A Fun Weeknight Dish The Kids Will Love
This hearty chili cheese dog casserole is another amazing way to use refrigerated crescent rolls to add fun and flair to a weeknight dinner! This recipe works great with your favorite canned chili or when there’s not quite enough homemade chili to be a meal for everyone.
Why You’ll Love This Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
It only takes a few ingredients and minutes of hands-on time to knock out this impressive-looking casserole! Thirty minutes in the oven, and you’ve got something new and different on the table for the family!
You’ll need a tube of your favorite refrigerated crescent rolls, a package of eight of your favorite hot dogs, eight slices of cheese, and about four cups of homemade chili or two 15-ounce cans of your favorite brand of chili.
How To Make Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
Separate the crescent rolls into eight triangles, then place a slice of cheese and a hotdog across the wide end of the crescent and roll it up.
Our favorite frankfurters are Oscar Meyer 100% beef uncured hotdogs. They have no nitrites or nitrates and no artificial preservatives. We think they have great flavor.
You can use any sliced cheese you want. I didn’t have American cheese slices, so I used our old standby, sharp cheddar cheese slices. They’re a little less pliable than American cheese slices, but I held each slice between my hands for a few seconds to warm them before I rolled up the hotdogs, and they were very cooperative!
Now, line up those hotdogs in a nine-by-thirteen casserole dish. A glass pan works really well because you can peek at the bottom to make sure the rolls are nicely baked before you serve them. You do not want soggy, underbaked dough in your chili cheese dog casserole.
You need to leave a little space between the wrapped hotdogs to allow the dough to puff up as it bakes, so you may need to get a little artful in arranging them so there’s room between the dogs in the casserole dish.
Since there were just two of us, I didn’t use a full package of eight hotdogs. I baked the leftover crescent rolls alongside the casserole, and Papa enjoyed eating them! I could have made less, but Papa and I run on leftovers (we call ’em plan-overs,) so it was nice to cook once and eat twice or more again.
The Mystery Of Hog Dog/ Hot Dog Bun Ratio Explained
I thought I’d explain the sixth chili cheese dog in the casserole if you even noticed. Why six?
Does it bug anyone else that hot dogs come in packs of ten, and their bun partners come in packages of eight? Or is it just me? I’m no math whiz, but I figure it takes five packs of buns for every four packs of dogs to come out even. (There’s some mathematical principle embedded in that computation.)
As usually happens, there is a solid explanation for this disparity, and this little article explains why it happens. Until the weiner and bun powers-that-be come to an agreement, I will be freezing one hotdog out of every inner pack of five. I also freeze the buns in heavy Ziploc bags because hotdogs are only an occasional treat.
Now, I need to investigate why crescent rolls are packaged in eights.
By the way, the only way to cook hotdogs today is in an air fryer! They’re as good as grilled, and no waiting!
Finish Making The Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
Ladle the chili between the cheese dogs, not on top of them. The rolls must be exposed to the oven’s heat to get all golden brown and yummy looking. You may not need the entire contents of both cans of chili. Instead of drowning them, heat that chili and serve it alongside the casserole for spooning on top.
This is our time-tested old recipe for chili. We never had any complaints, so use it if you like, or make your own exactly how you want it!
Bake the chili cheese dog casserole in a 375-degree oven for about thirty minutes. Make sure the bottom of the chili dogs is completely baked. Remove the casserole from the oven, and if you like, brush a little melted butter on each roll, sprinkle them with a little garlic salt or garlic powder, and a bit of parsley for some pretty color.
This casserole would be perfect for a tailgate or fifth-quarter get-together! So full of warm chili-cheesy goodness, you’ll love it, and the whole family will, too!
We love family-friendly food around here, especially easy recipes with few dishes to wash! Here are some of our most popular posts. Easy One Pot CLassic American Goulash, Easy Skillet Ground Beef Stroganoff, Runza Casserole.
Printable Recipe:
Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
A cozy casserole that's easy to make with hotdogs, cheese, refrigerated crescent rolls, and chili.
Ingredients
- One package of eight hotdogs
- One tube of refrigerated crescent roll dough
- Eight slices of cheese, American or Cheddar
- 2 cans of your favorite chili, or about 4 cups of homemade chili
- Melted butter, optional
- Garlic powder or garlic salt to sprinkle on top, optional
- Parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Grease a 13" by 9" casserole; glass is great, so you can peek at the bottom and make sure the crescent rolls are fully baked.
- Separate the crescent rolls into eight triangles.
- Put a slice of cheese and a hotdog across the wide end of the crescent roll and roll it up.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough, hotdogs, and cheese.
- Put the rolled-up hotdogs in the casserole dish and spoon or ladle the chili around the chile dogs, not on top of them.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the crescent rolls are fully baked and golden brown.
- If desired, brush the tops of the crescent rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder or garlic salt and parsley for garnish.
- Refrigerate any leftovers promptly.
- Reheat in the oven or microwave.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 571Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 95mgSodium: 1326mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 27g
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