Quick & Easy Camping Chili Dogs
If you want an easy camping dinner, these chili dogs are for you! With only 5 ingredients and 10 minutes, you can have a quick camping meal that the whole family will love. Let’s dive in!
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Hog dogs are a classic camping food idea, and these chili dogs take the basic hot dog up a notch! Grilled or pan-fried hot dogs get topped with chili, cheddar cheese, and red onion.
This makes for a fun camping dinner that feels a little extra. Because, why not?
Ingredients for Camping Chili Dogs:
Hot Dogs:
I love the Teton Waters Ranch 100% beef hot dogs. You can find them at Whole Foods or at Costco if you’re cooking for a larger group.
These hot dogs are so good. I’m not being sponsored to say this! They don’t taste like cheap, questionable meat, and they make the perfect base for these chili dogs.
Hot Dog Buns:
Of course, we need some buns to put everything into. I went with a basic hot dog bun, but you can get fancy here and try a brioche bun or even a pretzel bun if you want.
Canned Chili:
Honestly, I usually avoid buying canned chili because I love to make it homemade. (Here’s my Dutch Oven Chili recipe if you’re looking for a good one. You can make it at home or while camping.)
But, I want this recipe to be a super easy camping dinner, so we’re going with the canned chili for this one.
I was surprised to find more canned chili options that use good ingredients. I went with the HeyDay Sweet Potato Chili, and it was delicious on these chili dogs.
Toppings:
For toppings, I use shredded cheddar cheese and diced red onion.
To keep things easy at camp, buy pre-shredded cheese or shred it at home before your trip. I also like to dice my red onion at home before camping.
One of the great things about this camping dinner idea is that you don’t need a campfire to cook it.
If there are fire restrictions where you are, you can cook this meal on your propane camp stove using a cast iron pan and a small pot.
Even if there aren’t fire restrictions, this is a lot faster and easier than cooking over the campfire.
Gear Highlight:
I love my Camp Chef Everest stove. I’ve had it for years and still going strong! It has great temperature control and boils water quickly.
If you want to do a little campfire cooking, you can also grill the hot dogs.
If this American classic doesn’t feel like summer camping food, I don’t know what does!
More Quick Camping Meals:
- One-Pot Thai Chicken Curry
- One-Pot Sausage Jambalaya
- Easy Campfire Cones Dessert
- Coconut Strawberry Pancakes
Quick & Easy Camping Chili Dogs
Equipment
- Snow Peak Kettle (or other small pot)
Ingredients
- 12 oz package of hot dogs
- 15 oz can of chili
- hot dog buns
- shredded cheddar cheese
- red onion (diced)
Instructions
- Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the hot dogs and cook for a few minutes, rotating them to ensure even cooking on all sides.
- While the hot dogs are cooking, pour the chili into a small pot and heat it over medium heat. Stir the chili often to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Optional – If you have room in your cast iron skillet, you can also toast the hot dog buns if you'd like!
- Once you heat the hot dogs and chili, place a hot dog in a bun and top it with chili, cheddar cheese, and red onion. Enjoy!
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Camp Cooking Starter Kit
Printable camping recipes, a gear checklist, and a camping meal planner so you can go camping with confidence (and good food!)
