Oven Hot Dogs

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I love hot dogs. I mean, I really love hot dogs. I think that’s probably because of oven hot dogs.

I know, they sound crazy. And you have to eat them with a fork and knife. But I promise oven hot dogs are absolutely delicious. My dad made these for us, and I think his mom started the trend when he was a kid. And they aren’t only delicious out of nostalgia–my husband loves them, and my brother told me his wife requests oven hot dogs every time they’re lost for what to eat.

Because this is a family recipe, I took step-by-step photos. Hopefully my dad will comment telling me what I did wrong because mine still never taste as good as his! It’s funny how that always happens, right?



Here’s what you need: hot dogs, hot dog buns, mayonnaise, mustard, sweet relish, chili, cheese, and diced onions.



Cover the inside of the buns with mayonnaise. Lots of mayonnaise!



Add the hot dogs and squish them together in a baking dish. Normally there would be one more, but, um… I ate it before it made it to the pan…

A 9×13″ pan is perfect for eight hot dogs! We like ’em really packed in there.



Add a bit of mustard if that’s your thing.



Now add sweet relish! But I think I messed up–I think the sweet relish is better when put at the bottom of the bun with the mayonnaise.

Edit: My sister, who claims to have “perfected the OHDs,” says I didn’t use enough relish! And, actually, I didn’t–but that was all I had left in the jar.

Edit 2: A few comments have complained that the relish was overwhelming, so proceed with caution! I love sweet relish, but if you don’t you might want to use less or switch to dill.



Top with chili! Just cold chili straight from the can.

I really dislike beans and have tried chili without beans, but that just doesnt’ taste right for oven hot dogs.

Second edit: Victoria again said that I need more chili and need to be messier. The hot dogs should barely be able to handle all the stuff you put on top and should be falling apart when they come out of the oven! My perfectionist tendencies get in the way of that, so please get a bit crazier.



Top with grated cheddar.



Dice your onions. My dad always made a few without onions for kids, but when he finally convinced me to try them with onions I realized that’s the way to go.



Throw on the onions



Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.



And now you’re done! The top with be crispy, which is why you need a fork and knife. Delicious.

Oven Hot Dogs

8 hot dogs

8 hot dog buns

1 can of chili

1/2 an onion, diced

cheddar cheese

mayonnaise

mustard

sweet relish Line inside of hot dog buns with mayonnaise and sweet relish. Evenly add mustard. Fill with hot dogs and squish into a 13×9″ baking pan. Top hot dogs with chili, cheese, and diced onion. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Carefully remove from the pan with a spatula–I dropped one on the floor the other day :(