Who doesn’t love a good chili dog?  It would be hard to improve on it, so why try?  Until, you are like me and surfing “Pinterest” and see an inspiration:  Chili Dog Casserole!  I was so excited about the idea that I posted it on my personal facebook page about my upcoming recipe test.  It sparked A LOT of interest!  However, after further perusing the recipe I had found, I was disappointed to find that it has tortillas in it?  No hotdog buns?  This  was a problem so I went on a search to find the perfect recipe for what could be my new favorite indulgement!

Obviously, the internet was my best bet and after looking at several recipes, I found one that looked close to what I expected to include in a good chili dog casserole.  It came from Food.com and I will include the link to the original recipe at the bottom of the page.

As usual, I had to make changes!  For example, some of the reviews suggested toasting the buns so it wouldn’t get soggy so I thought that was a great idea.  But my biggest change came in the quantity of the hot dogs (I wanted more) and how they were prepared.  I thought sauteing them with some onion would be much tastier than putting them in raw and I think I was right on that one!  (Note:  I did also half the recipe and it still made enough for 6  portions)  So here is my final recipe with all my “tweaks”.

Ingredients

Assemble ingredients and preheat oven to 350.

Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.  Cut hot dogs into bite size pieces.

Saute 1/2 cup onion in 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil for about 5 minutes.  Add hot dogs and saute until nicely browned.

Tear up the hot dog buns and arrange the pieces in the bottom of the dish evenly.  (Note:  I toasted my buns first based on reviews but I don’t think I will next time….I like a little bit of soggy bun 🙂

Layer the hot dog pieces over the buns.

Pour the chili (stir the chili well first) over the hot dogs, , then spread the mustard over the chili.

Top off with the cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes

Serve with your favorites sides and Bon Appetit!

Bottom Line:

This was a nice twist on an old favorite and I will probably make it again sometime.  Again, it is hard to improve on a good old-fashioned chili dog but this was a close runner up and I think this would be an awesome tailgate or Super Bowl recipe!  My husband, the meat lover, of course loved it.  It isn’t gourmet, it isn’t healthy, but it sure was fun to eat!  Change things around by adding your other favorite toppings like relish or kraut and make this dish your own!  Let me know how it works in your kitchen and Keep On Cooking!

Read more: <a href=”http://www.food.com/recipe/chili-dog-casserole-43068?oc=linkback”>http://www.food.com/recipe/chili-dog-casserole-43068?oc=linkback</a&gt;