato paste, but I like it´s better when you add some. In my childhood this was only brownsauce with “nakki”, allspice (whole berries) and salt, some like to add some pickled cucumber (suolakurkku) pieces in the sauce. And it´s funny that we have eaten nakki-sausages before we even knew about hotdogs, here in Finland,

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      1. “Tirripaisti” is what you should try, gluteinfree, from Finland, my Father loved it, he was lumberjack:D
        400 g porsaan kylkilihaa luutonta, viipaleina tai kastikelihaa
        2 sipulia
        suolaa
        10 kpl maustepippuria
        vettä

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      2. I don’t remember eating it with all the sauce stuff. Just “Nakit”, wrapped in a paper pouch, or whatever and some good mustard..👌🏻

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      1. That is how mom made hers. Now a days I make it easier using a gravy mix. Just gave me and idea for what to make soon liking my lips just thinking about it.

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  1. Despite being a Finn I don’t really know a lot about the history of the dish. I’s a very traditional home cooked meal and one of those dishes that seems to be every Finnish kids’ favourite meal, especially when served with mash. The sauce is usually just a mild gravy with ‘nakki’ sausages – which are very mild, overly processed sausages with probably very little meat in them. It’s usually either served with mash, or the potatoes are boiled unpeeled, peeled on the plate and then mashed in with the gravy. Finnish comfort food I guess.

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  2. Reminds me of going to Tijuana, Mexico 40 years ago. We went to a cafe for breakfast and the item on the menu that sent me into peals of laughter (to this day) was huevos con weinies (eggs with hot dogs).

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    1. this is hilarious. i live in Tijuana. i have not seen huevos con winies in a menu!!! but i did grow up eating them! my mom made them for me all the time & i still love my scrambled eggs with winies at age 36 :D

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  3. Oh dear! I shiver when just looking at the photo. I had to eat this in the Finnish school cafeteria every now and then for 12 years! I never liked it, LOL! It is most kids’ favorite though. :)

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  4. Wow. Somehow I never thought I’d bump into this on a paleo food blog. Will have to test it with pork sausages from a local butcher which are 100% meat and not the vegetarian sausages one can get in stores. But honestly it is a food that most kids love. With my background of not eating Finnish foods at home, I never really liked it as it was too bland. In fact, most Finnish every day food is quite bland and heavy on the starches so a variation like this might well be worth a try.

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  5. In Denmark this would be named “swedish hot dog casserole” the only difference would be that the potatoes would be chopped up and cooked and included in the sauce.

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  6. I remember this! I much preferred pyttipanna though. One of my host mother’s spaghetti sauce was a roux with a lot of ketchup. It was surprisingly delicious. ;-) My absolute favourite Finnish dish was reindeer stew.

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  7. Oh, yes. It´s classic here in Finland! Add some russian pickles (with salt broth, without vinegar) and you get nakkistroganoff. My kids love it with vegetarian sausages now when they don´t eat meat. Childhood taste. Kiitos!

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  8. I made this dish. The sauce was tasty, but the hotdogs were so salty I had my sodium for the week. Maybe I will try the sauce with something else.

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  9. This was nice and easy. I couldn’t find brown mustard, so I used 1.5 dijon and 0.5 yellow mustard. I also added a bit of cream as it was a bit more acidic than I like, then served it with some baked cauliflower rice. That was great for sopping up the sauce! I’ll be making this again.

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  10. I am a 4th generation Canadian finn who grew up in a finnish community in BC Canada. our parents would always make a similar variation of this dish we simply called wieners on rice which consisted of diced onions and celery simmered in a pot than add in canned tomato soup a little bit of tomato paste, water, a squeeze of ketchup, mustard, worchestershire, brown sugar, then add diced wieners simmer till wieners are cooked and serve on rice. kids love it and I still enjoy it today.

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  11. There are a lot of variations on this recipe in Finland. This is a basic feel good comfort food. We just use butter with the onions. Some use red bell peppers instead of carrots. I don’t use either. I only use onion, sausages and the flour/water roux with cream added to it at the end.

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  12. As a 2nd generation Finnish American I have been slowly working my way through various Finnish cookbooks. I had heard of this dish before, but it is likely not a dish that my grandmother would have known, as hot dogs were introduced to Finland after my ancestors came to USA. The key is to use quality, natural casing frankfurters….the kind that pop. These would be most similar to hot dogs sold in Finland. I seasoned my recipe with spices typical to Finnish meat dishes: allspice, white pepper, paprika, salt. A little sour cream and Stonewall Kitchen’s Country ketchup finished off the dish. I included the Onions and carrots as they are familiar Finnish cuisine partners. Garlic is a flavor that is not typically found Finnish foods, so I left it out. The flavors of the dish come from the onion, allspice, paprika and the vinegar/spices of the ketchup. This is a great dish if you are following a keto diet, as it is low in carbs…just be sure to pair it with a cauliflower mash rather than potatoes.

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  13. I’m late to the party but I was excited to see this recipe. My mother made something similar. Her sauce was ketchup, prepared yellow mustard, brown sugar, and vinegar to taste. She served it with french fries/frites.

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