Best Ever Chili Dogs

What better way to celebrate summer than with these Best Ever Chili Dogs?  Smothered in our favorite hot dog chili and topped with freshly shredded cheese, onions, and optional jalapeños, these dogs are best enjoyed on the patio with fresh watermelon and an icy beverage.

Ingredients in the Hot Dog Chili

We have other chili recipes, but this one is perfect for chili dogs. The chili is simple with just meat–no beans–and thick enough to stay on top of the hot dogs. 

• Ground beef – we like to make this chili with 85% lean/15% fat ground beef, but you could use another fat content or a different meat if you’d prefer. 
• Red bell pepper – this gives a little sweetness and peppery flavor to the chili. 
• Yellow onion – if you don’t like yellow onion, this chili would also be good with sweet onion or red onion. 
• Low-sodium beef broth – using low-sodium allows you to control the saltiness of the chili so that you can season it to your liking.
• Crushed tomatoes and tomato paste – this provides some of the additional volume in the chili and gives it a mild tomato flavor.
• Spices – for this chili, you’ll need chili powder, cumin powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. 
• Brown sugar – this provides just a touch of sweetness to balance out the savory ingredients.
• Cocoa powder – don’t worry. This won’t make the chili taste like chocolate, but it does give it a richer flavor.
• Cornstarch – this will help thicken the chili. 

Ingredients in the Best Ever Chili Dogs

We like to load up our chili dogs, so here’s what you’ll need to make them our way:

• Hot dogs and buns – we use beef hot dogs, but you can use a different kind of hot dog instead.
• Yellow onion – we like the additional sharpness of raw onions on top of our chili dogs. You can use whatever kind of onion you used for the chili to keep things simpler.
• Shredded cheddar cheese – for best melting ability, be sure to shred your own cheese instead of buying pre-shredded. 
• Sliced jalapeños – we like spicy food and love to add these to our chili dogs. If you don’t like spice, you can leave them off.

How to Make the Best Ever Chili

To make the chili, heat oil in a pot over medium heat and add the ground beef. Season with salt and a couple turns of black pepper. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking the meat into small pieces. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside. Add the onions and peppers to the pot, season them with salt, and cook them for 6 to 8 minutes. 

Add the ground beef back to the pot, then make a well in the center of the pot and add the tomato paste. Cook the tomato paste for about 1 minute and mix it in with the meat and veggies. Mix in the spices, brown sugar, and cocoa powder and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and broth, and bring the mixture to a low boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. 

Remove the lid, skim off any fat from the top of the chili (optional, but recommended if not using lean beef), and increase the heat to medium. Whisk together the cornstarch and water to create a slurry, then stir it into the chili. This will help thicken the chili so that it’s thick enough to top the hot dogs. 

How to Assemble the Best Ever Chili Dogs

Heat up the hot dogs on the grill or in a pan, oven, or microwave (we prefer grilling or pan toasting them), and warm up the buns. Place the hot dogs in the buns, then top each hot dog with a couple spoonfuls of chili, some shredded cheese, onions, and jalapeños.

Best Ever Chili Dogs

These Chili Dogs really are the best we've ever had! They're smothered in our favorite hot dog chili and topped with freshly shredded cheese, onions, and optional jalapeños.

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Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:50 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Meat & Seafood

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy, summer

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Hot Dog Chili

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes, canned
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp water
• 3/4 tsp sea salt, plus more, if needed
• Cracked black pepper, to taste

Chili Dogs

• 6 hot dogs
• 6 hot dog buns
• 1/4 yellow onion, diced
• Cheddar cheese, shredded
• Jalapeños, sliced

Instructions

• Heat oil in a pot over medium heat and add the beef. Season with ½ tsp salt and a couple turns of black pepper. Cook the beef for 8-10 minutes, breaking into small pieces. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside.
• Add onions and peppers to the pot and season with ¼ tsp salt. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until slightly softened.
• Add the cooked ground beef back to the pot.
• Make a well in the center of the pot and add tomato paste. Cook for about 1 minute and mix in with the meat and veggies.
• Mix in the spices, brown sugar, and cocoa powder and cook 1-2 minutes.
• Add in crushed tomatoes and broth, then bring the chili to a low boil.
• Reduce heat, cover with a lid, and cook for 30-40 minutes.
• Remove lid, skim off any fat from the top of the chili (optional but recommended if not using lean beef), and increase the heat to medium.
• Whisk together cornstarch and 1 tbsp water and stir into the chili to thicken.
• Prepare and Assemble the Chili Dogs
• Heat up the hot dogs in a pan, oven, or on the grill, and warm up the buns. Then assemble the hot dogs in the buns.
• Top each hot dog with a couple spoonfuls of chili, some shredded cheese, onions, and jalapeños.