One of my husband’s favorite meals, when he lived in Chile, was Chilean-style hot dogs called Completos. Filled with several delicious toppings, you’ll never eat a hot dog the same way again.
We love making this fun recipe every time we host a Summer BBQ. Add a full rack of these Tender Ribs, Grilled Chicken Skewers, and Fresh Lemonade to the menu and your meal is complete!

Completo Chileno
Many years ago my husband lived in Chile and ate a variety of local dishes. One of the things he absolutely loved was called a completo.
A completo is a Chilean-style hot dog (yes, there is a hot dog under there) in a fresh, soft bun that’s topped with diced onions, chopped tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, and mashed avocado. In Chile, they add lots of mayo to the mix but their mayonnaise is different than ours in the US, so we decided not to use that here.
We have Completos Chilenos quiet often in our home because my whole family loves them and they are super easy to prepare! In fact, any time we’re grilling hot dogs, we bring out all of the toppings.
Not only have our kids grown to love them but the friends we have over for BBQs can’t stop raving about them either. There is hardly something more kid-friendly than a hot dog, and not only do they love to eat them, they can help you prepare them too!
How To Make A Chilean Style Hot Dog
INGREDIENTS –
- hot dog buns / hoagie rolls
- hot dogs – beef or pork
- diced tomatoes
- diced onions
- smashed avocado
- ketchup
- mustard
INSTRUCTIONS –
Cook – The first thing you’ll want to do is boil or grill your hot dogs.
Slice & Dice – While the hot dogs are cooking, you want to chop your onions and tomatoes, as well as mash-up your avocado.
Layer – When you’re building your completo it’s all about layering in the proper order.
First, you’ll put the diced tomatoes and onions on first
Next, spread the avocado over the top. This will “seal” them against the hot dog so they’ll stay put while you’re eating it.
Then top everything off with ketchup and mustard and you’re all done and ready to enjoy them!
Recipe Tips
Best Buns – The Chileans use big, fresh buns for their Completos, so I always make a quick run to the bakery section to find the buns for this meal. These larger buns hold the toppings in a lot better, but you can use whichever you prefer.
Toppings – This meal is very customizable and my kids love to build their own creations. In Chile, people would frequently add sauerkraut to their Completos but we’ve never been a fan of it, so we leave it off.
Best Completo Side Dishes
- Creamy Pasta Salad Recipe
- Chips and the Best Homemade Fresh Salsa Recipe
- Honey Lime Fruit Salad
- Best Homemade Coleslaw
- Easy Potato Salad Recipe
I promise, once you’ve tried a Completo you’ll never want to eat a hot dog any other way. Leave us a comment below and let us know if you loved all of these toppings or if you added anything else to the recipe.
HERE’S A PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD SO YOU CAN SAVE THIS RECIPE –
Chilean Hot Dog Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook the hot dogs by boiling them in water or grilling them on the BBQ.
- Place the cooked hot dog in the bun
- Put diced tomatoes and onions on top of the hot dog
- Cover the tomatoes and onions with mashed avocado
- Add ketchup and mustard on top of the avocado
Nutrition
Other Notes
*This post was originally published on Somewhat Simple in November 2011 and was updated in August 2013.
Hi: i like your version, however I have to say that chilean hot dogs do not use onion. Instead, they will use a type of sauerkraut (you can use regular sauerkraut). Also and importantly, chilean hot dogs are almost never grilled, but boiled. This keeps the flavor of the actual hot dog (the frank) milder and allows fur full enjoyment of the fresh vegetables. Finally, just esthetics, usually the avocado will follow the hotdog, then the tomato, the sauerkraut, and the sauces. Enjoy!
My husband used to live in Santiago and he said some Completos have Saurkraut and others have diced onions – his favorite were the ones with onions. He said the Chileans never grilled their dogs, but we always have completo toppings available when we grill burgers and hot dogs because we love the extra flavors. If we are just making Completos for the night, we will boil them. And the layering of the toppings is actually something my husband and I disagree on – I think it makes so much more sense to put the avocado on first, but he insists that the avocado goes on after the tomatoes and onions to seal it all in. (And he has multiple pictures of him eating completos from street vendors in Chile that show this. It is so strange to me!) When we make them at home, I build mine the way I like and it always drives him crazy! 🙂
Thats great! Thanks for responding. I am chilean and have never seen a completo with onion, but given I love onion, I must try it now 😉
Best regards
You’ll have to let me know how you like it! I’ve never tried the sauerkraut, but I’m curious which one I’d like more!
Will do!. Also, I’d recommend the following: good quality hot dogs, first the hotdog (broiled) on the bun, followed by creamy avocado, followed by chopped tomato (please chop the tomato, add a little canola oil and coarse sea salt and mix, and then put on the hotdog), then the saierkraut, top with mayo (homemade mayo even better), and the best final topping is a thin line of srirasha along the axis of the completo. Let me know!
My three boys love hot dogs and they went crazy for these. Packed with flavor!
Thanks! These are my kids’ favorite too!
The Chilean’s know how to eat a hot dog!! I had no idea how much I would love this, but I did! It will be hard to eat a hot dog the plain, normal way!
I know, isn’t it amazing?!?!
It’s so fun to see how things are eaten in different countries! Love the idea of mashed avocado spread over it. It takes the average hot dog to a whole new level!
Totally agree!
I have just “discovered” the Completo, here in Australia, thanks to a workmate who is of Argentinian heritage. He gave me an easy to prepare recipe for Completos. Finally a really delicious hot-dog! i find most locally served hot-dogs are rather bland , just a sausage in a bun with cheese or union. The Completo lives up to its name – Complete!
So true! Once I had one, I could never go back to eating it the way I used to.
THIS is my kind of hotdog!! Thanks for the avocado tip because I don’t want to lose any of that amazing flavor.
You bet!
I will always eat my hot dogs this way!!
Once I tried it, I was hooked too!
My family loved them!
That’s awesome!
Now this is my kind of hot dog! So so good!
They really are the best!
Avocado on a hot dog! That sounds fantastic!
It’s really amazing!
My former sister in law is Chilean and we used to make these for family gatherings (easily customizable and quick). She always had sauerkraut on hand, too. I liked them with everything on them. All those yummy flavors mingling together encased in homemade rolls is totally comfort food. Yum!
You’re right! The combination of these flavors is AMAZING! I rarely eat a hot dog now a days without avocado!
I served just south of Santiago and we LOVE completos in our house! I do the “sealing” method with avocado, too.
“Sealing it” must be a Chilean thing. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Aimee! 🙂
My husband served in Santiago as well, and he’s mentioned these several times. My oldest son is heading there in a couple of weeks. I’ll have to make these so he can get a taste of Chile before he gets there. Thanks for sharing Stephanie!
I saw that announcement on FB when he got his call- so exciting! It was a great mission. The 2 of us went down there several years ago and the people were so kind! Best of luck to your son (and you as well!) and yes, get him accustomed to the glorious Completo- they sell them on carts all over the streets!
One of my old co-workers served in Santiago as well and he introduced us all to the wonder that is the completo! I quit some time ago to be a SAHM but the other day something made me think of these beauties and I had to do a web search for them because I couldn’t quite remember what went on them – so glad I found your post!
Thanks for stopping by! I am glad you found the completos here! 🙂
I’ve had completos from a peruvian restaurant in Provo, UT before. My coworkers and I would go for lunch and we LOVED completos! Thanks for reminding me of these, I’m going to have to make them! But with Mayo 🙂
I didn’t know Completos were a real thing. I thought it was a made up word on the Kid History U tube videos. Now my kids are going to be asking to have them for dinner all the time!
My kids love that video! When we made Completos last week they wouldn’t stop with the dialogue- “BUT, if you buy 200 completos, it is only $200!”