Quick & Easy – Chili Cheese Hot Dog Casserole (two ways!)

You can do this Chili Cheese Dog Casserole 2 ways – both ways are so very good! You may already have everything on hand to make it too. The flavor along with it’s simplicity & quick preparation has all the makings of a winning recipe. If you like chili cheese dogs, you’re gonna fall in love with this casserole!

I have loved to cook ever since I made my very first recipe success as a kid – but when my husband passed away, I stopped cooking all together for a couple months. Bojangles was my family’s best friend. But then, I realized I missed cooking… so slowly, I started easing back in. Those of you who have followed me for some time already know how much I love easy recipes just as much as I love cooking things completely from scratch with no shortcuts. For me, being a young recent widow with 3 children – easing back into cooking meant lots of simple & fast recipes. This Chili Cheese Dog Casserole has turned into a favorite around here because it fits in that category oh-so-well… and it’s actually delicious. Like really delicious.

The original recipe came from the Pillsbury website – but I didn’t think it turned out that well as written, so I played around with it a little and the dish went from ‘eh‘ to ‘oh wow‘. Sometimes I put the seasoned biscuits on top and sometimes I go a whole different route & sprinkle tater tots over the top instead. They’re both so good though, so sometimes I don’t choose at all and just go for both of them. Yup – biscuits on one side & tater tots on the other. I sometimes like a little carbs to go with my carbs. 😉

Wanna make it?

Of course you do!

Here’s what you need. Well, that’s what you need if you’re doing that biscuit version. If you are doing the tot version, just imagine those biscuit cans are frozen taters tots instead. K?

The first step is to make your topping for the casserole – either biscuits or tots, or both. In the original recipe, it calls for biscuits & it tells you to cook them on top of the casserole while it bakes. Bad idea. If you do that, then the biscuits don’t get cooked all the way and you have raw dough as your topping. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m not so much for eating raw dough. The same thing goes for the tater tots – if you cook them on top of the casserole, the texture is super unpleasant… not awesome like a tater tot should be.

For the biscuits, use the grands jr. kind – and cut each biscuit into 4ths. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in the microwave & whisk in  2 tablespoons of garlic powder & 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning. Dip the biscuits in the butter mixture, & bake according to the can directions, cutting back the cooking time by a few minutes – to where they biscuits are cooked, but lightly browned – not golden browned. You want them done, but not too brown yet. If you’re using tots, then cook those according to the package directions.

While those are baking, lets get the casserole going. In a large bowl, combine 1 can of chili with beans with 1 can of chili without beans. Slice up 1 package of all beef hot dogs & stir those in too.

Spread the mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish. Top with 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Or you can use a little more cheese than that – I won’t tell anyone.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

On top of your chili cheese dog casserole, arrange either the mostly cooked biscuits or the fully cooked tots… or if you’re like me, do half & half.

Return the casserole to the oven for 5 minutes. Let cool for a couple minutes before serving.

YUM!

Print Pin

Chili Cheese Hot Dog Casserole (two ways!)

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 package of all beef hot dogs 8 hot dogs
• 1 15 oz can of chili with beans
• 1 15 oz can of chili without beans
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• cooked tater tots
• 1 can of Grands Jr. biscuits optional (original recipe calls for 2 cans, I think it's too much)
• 1/2 stick of melted butter optional - for the biscuit topping
• 2 tablespoons of garlic powder optional
• 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning optional

Instructions

• Prepare whichever topping you would like on your casserole - either precook the tater tots or mix the melted butter with the seasonings & bake (refer to the post for more information).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine both cans of chili in a bowl. Slice the hot dogs into 1/2" to 3/4" rounds, & mix those in too. Spread the mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish - top with 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Bake for 15 minutes. Top with the precooked tots or seasoned biscuit pieces & bake for another 5 minutes. Cool for a couple minutes, & then serve hot.