Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Make the Chili:
- Brown ground beef in a medium pot over medium-high heat for 7-10 minutes, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain excess fat.
- Add Kinder's Woodfired Chili Seasoning and stir to coat the meat evenly. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in water or broth, undrained diced tomatoes, and kidney beans. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil for 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for at least 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili thickens and flavors deepen. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes.
- Grill and Assemble:
- Preheat grill to 400-425 degrees F. Using two-zone heat (direct and indirect), grill hot dogs to your preference — about 2-3 minutes on the direct side until skin is lightly charred and blistered.
- Toast buns cut-side down on the grill for 30-60 seconds if desired.
- Place each hot dog in a bun. Ladle a generous spoonful of Woodfired Chili over the hot dog. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onions. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Notes
- ### For the chili
- Simmer uncovered, not covered. The whole point of the long simmer is that the liquid reduces and the chili thickens. A lid traps steam and keeps the chili loose — fine for bowl chili, wrong for bun chili. Crack the lid or leave it off.
- Reduce past "saucy." If the chili still looks like soup at 30 minutes, keep going. You want it thick enough that a ladle holds its shape on the hot dog instead of pooling in the bun.
- ### For the hot dog
- Score the skin, diagonally. Three or four shallow cuts per side before the grill — not deep. The cuts open up over heat, catch more char, and stop the dog from splitting down the middle.
- All-beef dogs, full char. A pale, steamed-looking hot dog is the enemy. Keep it over direct heat until you see actual blister and snap on the skin. That's the flavor note that carries through the chili.
- ### For the build
- Cheese twice, not once. A pinch of shredded cheddar on the bottom of the bun under the hot dog, more on top of the chili. The bottom melts into the bread and works as a moisture barrier against the chili. The top melts into the ladle.
- Split-top or brioche buns hold up. A standard side-load hot dog bun can collapse under a real ladle of chili. A split-top bun or a brioche hot dog bun has more structural spine for the topping load.
- This is the centerpiece of a game-day or backyard-cookout spread. Run the extra chili into a second round — spoon it over corn chips with more cheddar for a nacho station, or keep a warm pot on the counter for a build-your-own chili dog bar with mustard, diced white onion, and sliced jalapeño on the side.
- On the plate, go cold-side contrast: coleslaw or potato salad for crunch, pickles for acid, and something cold to drink — a lager, a Mexican Coke, or a margarita all work. For another Kinder's Woodfired build on the same menu, the Woodfired Garlic Birria Tacos share the same smoky backbone and run on the same crowd.
- The woodfired chili cheese dog doesn't assemble-and-store well — the chili is the part that keeps. The assembled dogs don't.
- Chili: airtight container, up to 5 days refrigerated, or 3 months frozen. Reheat on the stovetop over low heat with a splash of water or broth to loosen it back up.
- Hot dogs: best eaten fresh off the grill. A leftover dog can be sliced into the reheated chili to make chili-mac or a chili-topped baked potato.
- Assembled dogs: don't hold. The bun goes soggy within minutes. Build to order.