Hot Dog Chili
This Southern Style Hot Dog Chili is made with ground beef, garlic, beef broth, tomato sauce and seasonings (no beans!) So much flavor!
SOUTHERN STYLE HOT DOG CHILI RECIPE
For me, the key is to a great homemade Hot Dog Chili recipe is that it won’t overtake the taste of the hot dog (cause I wanna taste that too). Plus, there are so many topping options for everybody to choose from when assembling their own Chili Dog, it makes it super easy to customize exactly how you like it. Serving Hot Dog Chili is a great idea at potlucks, parties, get togethers, backyard BBQ’s or just because. Just keep it on the warm setting in the slow cooker and let everyone serve themselves!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ’S)
Hot dog chili is much thicker than soup chili. It also usually doesn’t contain beans. The meat in hot dog chili is also very finely ground whereas in soup chili, it is chunkier. Also, hot dog chili is usually made with tomato paste rather than tomatoes. Now obviously, this can vary by region and people’s personal preferences.
It’s made of beef, onion, garlic, and a bunch of herbs and spices. Again, this can vary by region but this is how we do it.
This chili wonderful served on tater tots and french fries. Throw some melted cheddar cheese on top and it’s over-the-top delicious. I also really love this chili on baked potatoes! Note: if you want the full Appalachian chili dog experience, you must add some Cole Slaw and a little Chow Chow on top of the chili!
I don’t recommend it. It only takes a few minutes to make on the stovetop, so what’s the point in dragging out the slow cooker. Besides, either way you make it, you’ll have to brown the beef first, so adding the slow cooker step just means more dishes. However, you can certainly add it to the slow cooker to keep warm if serving for guests.
Yup. If you like spicy Hot Dog Chili, feel free to add some diced jalapenos or diced green chiles to the mix.
Sure, if you think this Hot Dog Chili is a little too thick for you, you can add a bit more water, chicken broth, or beef broth to thin it out. Just add a little at a time until you get it to your desired thinness.
Sure. Make your chili for the hot dogs and keep it warm in a slow cooker. When ready to serve, you can do so from there. Or make it, then pop it in a covered container in the refrigerator and re-heat when ready.
This acts a thickener. You can leave it out if you want a thinner chili.
Put it in a covered container in the refrigerator and it will keep up to 5 days. You can also freeze leftover chili. Put it in a freezer-safe ziploc bag. Remove as much air as possible. Chili will keep in the freezer up to 3 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
HOW TO MAKE HOT DOG CHILI
Put a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in medium sauce pan. On medium-high heat, saute onion until translucent, then add garlic.
Stir for about a minute, then add ground beef. As beef begins to brown, use a potato masher to grind up the beef into small bits. Once brown, add in the rest of the ingredients (if your beef produced a lot of grease, you may want to strain some of that out first before adding the rest of the ingredients.)
Give it all a good stir to combine then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Do a taste test at this point to see if it has enough salt. If you want, you can transfer the chili over to a Crock Pot and put it on the keep warm setting.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Crock Pot Chili Cheese Dogs
- Quick Sauerkraut
- Grilled Hot Dog and Potato Packets
- Hot Dog Corn Casserole
- The Best Crock Pot Chili
- Copycat Wendy’s Chili
- 100 Ground Beef Recipes
Originally published: March 2011
Updated photos and Republished: March 2024
Homemade Hot Dog Chili
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 ½ Tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth (or water)
- 3 Tablespoons corn meal
- ½ Tablespoon kosher salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Put 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil in medium sauce pan.
- On medium-high heat, saute 1/2 onion, finely chopped, then add 1-2 cloves garlic, minced.
- Stir for about a minute, then add 1 pound lean ground beef.
- As beef begins to brown, use a potato masher to grind up the beef into small bits. If your beef produces a lot of grease, be sure to strain it before proceeding to the next step.
- Once brown, add in 2 1/2 Tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 3 Tablespoons tomato paste, 1 cup beef broth, 3 Tablespoons corn meal, and 1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt.
- Give it all a good stir to combine then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Do a taste test at this point to see if it has enough salt.
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Could you make it without cornmeal?
I needed to add a little more beef broth but other than that, the flavor was great!
Awesome chili. Made for 4th July hotdogs. Very very good!
Thanks so much Beverly!
This recipe is spot on. Add some cayenne if you like a little heat. Smoked paprika if you like a more rustic flavor.
This was very good after some adjustments. The 1/2 tablespoon of salt called for was way too much for us. I adjusted by adding another 6 oz of hot water, about 2 tablespoons of honey and another teaspoon of sugar to tone down the salt. I let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so to boil off the liquid. I did not use the corn meal because I did not have any. (Maybe that would have helped the salty?).
I will use this recipe again, but only use 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of chili powder. It was a tad too spicy for us.
Overall, it’s a great recipe. Since I’m feeding just two of us, I liked that I could use 1 pound of ground beef rather than 1-1/2 – 2 pounds like other recipes I found. We each had 2 fully loaded dogs and we still have leftovers to freeze for another meal. (I love leftovers to freeze!)
Thank you!
Trying to cut beef out of diet, used ground chicken and the family loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
I just made this and it is delicious I will never buy hot dog chili again!!! Awesome thank you
We really loved this chili. I liked that it was soupy or runny. It stays in place on the hot dog and it tastes great!
My hubby’s all time favorite hot dog chili is definitely ‘Custard Stand’ … but its expensive. I made your recipe & added a 12 oz container of Custard Stand hot dog chili to tweak the flavor he loves. I freeze in individual containers (enough for 3-4 hot dogs) which keeps fresh & it also offsets the cost! TY appreciatively for this recipe. 🙂
For even more authentic taste, hit your ground meat with a stick blender before adding the other ingredients. It give the meat that fine ground texture.
THIS WAS SOOOOO GOOD!!
This was amazing !! Thankyou .. the recipe i was using took 2 hours our more the flavor here is better and doesn’t take long
I’m southern and so is this chili! It’s perfect for dogs and so much more. Thanks for the recipe!
In the summer, my Dad took us to the A&W once a week for a root beer and hot dog with chili or a breaded temderloin on a bun. We had to share one order of french fries. I can still taste it all. The nights were warm. What a great reward for mowing the yard..
Goshen, In
I absolutely love your childhood memory! I’m sure you’ll cherish it always!!
I am excited to try this, but was wondering what the purpose of the cornmeal is and it is corn meal, similar to grits, not the finer corn flour or corn starch, correct? Want to make sure before I attempt it. Thank you!
Corn meal acts as a thickener. It’s optional but we really like it. 🙂
yum!! This was delicious! Thank you!
Never heard of cornmeal in chili ???
This sounds good though.
Love a good hotdog,like mine
with chili , onions and coleslaw.
There’s an out-of-this-world hot dog place right in the cTheir dogs are so good you don’t even have to chew them Andthe chili is scrujmptuous the name ofr the place is — yeah, you guessed it — You-Yum’s. They serve up fantastic ice cream for your after-meal treat. If you’re everSpring Garden Street and just ride east until you come yo it. It will be the greatest treat of your life!
My 11-year old wasn’t sure about eating chili without beans 🙂 This is easily her favorite thing now. She eats it on hot dogs, tater tots or even by itself with Fritos. Needless to say she doesn’t dread hot dog days.
I've been wanting a good chili recipe and tried several online that ended up not tasting the best. I was tired of throwing money away on ingredients trying to find a good recipe. I decided to give it another try with this recipe and I'm so glad I did! It's delicious! Thank you.