Hot Dog Chili Recipe

This easy Hot Dog Chili Recipe is made with finely crumbled ground beef, savory spices and no beans, so it’s perfect for piling onto hot dogs without making a mess. Let it simmer low and slow for a rich, deep homemade flavor. Use leftovers for chili cheese fries, spooning onto baked potatoes, nachos and more!

Why We Love This Chili Recipe

Our hot dog chili has gotten an update! We’ve adjusted the seasonings a bit and added a little more liquid. We also found that simmering the chili over low heat for even 30 minutes gives a wonderful flavor, so if you’re short on time, no worries. If you’re looking for what changed from the original recipe, see the notes in the recipe card.

First of all, we love chili – chili recipes in all forms work for us. But when you’re looking for a basic, bean-free chili recipe this is the one you need to make.

• Perfect for chili dogs: Finely crumbled beef makes this chili perfect for spooning on hot dogs, burgers and more.
• No beans chili recipe: We’re focusing on a deep, rich ground beef chili flavor, but of course you can add beans if you like.
• Great for making ahead: Prepare a batch (or two!) for game days, cookouts, parties and easy dinners.

Ingredients You’ll Need

This homemade hot dog chili is made with simple pantry ingredients and ground beef for a rich, flavorful chili that’s perfect for topping hot dogs. Here’s the main ingredients you’ll need to make this hot dog chili, with a few helpful ingredients tips.

• Ground beef: We like using a fairly lean ground beef so there’s not a lot of grease in the chili after simmering. Somewhere between an 85% and 93% lean works best. We don’t recommend using anything higher than a 93% because we find the beef ends up too tough.
• Tomato paste: Unlike traditional chili, this recipe only uses tomato paste for a rich depth of flavor.
• Beef broth: Or stock, or bone broth. Find one that you like the flavor of.
• Seasonings: We keep this chili simple with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. You can add other seasonings if you like, or omit the cumin if you don’t prefer that, but try it our way first and see how you like it!

For the complete list of ingredients and amounts needed, scroll down to the recipe card below.

How To Make Hot Dog Chili

Just a few steps go into making this chili recipe taste so good, it’ll win awards!

• Cook and crumble the ground beef: This is one of the most important steps to making this hot dog chili the best. Make sure that you keep breaking up the beef until you’re left with fine, small crumbles. This way there won’t be any big clumps of beef falling off your hot dog.

• Add the flavor and simmer: Add finely diced onions and garlic, along with tomato paste and seasonings. Stir and cook the onions for about 5 minutes until they soften. Sprinkle in flour, stir and cook for one minute. Pour in beef broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and turn the heat to low. Simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes – sometimes we go as far as an hour for a richer, deeper flavor.

Tips For The Best Hot Dog Chili

Even though this recipe is super easy to make, we have a couple of tips for making sure that it tastes the best!

• Keep everything small: We talked about making the beef crumbles small and that’s important, but also make sure to dice your onions fairly small as well.
• Low heat: There’s not a lot of liquid in this recipe, so you want it to cook at a very low simmer. If the heat is too high, the liquid will evaporate and thicken before the chili is ready. If you’re finding that the chili needs more liquid you can add more beef broth.
• Use a heavy bottomed pot: You want to use a heavy bottomed pot so that the chili doesn’t scorch and stick to the bottom.

Hot Dog Chili Recipe FAQs

What’s the difference between hot dog chili and regular chili?

The biggest difference is that hot dog chili typically doesn’t have beans. The other main difference is that regular chili can have many different ingredients, vegetables and seasonings. Hot dog chili is really just some simple seasonings and ground beef.

How Do You Keep This Chili From Getting Too Thick?

If you’re finding that the liquid is evaporating, simply add more beef broth to the pot. Remember to keep the heat on the lowest setting to avoid this from happening.

Can You Make Hot Dog Chili Ahead Of Time?

Yes! This is the perfect make ahead recipe for easy meals, parties and game days. We think the flavor gets even better!

How Do You Store And Reheat?

Let the chili cool to room temperature and then transfer to an air tight container and refrigerate. The chili will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, after that you should transfer it to the freezer. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top.

Is This Chili Only For Hot Dogs?

Of course we’re going to be making ample amounts of chili dogs over here, but please don’t stop there! This no-bean chili is so versatile, you can make tons of different meals with it.

• Make taco bowls or burrito bowls
• Spoon over rice or pasta
• Stir into macaroni and cheese
• Stuff into baked potatoes and top with cheese
• Make zucchini boats, add chili, cheese and bake
• Spoon over crispy french fries

Looking For More Chili Recipes?

• Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
• Ranch Turkey White Chili
• Spicy White Bean Chili

Homemade Hot Dog Chili Recipe

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4.6 from 23 reviews

• Author: Dan
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 6 Servings 1x

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This homemade hot dog chili is perfect for serving on hot dogs, baked potatoes, french fries or nachos! We love that our chili has super fine beef crumbles that don’t fall off the bun. It’s perfect alone or as a base for many more hot dog toppings!

Ingredients

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• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 pounds ground beef (85-93%)
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth

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Instructions

1. Add the olive oil to a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ground beef to the pot, breaking up into fine crumbles as it cooks. Make sure to get the crumbles fairly small, take some time for this step. If there is a lot of grease, drain some from the pot but leave enough to cook the onions in.
2. Add the onions and garlic along with the the Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and tomato paste to the beef and stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions begin to soften.
3. Sprinkle in the flour, stir and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the beef broth, stir and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chili has thickened and the flavors have developed. For an even richer flavor, continue simmering for up to 1 hour, adding a splash of water or broth if needed to maintain the desired consistency.
4. Taste for seasonings and serve on hot dogs, hamburgers or spooned over french fries!

Recipe Notes

Remember to simmer the chili over low heat or the liquid will evaporate too quickly.

Store: Transfer leftovers to air tight containers and refrigerate promptly, within 2 hours. The chili will keep fresh for up to 4 days. If you still have leftover chili, you can transfer it to the freezer.

Reheat: Reheat the chili simply in the microwave or in a pot on the stove.

Recipe changes from the original: Upped the amount of beef broth from 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups (you might need even more if you’re doing a longer simmer) Increased the cumin from 1 teaspoon to 1 1/2 teaspoons, increased the chili powder from 1 tablespoon to 2 tablespoons.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: American