Chili Dog Pot
Chili, dogs, and cheese in one pot. Camp cooking with a shopping list of four things.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Hot dogs | 1 package (8) | cooler for a weekend, or canned/shelf-stable ones for longer |
|---|---|---|
| Canned chili | 2 cans | about 30 oz total |
| Hot dog buns | 8 | |
| Shredded cheddar | 1/2 lb | a block you shred at camp holds up better |
Method
- Slice the dogs into coins, or leave them whole if you want a real hot dog.
- Dump both cans of chili into the pot and add the dogs. No water. The chili is the liquid.
- Heat over a low flame, stirring often. Chili scorches on a thin camp pot, so keep it moving and keep the flame small.
- When it steams and the dogs are hot through, about ten minutes, pull it off.
- Split a bun on a plate, lay in a dog, spoon chili over it, and top with cheese.
This is a car-camping dinner because the dogs and the cheese need a cooler. Two cans, one pot, one burner, and eight people eat. The chili does double duty as sauce and cooking liquid, so nothing gets added and nothing gets drained.
Low heat matters more than it seems. Canned chili is thick and camp pots are thin, so a hot flame welds a black layer to the bottom before the middle is warm. Slicing the dogs into coins speeds it up and makes portioning easier. For a trip without a cooler, canned hot dogs and a wedge of hard cheese get you the same pot with nothing that spoils.
Packing
Chili cans and buns ride in the food bin. Dogs and cheese go in the cooler. Buns crush, so pack them last and on top.
Variations
- Skip the buns and serve it over instant mashed potatoes or corn chips. Fewer things to crush.
- Shelf-stable version: canned hot dogs and a hard cheese instead of shredded, and the cooler comes out of the plan entirely.
- Diced onion and a few dashes of hot sauce cover for a bland can of chili.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/sonics_chili_dogs-225.asp