In West Virginia, we take hot dog toppings very seriously. There are many great places in the state to buy deliciously topped hot dogs. What you say when ordering one of those toppings is dependent on where you are in the state. There is a demarcation line that lies somewhere between the cities Parkersburg and Charleston that separates those in the north that refer to a ground beef laden topping as sauce from the those in the south that call it chili.
Several years ago, I moved from West Virginia to the southeastern U.S. where everyone calls it chili.
I must admit that I rarely order a hot dog with chili (or sauce) when I eat out. I am very picky about hot dog sauce/chili and have only eaten at a few establishments over the years that had a chili or sauce that I really liked.
I loved my mom’s hot dog sauce though. So, if I want a hot dog with sauce, I try to recreate her sauce and eat my hot dog at home.
After discovering I was missing kidney beans to make my mom’s hot dog sauce and inspired by the yummy chili served on the hot dogs at Cardin’s Drive-In near Knoxville, TN, I improvised a tasty hot dog topping that I call a chili sauce (with black beans).
What is my obsession with putting beans into hot dog sauce? Well, it started as just something that my mom did mostly as a thickener and to reduce the cost of the sauce. However, it is now also about the nutritional value and added fiber that the beans bring to the sauce. It assuages my guilt of adding a meat topping to meat.
The chili sauce hot dog is great topped with freshly diced sweet onion or creamy cole slaw. Actually, I think whatever chili sauce dog topping you like would work on this lightly sweet with some heat chili sauce. Yes, sweet heat…I am cooking in the South.
The chili sauce is a great topper for french fries, tater tots, nachos, hamburgers, and I am sure many other things. Or, you could just eat it by itself.
Hot Dog Chili Sauce with Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 2 tsp. +/- season salt
- 1/4 c. dried onion
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- pinch of ground cayenne or chipotle pepper (optional, only if desired)
- 1/3 c. water
- 1 can concentrated tomato soup
- 1/2 to 3/4 c. ketchup
- 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- brown sugar, to taste only if needed
- 1 can lower sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in a heavy bottomed large skillet adding 1 tsp. of season salt as it browns.
- Drain as needed and return to skillet.
- Add dried onion and tomato paste and stir so that the tomato paste can cook briefly before adding paprika, turmeric, chili powder, and ground hot pepper (if desired).
- Stir in water and allow to boil for a couple a minutes before adding soup, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Add black beans and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Cook for a couple of minutes then taste before adding more season salt and brown sugar, if desired If brown sugar is desired, add a tablespoon at a time until desired sweetness is achieved.
- Serve warm.
You should adjust the seasoning to satisfy your taste pallet. Start with a minimal amount of seasoning if you are not sure and add more until you are happy with the flavor.
I like to use low sodium ingredients to control the amount of sodium as much as possible, but any canned beans, ketchup, etc. would be great in this dish.