Applegate The Great Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog: 6g Protein, Labelgrade C+ (67/100)
C+ 67 / 100 — About as clean as a hot dog gets — organic grass-fed beef and a 7-item panel with no fillers, no added sugar, no synthetic nitrates. But it's still a hot dog: the Labelgrade ceiling is the saturated fat and sodium that come with the category, and 6g of protein per link is modest.
🛒 Buy on Amazon →The short answer
Applegate The Great Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog delivers 6 g of protein per link at 90 calories (USDA FDC 1850095) — about 12.5 g per 100 g, with 0 g sugar and 0 g carbs. The thing that makes it stand out sits in the ingredient list, not the nutrition panel: organic grass-fed beef, water, and a handful of organic spices, cured with celery powder instead of synthetic sodium nitrite. There is no corn syrup, no potato starch or soy filler, no phosphates — the additives that pad conventional franks. If you are going to eat a hot dog, this is genuinely one of the cleanest panels in the case. But the Labelgrade is C+ (67 / 100), and that is an honest read of the category rather than a knock on Applegate: a beef hot dog is built on saturated fat (3 g per link) and sodium (280 mg), carries no fiber, and tops out at modest protein. Best-fit use: the clean-label pick for a cookout, eaten in the moderation any cured red meat deserves.
Why the C+
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | C+ | 69 / 100 | 12.5 g per 100 g. The link carries 7 g of fat against 6 g of protein, so more than half the calories are fat — density stays middling even though 6 g per link is a fair per-serving number |
| Ingredient quality | B | 78 / 100 | 8 organic items: grass-fed beef, water, sea salt, organic spices, garlic, onion, paprika, celery powder. No fillers, binders, corn syrup, or synthetic nitrite — excellent for the aisle |
| Saturated fat load | C | 64 / 100 | 3 g per link (~6.3 g per 100 g) — meaningful. The structural cost of a beef frank; it scales with every dog you add |
| Sodium load | D | 41 / 100 | 280 mg per link (~583 mg per 100 g) — high. Salt does the flavor and preservation work in any cured meat |
| Sugar load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 0 g sugar, 0 g carbs. No corn syrup, dextrose, or sorbitol — additions you will find on conventional franks |
| Fiber | F | 30 / 100 | 0 g — expected for a pure meat product |
| Overall | C+ | 66 / 100 | The clean-label choice within hot dogs: organic, grass-fed, celery-cured, no fillers. Capped by the saturated fat and sodium that define the category — a better hot dog, still a hot dog |
The grade tells a clear story: the ingredient line is the best part of this product, and the macro profile is the part Applegate cannot reformulate away. You can make a cleaner beef hot dog — you cannot make a beef hot dog that isn’t mostly fat and salt.
The “uncured” label, decoded
The front of the pack reads uncured — no nitrates or nitrites added except those naturally occurring in celery powder, and that wording trips people up. It does not mean the meat is raw or unpreserved. Applegate cures it with celery powder, a concentrated natural source of nitrate, which the curing process converts to nitrite exactly as the synthetic version does. The meat is still cured; it still gets the pink color and the preserved flavor. What changes is the source: a vegetable concentrate instead of lab-made sodium nitrite. Whether that distinction matters to you nutritionally is a fair debate — the nitrite ends up similar either way — but it is the entire basis of Applegate’s positioning, and it is why this frank’s ingredient list ends in celery powder where Nathan’s and Hebrew National both end in sodium nitrite.
How it compares
Hot dogs invite cross-shopping, so here is the honest side-by-side against the two conventional all-beef franks we track. Read the serving sizes carefully — they are not uniform across the category.
| Product | Protein | Calories | Sat fat | Sodium | Curing & fillers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applegate The Great Organic (this product) | 6 g / link (48 g) | 90 | 3 g | 280 mg | Celery powder; no fillers |
| Hebrew National Beef Franks | 5 g / frank (45 g) | 100 | 3 g | 500 mg | Sodium nitrite; potato starch, soy protein |
| Nathan’s Famous Beef Cocktail Franks | 7 g / 5 links (56 g) | 170 | 6 g | 680 mg | Sodium nitrite; sorbitol, phosphates, corn protein |
Two findings stand out. First, on a comparable single-link basis, Applegate’s sodium is dramatically lower — 280 mg versus Hebrew National’s 500 mg in one similarly sized frank. (Nathan’s 680 mg is spread across five small cocktail links, a different serving entirely, so don’t read it as a per-dog number.) Second, the ingredient gap is the real differentiator: both conventional franks lean on sodium nitrite plus binders and starches that Applegate omits, and Nathan’s even adds sorbitol, which is why it shows 2 g of carbs where Applegate shows zero. What Applegate cannot escape is the floor of the category — every frank here carries meaningful saturated fat, and against actual lean protein, none of them are in the conversation.
Who it’s for — and who should skip it
Buy it if you want the cleanest beef hot dog on the shelf for a cookout, a quick lunch, or kids’ meals, and you value organic, grass-fed sourcing and a short ingredient list over squeezing protein out of the meal. The celery-powder cure and zero-filler panel are real, verifiable advantages over a conventional frank. Skip it — or at least ration it — if you are tracking sodium closely, since 280 mg per link compounds fast across a two- or three-dog plate, or if you are reaching for it as a protein source: at 6 g per link, a chicken breast or a couple of eggs will out-deliver it on protein with a fraction of the saturated fat and salt. This is an indulgence done cleanly, and it rewards being treated as one.
Ingredients
Organic grass-fed beef, water. Contains less than 2% of the following: sea salt, organic spices, organic dehydrated garlic, organic dehydrated onion, organic paprika, celery powder. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 1850095.)
Where to buy
Affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The Labelgrade score is independent of affiliate relationships. More.
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 1 hot dog (48 g)
025317532006See how this fits your day — protein calculator · macro calculator
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (1 hot dog (48 g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 90.2 |
| Protein | 6g |
| Total Fat | 7g |
| Saturated Fat | 3g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 0g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g |
| Total Sugars | 0g |
| Sodium | 280mg |
| Cholesterol | 25mg |
| Calcium | 0mg |
| Iron | 0.72mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Applegate The Great Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog (12 oz (340 g) — 7-dog pack) · UPC 025317532006. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains meat, fish, or gelatin
no wheat, barley, rye, or malt detected in USDA ingredient list
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in an Applegate The Great beef hot dog?
6 g of protein per link (48 g) at about 90 calories (USDA FDC 1850095) — roughly 12.5 g per 100 g. On a per-link basis that clears the FDA 'good source of protein' bar (10–19% of the Daily Value); two dogs would reach 'high in protein.' But the density is modest by design: a beef hot dog carries 7 g of fat against those 6 g of protein, so more than half its 90 calories come from fat, not protein.
What does 'uncured, no nitrates or nitrites added' actually mean on this pack?
It means Applegate added no synthetic sodium nitrite — the lab-made preservative used in conventional franks like Nathan's and Hebrew National. Instead it cures the beef with celery powder, a natural nitrate source. The meat is still cured, and the nitrate works the same way biologically; the difference is the source, which is why the legally required label reads 'uncured — no nitrates or nitrites added except those naturally occurring in celery powder.'
Is the grass-fed, organic beef worth it in a hot dog?
For nutrition, the gain is small: grass-fed beef has a modestly higher omega-3 ratio, but the protein quality is the same as conventional and you only get 6 g per link. The real payoff is the panel. This is one of the only mass-market hot dogs whose meat is certified organic and grass-fed, with no fillers, binders, corn syrup, or synthetic nitrite — which is exactly what separates it from a Nathan's or Hebrew National frank.
How does it compare to Hebrew National or Nathan's on ingredients?
Cleaner panel, comparable macros. Applegate's list is 8 organic items with celery-powder curing. Hebrew National adds modified potato starch, hydrolyzed soy protein, and sodium nitrite; Nathan's adds sorbitol, sodium phosphates, hydrolyzed corn protein, and sodium nitrite. On sodium per link Applegate wins decisively — 280 mg versus 500 mg in a single Hebrew National frank — though Nathan's lower figure is per 5 tiny cocktail links, so it isn't a like-for-like link comparison.
Is it keto-friendly?
Yes. 0 g carbs, 0 g sugar, 7 g fat and 6 g protein per link fit cleanly into ketogenic and low-carb eating — net carbs are zero, and unlike Nathan's (2 g carbs from sorbitol) there are no sugar alcohols. The variable to watch on keto isn't carbs here, it's sodium: 280 mg per link adds up quickly across a two- or three-dog meal.
Why only a C+ if the ingredients are this clean?
Because Labelgrade scores the whole nutrition profile, not just the panel. Applegate earns a B (78) on ingredients — strong for the aisle — but a beef hot dog is structurally high in saturated fat (3 g, a C) and sodium (280 mg, a D), and modest in protein density (6 g, a C+). Those category traits cap the overall at C+ (66). It is the clean-label choice within hot dogs; it is still a hot dog.
When was this data last verified?
2026-05-28, against USDA FoodData Central FDC 1850095 and Applegate's product page. We re-verify top pages and update within 7 days of a reformulation.