Sauce Buns recipe

There is a place in Illinois called Jaenicke’s, they serve 'sauce buns' there (its a sort of chili that has a sweet and mild bbq sauce taste to it) It is not served over a hot dog it's simply the meaty sauce with cheese on a warm hotdog bun. Does anyone have a recipe?
My husband loves them but its quite a drive for us and there's nothing else around like it!

Has anyone else had a 'sauce bun' or even heard of them and know what I'm talking about

Welcome to RF.
I think you might have stumped the experts.

While I've never heard of a sauce bun, Skyline Chili sells a hot dogless coney with just it's sauce (chili) and mustard, onions and cheese -- or no cheese -- on a regular coney bun, and I believe the other Cincinnati-style chili chains also sell them.

I realized I probably put this post under the wrong category

Not really. You said it was something on a hot dog bun.

Some Cincinnati chili parlors call these "phoney coneys" and some others call them "chili sandwiches"

- but -

if I had something similar in appearance and style but with a bbq rather than a chili taste, I'd likely call it a beef w/bbq sauce sandwich or maybe even a sloppy joe. The 'bbq' version of the canned 'Manwich' product sounds pretty similar to what you are describing, albeit I suspect most folks put that on a round hamburger bun rather than a hotdog bun.

Same taste regardless of the shape of the bun.....

It is suppose to be a hotdog chili, but it taste more sweet like a bbq sauce and not spicy. If you haven't had one it sounds weird (I know I thought so before I had one) I was hoping someone would be like "Oh I know exactly what you're talking about" ....LOL instead I feel like ppl are thinking "What the?"

quote:

Originally posted by hawtdawg

It is suppose to be a hotdog chili, but it taste more sweet like a bbq sauce and not spicy. If you haven't had one it sounds weird (I know I thought so before I had one) I was hoping someone would be like "Oh I know exactly what you're talking about" ....LOL instead I feel like ppl are thinking "What the?"

There have been two responses affirming that there is familiarity with this type of thing.

Yeah, its definately not a sloppy jo! But I can see by the way it's described it sounds similar. And as far as Manwich..Blehhhh that is some nasty stuff!

Behold, the famous Jaenicke's Drive-In sauce bun: a soft white hot dog bun filled with a mild/sweet chili that's similar to BBQ sauce. Cheese and onions are optional. The cheese is similar to nacho cheese or Cheez Whiz.

CSD-PhD Professor of Hot Dogs

that would be them :)

I live in Kankakee, IL where these are at and they are GREAT! They are Red Hot Sauce Buns. Mild sweet taste, not too thick. Perfect with the cheese and onions. Would love to find this out. If this receipe got out, people would go nuts for it.
Yeah, it's that good!!!

Side Note:
This place split off into two places, actually three. All relatives. One took a dive because the sauce wasn't "exact". The original, by the Kankakee River was for sell about 3-4 years ago. Would have been great to buy and franchise up north, Chicago area. I think someone did buy it, don't know. Still called Jaenickes. Getting to be a bad area so the 2nd one in Bourbonnais is really thriving.
Again, if anyone has a sweet, light BBQ tasting sauce, please enlighten me!!!

When I was a kid in Morristown, TN, we would get "chili buns" at Petie's Puddle, the local swimming pool. It was a hot dog all the way minus the weiner! They were good!

Buckshot

Hey, Nathan's is advertizing various hot dog sandwiches...minus the hot dog...other things on a hot dog bun!

Here in Kingsport, TN several places serve a "chili bun" and one place has "BBQ dog" which is chopped pork on a hot dog bun.

could sauce buns be another name for loose meat sandwiches? A mid western variation of the good ol' sloopy joe.

I car hopped at the original Jaenicke's by the river 50 years ago (still have a Root Beer mug from there, real thick glass). I never could figure out just what they put in the sauce but loved it whether alone on a bun or on a hot dog. I stopped by in 2006 and had a couple of the sauce buns at that time the family still owned it guess that changed since then. It's more like a thin chili sauce than a bbq or sloppy joe. Sure wish I would have been able to get the recipe back then but as I recall it was a family secret. Considering that I live in California it's a bit far no matter how much I would like to have one but then again if I am ever in the neighborhood again...

Kinda sounds like a sloppy joe variation in a hot dog bun.

Does anyone have the recipe for the A&W hotdog chili that they used back in the 1960's? The chili used today is nothing like the old one. I remember as a kid being told by my parents- "Let's go to the rootbeer stand!" I always got the "baby" rootbeer and a hotdog with just chili. Our A&W closed many, many years ago and I'd love to be able to taste that sauce again. Some people have sent me recipes that have the correct consistency, but they call for tons of sugar. This recipe was not sweet. Anyone out there have any ideas?

Below is my recipe for chili dog sauce that is kinda sweet and spicy.
It's similar to a Michigan Sauce sauce and should do real well as a "BUN SAUCE".
You can add the BBQ sauce to taste but 1/4 cup is a good place to start. Head Country is kinda sweet and works really well in this recipe.

Chili Dog Sauce

1 lb ground chuck
2 beef bullion cubes
1 cup water
1 small onion, diced
1 heaping T chili powder
1 heaping T cumino
1 T red pepper flakes
2 T Worcestershire sauce
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 6 oz can tomato puree
1/4 cup Head Country BBQ Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste


Brown meat in a skillet, drain.
Return to skillet.
Add a cup of warm water with two beef bullion cubes dissolved in the water.
Simmer 20 minutes or until meat is tender.
Add remaining ingredients, simmer 10 minutes.
Add water if needed for desired consistency.

Try searching a new web site for the Jaenicke sauce bun recipe ....
www.saucebunsrecipe.com

Try a new web site for the Jaenicke sauce buns recipe ....
 
www.saucebunsrecipe.com

Sounds like my grandmother's recipe for "sweet barbecue". Not quite sloppy joe, not quite chili, not quite proper bbq. Good on anything or on its own on a bun.