READY IN 30 mins

Jeff's Hot Dog Chili

Read Reviews (29)

"A really good chili sauce like I had as a kid. This took me many years to get the ingredients just right. Hope you enjoy." — orion3

Directions

Place ground beef in a large saucepan with water and mash the beef with a potato masher to break apart. Stir in tomato sauce, ketchup, chili powder, salt, black pepper, sugar, onion powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until the chili has thickened slightly and the beef is fully cooked, about 20 minutes.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 10 mins
COOK 20 mins
READY IN 30 mins

Footnotes

Cook's Note:
This recipe is great with ground turkey. Add a little oil to the pan if using turkey.

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Oct 25, 2012

I made this last night for hot dogs. In the south we eat homemade slaw, homemade chili, diced sweet onions and mustard on our dogs. This was perfect for a southern hot dog! I used beef broth instead of water. Since I was using 80/20 beef I just cooked my beef and mashed it, drained it, and added it back to pan. Then added the beef broth as needed. I used Rotel's tomato sauce with diced green chiles (try it if you can still find it). I used a small 8 oz can of the tomato/chile sauce for 1.5 lbs of beef. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a T. Absolutely yummy! My husband who doesn't eat chili with beans commented that he could eat this chili with just a spoon. BIG statement coming from him! Thanks so much for sharing this one! It's a keeper!!

—Nicole

See full review »

Most Helpful Critical Review

Aug 03, 2012

I made this recipe twice--once following the recipe exactly and again with some changes. As written, the recipe is pretty good but is missing 'something' and is a little runny, as other reviewers found (hence the 3 stars). I made it a second time and this time used beef broth instead of water (and omitted adding the extra salt), added 1 clove of garlic, and used tomato paste instead of sauce (made it less runny), and added 1/2 a tsp of brown sugar. I also reduced the amount of chili powder (to 1/2 tsp) to make it more child-friendly, and my toddler and husband both loved it!

—ITSYCOOK

See full review »

35 Ratings

Aug 16, 2012

This was really good, the whole family really liked it. I would have given it 5 stars but it was a little too greasy for my taste. I think next time I will cook the meat first and then add to the sauce. I had no problem with it getting thick, but I also just realized I didn't add the water. oops! :o) Thanks so much for sharing the goodness!

—BONIO

See full review »

Jul 24, 2012

Perfect! I made this recipe exactly as is except I did not have any onion powder - so I left that out. I have been trying to get a good hot dog chili recipe for years and everyone tells me the ingredients they use but that they do not measure the ingredients so they dont know how much to tell me to add - so I would try over and over and just couldnt get it right! This was perfect!

—MomOf4

See full review »

Sep 06, 2012

Awesome quick hot dog chili. Great in a pinch. Browned and drained the beef first. Used whole can of tomato sauce w/green chili, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, and 2/3 C water, and boiled down to thick sauce consistency. Also added garlic powder and a pinch of oregano. Tastes better than canned!

—JoeTheBaker

See full review »

Apr 02, 2013

This is the closest thing to the southern chili for hot dogs I've had in a long time. LOVED IT..however, next time I think I will try not adding the sugar, it was sweeter than I thought it would be and the chili I grew up eating wasn't sweet at all. Ketchup has sugar in it as well, which will probably be enough sweet for us. I did substitute beef broth for the water. Used 93/7 ground beef and took the advice of others, browned the meat and then drained the fat. Even so I followed the recipe exactly other than the method and the beef broth. Now I have a great chili for our hot dogs and it's pretty healthy. The whole family really likes it. Thanks orion3 for sharing.

—Kilyena

See full review »

Dec 01, 2012

We really enjoyed this! Added about a tsp of garlic powder, upped black pepper to full tsp, chili powder to full Tbsp, used about a Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce. Subbed low-sugar ketchup and Splenda for the ketchup and sugar. Next time I'll add 1/2 cup of sauteed onions.

—GreenGirl24

See full review »

Mar 21, 2013

I know everyone hates it when you change recipes, but hey - I'm not a pro and I can't customize it so don't read on if you're annoyed by my notes. Watching fat, so I opted to combine the meat & water first - merrily mashing and squishing along so I could achieve that hotdog sauce consistency. Then I drained meat and skimmed the fat from the liquid. Was worried about the sweetness of our ketchup, so I only added half of what was called for and stopped after that (would have been way too sweet). Entirely skipped the sugar, but added everything else recipe called for. Added back some of the reserved liquid and let it reduce. Finally opted to add a few shakes of Hungarian Hot Paprika for just that little bit of kick. Outstanding and a new hotdog sauce fav! Thanks so much for the recipe!

—Litegal1

See full review »

Edit

Glad you liked it! Your friends will, too:

Did you tweak the recipe? Edit and save your own version of it!

Edit this recipe

More Recipes Like This See all

Hot Dog Chili for Chili Dogs

Mr. Mason's Chili

Heavenly Hot Dog Sauce

Hamburgers Chili Dog Style

Hot Dog Bourbon Appetizers

Ez's Slow Cooker Hot Chili

Cincinnati Chili I

Hot Dog Sauce

Grandma's Chili

Kathy's Meat Hot Sauce

Nutrition

Calories
168 kcal
8%

Carbohydrates
7.5 g
2%

Cholesterol
47 mg
16%

Fat
9.4 g
14%

Fiber
0.8 g
3%

Protein
13.6 g
27%

Sodium
595 mg
24%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Jeff's Hot Dog Chili

Serving Size: 1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 168
Calories from Fat: 85

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 9.4g 14 %
Saturated Fat 3.6g 18 %
Cholesterol 47mg 16 %
Sodium 595mg 24 %
Potassium 332mg 9 %
Total Carbohydrates 7.5g 2 %
Dietary Fiber 0.8g 3 %
Protein 13.6g 27 %
Sugars 6g
Vitamin A 12 %
Vitamin C 9 %
Calcium 2 %
Iron 18 %
** Thiamin 6 %
Niacin 47 %
Vitamin B6 15 %
Magnesium 7 %
Folate 6 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.