This Coney Island dog recipe brings Detroit-style chili dogs to your kitchen with natural-casing hot dogs, soft buns, and a homemade no-bean beef topping. Yellow mustard and finely diced white onion finish each serving with tang and crunch. Credited to Simply Scratch, this version uses ground beef and pantry spices for a hearty lunch or casual game-day meal.
The chili starts with ground beef, onion, and garlic cooked together in a pot. Chili powder, cumin, regular and smoked paprika, and a pinch of cayenne give it a layered seasoning without requiring a long ingredient-shopping trip. Tomato puree creates the sauce, while prepared yellow mustard adds tang directly to the beef mixture as well as on top of the finished dogs.
For a topping that spreads easily over the hot dogs, break the beef into very small crumbles as it cooks. A wooden spoon works, or an OXO Good Grips Ground Meat Chopper can help break apart larger pieces. Use tomato puree as listed rather than substituting tomato sauce without adjusting the recipe.
Give the chili its full simmer: 30 minutes covered, followed by 10 minutes uncovered to thicken. That simmering time comes after cooking the beef, so allow extra time rather than treating this as a 40-minute start-to-finish recipe. Stir occasionally to keep the sauce from catching on the bottom.
Warm the hot dogs and buns, then assemble just before serving so the bread holds up under the chili. Set out extra mustard and finely diced onion for everyone to add to taste. Pair the dogs with garlic Parmesan fries or chilled macaroni salad. If you prefer a cheese-topped variation, try our separate chili dogs recipe.
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Coney Coney Island Dog – Detroit Style
- Total Time: 1:00
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ tablespoons chili powder
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, more or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 small pinches sugar
- 1 (15 ounce) can tomato puree, not tomato sauce
- 3 to 4 tablespoons yellow prepared mustard, or to taste – I use 4 Tbsp
- 8 hotdogs with natural casing, see notes
- 8 hotdog buns
- yellow mustard, for serving
- finely diced white onion, for serving
Instructions
- Place the ground beef, onion and garlic into a medium pot or dutch oven. Cook over medium heat, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat into very small crumbles.
- Once the meat is fully cooked (do not drain off fat) add in the spices, sugar, tomato puree and mustard and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Then uncover, stir and simmer for an additional 10 minutes to thicken the chili.
- Prepare the eight hot dogs until warmed through-out. Serve the hot dogs in warm hot dog buns and top with desired amount of chili, yellow mustard and minced white onion.
- Prep Time: :10
- Cook Time: :50
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American