A skillet chili, made for hot dogs and with a Cajun-flair, made with ground beef, seasoned with Worcestershire, yellow mustard, onion, hot sauce, Cajun and other flavorful seasonings.

Skillet Hot Dog Chili Sauce

I love hot dogs. Love, love, love. I don't care how they are made, or what's in them, or the scary stories, nope, just don't even want to hear about all that, because I. Love. Hot. Dogs. And guess what?

I've tried just about every brand and kind there is out there and I like the cheap ones the best. I'll eat them boiled, microwaved or pan fried, though for me, they really are best cooked on the grill in my humble opinion, and this yummy hot dog chili sauce only makes the experience that much better. Here's how to make my hot dog chili sauce.

Now, first off... {Southern-Style Hissy Fit Warning}

I'm occasionally (though rarely) challenged on social media by anonymous people (imagine that!) who get a bit up in arms about "authentic" recipes, even when I make no such claim!

I recently had somebody declare on Facebook that some sandwiches I made - patterned after ones I used to get at a now long gone pizza joint - and made with black forest smoked ham, and hot capocollo or mortadella (or a mixture of them), and some salami, dressed with a creamy Italian dressing - she said that I could not call those "Italian Sandwiches!" I doubt seriously that she even checked the ingredients before telling me that. Can you even imagine?

Sooooo.... no. I won't go so far as to say this qualifies as anything near a "Coney Island" hot dog sauce, although I did attempt to pattern it after that somewhat, following some goodly amount of research.

Of course I had to "Southern" it up a bit, adding a little Cajun flair with some Louisiana hot sauce and my near and dear to me Slap Ya Mama (#ad) Cajun seasoning from Ville Platte, Louisiana. Plain water or even beef broth works fine but bump it up a bit and try using your favorite Coke - meaning Coca-Cola, root beer or Dr Pepper - for a little added sweetness.

Note: As an Amazon.com Services LLC Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases linked in my posts and marked as #ad or #affiliate links.

Here's what you'll need to make my Skillet Hot Dog Chili Sauce:

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (1 pound) package hot dogs
• 1 package hot dog buns
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• Garnishes: Extra onion, chopped pickles, or pickle relish, extra mustard, ketchup

Chili Seasoning Blend:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/8 cup hot sauce, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons Creole mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Cajun/Creole seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste
• 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste
• Light grating whole nutmeg, optional
• 1 cup Coca Cola, root beer, Dr Pepper, beef broth, or plain water

Here's how to make it.

Heat olive oil in a medium sized skillet and add onion; cook until softened but not browned. Add the ground beef and cooked until browned, breaking the meat up. Drain off excess grease and return meat to skillet. 

To the skillet, add all of the seasoning ingredients.

Mix in.

Add your choice of "cola," and you know what that means, right? I'm using our very own Barq's root beer in the bottle.

Add it.

Blend it in.

Probably not quite what you think when you think chili stewed in a pot and topped on a hot dog, and really, though it's quite tasty on its own, marry the sauce with the dog and it's heaven, I tell ya!

Cook the hot dogs the way you like them - microwave, baked, cooked in a pan, boiled, whatever you like the best. I like to grill them on my gas grill. When my grandkids were young, they wanted nothing to do with a grilled hot dog! I personally love them.

Just preheat to high, oil the grates, stick the hot dogs on, reduce heat to medium, and cook over direct heat, with the lid closed, somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes, turning several times so ya don't burn the beejesus out of 'em. Course, some people like them burned and I'm not one to judge.

Toast the buns, slip in a dog, spoon over some hot dog sauce, and embellish it with whatever you like. I happen to like mine done this way, with a bit of extra mustard, some raw onion and sweet pickle relish. Hello yum yum.

By the way, if you prefer your dog sauce to be more pureed and less chunky, the food processor is the perfect tool for that. Just transfer the hot sauce carefully to the food processor and pulse until you get the consistency you like.

Unable to view the printable above on your device? Tap/click here for a backup printable.

Posted by Mary on April 20, 2010

Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, please do not copy and paste to repost or republish elsewhere such as other Facebook pages, blogs, websites, or forums without explicit prior permission. All rights reserved.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

20190926/20140706

.