Hot Dog Chili Recipe
Feeding your cookout crowd is a breeze with this yummy Hot Dog Chili Recipe! Top your dog or enjoy it in a bowl with some cheese and onions!
Why We Love Homemade Hot Dog Chili
- Homemade hot dog chili beats the pants off the canned stuff. It takes a little time to cook up, but boy is the flavor worth it!
- This chili isn’t just great on hot dogs. We put it on everything from nachos to chili cheese fries and walking tacos to stirring it into mac and cheese.
- I love that this recipe makes a really big batch. It’s perfect for parties and cookouts, or cut the ingredients in half to feed a smaller crowd. (But we like making sure there are leftovers. YUM!)
- The New York style flavors of this chili pair perfectly with grilled hot dogs for a bite you won’t soon forget!
What is Hot Dog Chili Sauce made of?
MEAT & PRODUCE: You’ll need 3 pounds of ground beef (I like to get a leaner blend) and one large sweet onion. If you like, you can substitute for ground turkey, but the beef juices really bring the best flavor to this chili.
PANTRY: Grab some ketchup, tomato sauce, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to make the chili base and boost the umami-ness.
SEASONINGS: You’re going to need a bunch of different spices, but they’re all important. (See a couple of substitution options in the tips below.) From the spice cabinet grab your chili powder, mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder, ground allspice, ground nutmeg, ground cumin, garlic salt, celery salt, and ground cinnamon.
How to Make Hot Dog Chili
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Place a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onions and cook for about 10 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink. Drain any excess grease from the pot.
STEP 2 Add the chili powder, mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder, allspice, nutmeg, cumin, garlic salt, celery salt, and cinnamon to the pot. Stir everything together and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant.
STEP 3 Pour the ketchup, tomato sauce, water, soy sauce, and Worcestershire into the pot and stir that all together. Bring the chili to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes. Be sure to stir the chili occasionally. Remove the lid from the pot and continue to cook for another 40 minutes, until 3/4 of the liquid cooks out, stirring occasionally.
STEP 4 While the chili cooks, grill up some hot dogs. You can boil them on the stovetop if you prefer, but grilled dogs just have a better taste in our opinion.
STEP 5 Once the chili is ready spoon over hot dogs in a bun and add shredded cheese and/or diced onions if you like. If you’re serving up chili dogs buffet style, transfer the chili into a slow cooker and set it to WARM before putting the lid on. Be sure to stir the chili before serving if it’s been sitting for a bit.
Tips & Tricks
- This recipe makes A LOT of chili. The chili itself is really yummy and great with a little cheese and/or diced onion on top when you’re making plans to eat through any leftovers.
- There are a bunch of spices in this chili which makes it more of a “New York style” hot dog chili. It’s important to add them all to get the right balance of flavors. If you don’t usually keep celery salt or allspice on hand, you can substitute onion salt or regular salt for the celery salt. For the allspice, combine 3 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon + 1 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg + 1/8 teaspoon cloves, and then use 1:1 of the mixture as a replacement for allspice.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. (Thaw it out in the fridge overnight before reheating.) To reheat: warm the chili up on the stovetop in a saucepan. You may need to add a little water to loosen it up and then let it cook out again before serving.
Best Hot Dog Chili FAQ
What is the difference between hot dog chili and regular chili?
Hot dog chili (or hot dog sauce) is typically a little sweeter than your standard chili. It doesn’t have beans and usually includes ketchup and tomato sauce as the base. This chili has a thick consistency and is not super saucy.
Regular chili may or may not have beans (hello chili con carne!), has a spicer flavor, and has a chunkier texture with a soupy base.
What kind of chili is best for chili dogs?
My husband’s favorite store-bought chili for hot dogs is Wolf brand chili with no beans. This is what I usually get if it’s just the two of us having chili dogs. But when we’re feeding a group, I always make this homemade version. I can cut the recipe in half if needed too. It’s super easy.
Other Recipes You May like
- Copycat Dog Haus Chili the Kid
- Chili Cheese Dog Dip
- Cheddar Pigs in a Blanket
- Mom’s 5-Ingredient Chili
- 30-Minute Bacon Chicken Chili
Hot Dog Chili Recipe
Equipment
- Dutch Oven or Large Pot
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ground beef (85/15 blend or leaner)
- 1 large sweet onion peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ cup ketchup
- 8 ounces canned tomato sauce
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onions. Cook, breaking up the beef into fine crumbles as it cooks, until the meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Drain any excess grease and liquid.
- To the ground beef, add the chili powder, mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder, allspice, nutmeg, garlic salt, cumin, celery salt, and cinnamon. Cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly.
- Add the ketchup, tomato sauce, water, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to the pot and stir to combine.
- Bring the chili to a simmer. Then the reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the cover from the pot and continue to simmer the chili for about 40 more minutes, until ¾ of the liquid cooks out, stirring occasionally
- Serve the chili over cooked hot dogs. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
- You can absolutely cut this recipe in half. It makes A LOT of chili. We can usually top 24 hot dogs, but it all depends on ow much chili you like on your dog.
- This chili is great all by itself with some cheese and your other favorite chili toppings. We also put it on french fries and use it for walking Frito pies. Just open a lunch-size bag of Fritos, spoon in some warm chili, and add shredded cheddar cheese. Yum!
- If you’re making this chili for a party, put it into a slow cooker on WARM and let guests serve themselves.
- You can freeze this chili for up to 3 months. Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat. You made need to add a little water to help loosen it up.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.