Have you ditched the carbs and sugar in your diet? If so, don’t worry! You can stay on your Keto plan and still enjoy a delicious Chili Dog with this Low Carb Chili Dog Casserole.
Hot dogs (and burgers, of course) really are the ultimate summer cook-out food. My kids request them for dinner all the time.
We’ve been cooking out a lot lately. With Labor Day around the corner, I figured it was time for me to come up with a way the entire family could enjoy chili dogs again. (Hubby and I are not eating bread or sugar products right now, so a traditional hot dog in a bun is off the table.)
In the past, I would buy canned chili for our chili dogs, but even the canned bean-less chili’s have quite a few carbs in them, so it’s better to make my own version of a low carb chili.
Low Carb Chili Dog Bake
This Low Carb Hot Dog Chili recipe turned out sooo good, you would never know it was low carb!
I combined the low carb chili with hot dogs, cheese and onions for the most amazing low carb casserole ever!
After baking the hot dogs with all the chili, cheese and onions, I was definitely in chili dog heaven. (and yes, there is such a thing!)
How good does Low Carb Chili Dog Casserole look? You definitely won’t miss the bun.
Nutrition Information for Keto Chili Dog Casserole:
Ok, so the big question I get is: How many carbs are in this low carb chili dog casserole?
The Answer?
Well, unfortunately I can’t give you hard numbers as it will vary a tiny bit based on the ingredients you choose to use.
But… If you make it exactly as the recipe below it comes to 498 calories, 8 net carbs, 37 grams of fat, 33 grams of protein and 5 grams of sugar. (Per serving – 6 servings in the dish)
Want to lower the fat count? Use less cheese.
Want to lower the carbs? Look for the lowest carb hot dogs and use fewer onions.
Ingredients in this Keto Chili Dog Casserole
Want to give this chili dog casserole a try? Just copy and paste the ingredients listed below to your grocery list. Easy peasy!
- 8 Beef Hot Dogs
- Cheddar cheese (save carbs by shredding your own)
- 1 pound ground beef
- garlic cloves
- 1 large bell pepper
- large onion
- chili powder
- cumin
- Worcestershire sauce
- Sugar substitute (lost of people leave this out, but I think it adds an authentic flavor to the chilidog sauce.)
- celery salt
- tomato sauce
- tomato paste
How to Make this Low Carb Chili Dog Casserole
The reason this recipe is so yummy and low carb too is partly because of the homemade chili dog sauce.
You could make this chili dog bake with commercially prepared chili dog sauce. It would taste great too, but that sauce from the can has quite a few more carbs than my recipe does. Making your own chili is slightly more work, but oh, so rewarding!
(Scroll to the bottom for a printable recipe card.)
- To make this Keto Chili Dog Casserole, start by browning the meat with the peppers, onions, and garlic. Add the spices, tomato sauce, paste, and water. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Once the chili is done, an optional step, but something I recommend, is to use an immersion blender or food processor to chop the chili into small pieces, as authentic chili sauce would be.
- Assemble the casserole by spreading prewarmed/room temp hot dogs flat on the bottom of a 7 x 9 casserole dish. (if your hot dogs come straight from the fridge, you may need to increase the baking time.)
- Cover the dogs with chili. (You should have enough chili to reserve a bit if you have anyone eating regular hot dogs and wants chili on top. Otherwise, use it all.) Spread 1 cup of cheese over chili and top with remaining onion.
- Bake at 400 F for about 15 to 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly!
Want to see the recipe in action? Check out all the steps in the video below!
Can you make this Low Carb Chili Dog Casserole in the Slow Cooker?
You can make the chili dog casserole in the crockpot, however, the instruction will be a bit different.
1. Start by browning the ground beef with the garlic, onion, and peppers in a skillet on the stovetop.
2. One browned, add the ground beef to the slow cooker. Add the rest of the spices, plus tomato sauce, paste, and water. Use an immersion blender to chop the sauce in to fine pieces.
3. Top with hot dogs and cheese and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4.
4. Stir before serving and top with additional cheese and onions if desired.
How Long Will this Chili Dog Casserole Last in the Fridge?
Once cooked, this casserole will last 3 to 4 days in the fridge
Can I Freeze this Chili Dog Casserole
Yes, you can definitely freeze this keto Chili Dog Casserole. There are 3 ways to freeze it.
- Let chili cool significantly, package it up in 1 to 2 servings into a freezer bag, taking care to remove all the air from the bag. Then when ready to eat, just microwave it on medium power until defrosted. Transfer to a bowl and continue to heat until warmed through.
- Create the casserole as directed. Sto before baking. Wrap tightly with foil and freeze. When ready to eat, remove from freezer and let thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until everything is hot and bubbly.
- The 3rd way, (recommended) is to prepare the recipe up to assembling the casserole. (So just cook the chili.) Let chili cool significantly, package it up into a freezer bag, taking care to remove all the air and freeze.
- When ready to make the casserole, put the frozen bag in the fridge in the morning to defrost. Then when ready to cook, place chili in the microwave to finish warming. Assemble the casserole and bake as directed in the recipe
Other Low Carb Recipes You Will Love:
- Low Carb Green Chile Enchilada Soup
- The Best Spinach Salad! (low carb)
- Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps
- Spicy Cajun Baked Shrimp
- Avocado and Bacon Chicken Salad
Keto Chili Dog Casserole Variations
This is a great casserole for the family as everyone loves chili dogs and won’t miss the buns. However, you can serve it so many ways to satisfy everyone in the family.
- Hungry teenage boys, that eat you out of the house? Serve it over hot dog buns and add chili beans!
- If you’re gluten-free instead of low carb, this would be awesome with corn chips. Just cut the hot dogs into smaller slices and scoop the chili, franks, and cheese up with the chips.
- Or spoon the chili dog bake right into a snack-size bag of chips! Like these walking frito pies.)
Pin this Keto Chili Dog Casserole Recipe here:
If you just want a low carb chili recipe, be sure to check out this Keto Chili Recipe.
Low Carb Chili Dog Casserole
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: low carb
- Method: stovetop/oven
Description
Low Carb Chili Dog Casserole: Ditch the carbs with this Low Carb Chili Dog Bake! It’s the best hot dog chili ever and bonus: It’s low carb! (8 carbs or less per serving if you use beef franks.)
Ingredients
For the chili:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 large bell pepper
- about 3/4 of a large onion, diced (use more if you like sauteed onion)
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt (You could cheat and just use 2 tbs of a chili spice mix in place of the 4 spices above.)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire
- 1 tbs of sugar or sugar substitute (12 carbs in a tbs of sugar, fyi)
- 1/2 tsp celery salt
- 1 cup of tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbs tomato paste
For the casserole:
- 8 Beef Hot Dogs sliced longways down the middle and cut in half
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or cheddar blend cheese (or more if you like a lot of cheese)
- extra diced onions for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the ground beef, 2/3 of the chopped onions, peppers and garlic in large frying pan and saute until ground beef is browned. Drain fat.
- Add spices, Worcestershire, sugar, tomato sauce, tomato paste and water to the pan. stir to combine and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Optional step, but totally makes it just like real hot dog chili: Using a food processor or immersion blender, process the chili until the beef is in very small pieces.
- Lay hot dogs flat on the bottom of a 7 x 9 casserole dish. Cover with chili. (you should have enough to reserve a bit for those that are eating regular hot dogs and want chili.) Spread 1 cup of cheese over chili and top with remaining onion.
- Bake at 400 F for about 15 to 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly!
Serve and Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 498
- Sugar: 5
- Fat: 37
- Carbohydrates: 8
- Protein: 33
Keywords: low carb, keto, chili dog
The kids definitely thought these were the best chili dogs ever!
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Melanie Walsh says
Yum! I know my family would love this. I got into a little bit of a rut during the summer. This is a grew way to mix it up.
kristi dominguez says
Yum! The hubs and kiddos would love this recipe!
Housewife Eclectic says
This looks so good! My husband would love it!
bxcrochet says
That looks so good and cheesy. I love that it is low carb too.
Michelle F.
Erica S (EricasRecipes.com) says
Homemade chili is so much better than canned to begin with, and your recipe sounds delicious!
MikiHope says
I know I would love this! Especially the low carb and sugar (I am a diabetic). I have never seen that brand of hot dog but I will look for them.
Julie is Coco and Cocoa says
Love the idea of making chili dogs low carb! Saving this idea for the weekend.
Liz Mays says
Ooo yum, I love the cumin in there. This looks great and I'm all for the low-carb!
Lucy T says
I bet my kids would love this! I haven't convinced myself to go low-carb yet but I still think would be a winner dinner for us!
plussizeannie says
Ooh!! This looks so good!!! I shared this in a Recipe Roundup on my blog, Plus Size to Downsized!!! Thanks so much for the great ideas!
Emily says
How many servings is this recipe?
Jamie says
6 to 8 maybe? depends how big your servings are.
Whitney says
You said it was 8 carbs per serving, so what was the serving size you had in mind for those macros?
Jill Bailey says
This is SO GOOD! I'm trying to go as low carb as I can and with this recipe (and ones like it), it makes it a lot easier. I did use different hot dogs (Oscar Mayer Selects Angus Beef) for even lower carbs (2g per link). I think I could eat this chili without the hot dogs honestly, haha! Thank you for posting and sharing!
RetiredBandMan says
I agree that using a brand of hot dog with fewer carbs is a great idea, thanks.
Nicole says
Hi. This recipe looks amazing. By any chance do you have the nutitional information for this?
Jamie says
Sorry, If it’s not in the post, I didn’t save it. To get the nutrition info, go to my fitness pal and enter the ingredients.
~Jamie
kari says
Nutrition Facts
Servings 7.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 523
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 40 g 61 %
Saturated Fat 16 g 81 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 121 mg 40 %
Sodium 1699 mg 71 %
Potassium 140 mg 4 %
Total Carbohydrate 9 g 3 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g 6 %
Sugars 3 g
Protein 33 g 67 %
Vitamin A 19 %
Vitamin C 5 %
Calcium 23 %
Iron 18 %
Jamie says
Thanks Kari!
Brittney D Peiffer says
Was this with beef hot dogs?
Enjoli says
What’s considered a serving??
Jamie says
a generous serving spoonful
Kendra says
Are you using a 13×9, or 7×9? Your dish looks like a 13×9, but the recipe says to use the smaller one.
Jamie says
The pyrex dish I used is 25 centimeters by 15 centimeters which is just about 9.8 x 6.5. If you watch the little video, you’ll see at about 1 minute in, how the hot dogs fit in my dish.
When you cover the hot dogs with chili you should have enough to reserve a bit for those that are eating regular hot dogs and want chili, or you can use it all.
~Jamie
Me says
Should we use red or green bell pepper? The recipe doesn’t specify, but a red one is used in the video. Thanks.
Jamie says
go with red, they taste better. (unless you prefer green peppers.) Also when it comes to printing stuff on the internet, just go to a site called print friendly. you can print anything.
Tow Truck Guy says
This is genius! I am so hungry right now. Throw some fresh sliced jalapenos on top and some tater tots on the side and I set for life.
Tony says
Tater tots would defeat the purpose of eating this low carb dish though
Debbie says
This on top of tater tots.. Perfect….
Taylor says
Lol
Debby says
What about on top of radish hash browns?
Lindsey Brandon says
Making this right now while babies sleep. Excited to eat it tonight! Thank you!
Jamie says
Hope you enjoyed it!
ASHY says
Made tonight, turned out great. The chili dog saice was amazing! I was afraid with not grilling hot dogs on stovetop before baking but it didn’t make a difference.
The sauceuphoria was a little runny, I must not have gotten all the grease drained.
Totally worth marinating sauce on stovetop, thanks for the share
Jamie says
If the chili seems too watery, just cook it a few minutes longer next time.
~Jamie
Chanda says
I use Aldis park view cheese hot dogs and they have 1net carb per dog! I can’t wait to try this recipe…it looks so yummy!
yogamom says
This is absolutely delicious. We love chili dogs but need to stay low carb and diabetic friendly. The only thing I omitted was the celery salt (didn’t have on hand). The canned chili always has a bitter aftertaste and of course all the carbs/fat. Thanks for such a great recipe, we will definitely be enjoying this on a regular basis.
Dwayne says
I used Applegate Natural Uncured Beef Hot Dogs. They do not have any fillers or carbs(no sugar, no corn syrup, starch etc). They are expensive but IMO worth it.
When I made this recipe, it came out of the oven with too much liquid in the bottom. I only used half a cup of water and I drained most of the grease from the hamburger. I will try omitting water next time.
Jamie says
I’ve never tried those hot dogs, that sounds good. If your chili is too liquidy you could also try simmering it a bit longer so that it opens up more.
Ashley Roberson says
the BarS Hot Dogs are good. and affordable. Less than $1.50 for a pack. If you want to go the turkey route the Jenni-O Hot dogs aren’t bad and again less than $1.50 per pack.
Leslie says
This was sooooo good!!! I found the hot dogs in the produce area near the deli where they slice the meat for you!
Stephanie says
I found a low carb corn bread recipe and then assembled this in layers. Dogs, cornbread batter, chilli, cheese, repeat. It was amazing
Dani says
Made this tonight!!!!!! Delicious. Thank you so much.
Courtney Botts says
I am just curious of the nutrition facts for the low carb chili dog bake casserole. Thanks.
Jamie says
If you need them, you can go to my fitness pal and enter the ingredients.
Linda says
Just got mine out of the oven. This is the 2nd time I’m making it. This time I fried the hot dogs in a dry frying pan while I was simmering the chili sauce for eye and taste appeal. I ran out of tomato sauce and used Heintz low sugar Catsup with a dab of French’s mustard and added a little water for consistency then lowed the water amount from 1 cup to 3/4 cup. The chili thickness was perfect.. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Trisja says
Would this still tast good without any sweetener at all? I have cut sugar from my diet and can’t seem to find an artificial sweetener that I can stand the flavor of ??
Jamie says
I am sure it will be fine, the chili just won’t taste the same. Have you tried swerve sweetener? 1 tbs of this in the chili does not taste weird.
Trisja says
I haven’t. I have looked at it but am just scared to buy a bag ?. I might try it ☺️
Jamie says
I saw swerve at my local safeway for a great price recently. You might check your grocery stores. Swerve is a is a combination of erythritol and oligosaccharides. I really haven’t found anything yet to cook and bake with that I like better.
Andi says
Xylitol is an all natural sweetner with absolutely no
Bitter after taste. It looks and taste exactly like real sugar and Im very critical
Of artifical sweetners, and I
FIND IT 100% BETTER THAN STEVIA. TRY IT!
Norm says
I made this two nights ago. I thought it was great. Definitely making this again.
Ashley Roberson says
Going to try this tonight. I amcheating and using the pack of chili seasoning but instead of tomato juice/paste, I am going to use V8 Juice and using Jenni-o turkey + ground turkey instead. Can’t wait to try!
Mike says
Sorry, did not enjoy that much. Will try it again but omitting the sugar. It tasted like beef and sweet ketchup. Even after adding like 5TBSP of chili powder and extra salt and black pepper.
Jamie says
There are several types of chili recipes. This is a hotdog chili recipe which is supposed to be slightly sweeter and less spicy.
Vickie says
I made this a bit over a week ago, hubby and I both liked it. Our 18 year old grandson finished off the other half the next day (was supposed to be our lunch…oh well..lol)! Hubby wants me to make this again tonight. Thank you for this recipe!
Lisa says
Wondering how this would freeze
Jamie says
I have not frozen it myself, but I bet it would freeze great!
Amanda Collins says
This was delicious. My son didn’t like the combo of spices, but he is the pickiest eater ever. We grown-ups loved it.
Deziray says
I am working on loosing weight and I have been told that the best way to loose weight is to limit your carb intake, exercise regularly, and drink plenty of water. I am wanting to know how much of this I could have for one serving? Please no negative comments!
Jenny R. says
I made this a few nights ago — SO DELICIOUS. I’m not usually a leftovers kind of person, but even the leftovers for this were as good as the night I made it. Don’t skimp on your hot dog choice, I went with Hebrew Nationals (2 carbs each) but sooo worth it! Thank you for this recipe!!
★★★★★
Gina says
Made this tonight for dinner. It was wonderful! The only thing I did differant was I sliced the hot dogs into bite size pieces. This was a winner? thanks for sharing.
Marlene says
Is the calorie count 523 for 2 chili dogs with buns?
Jamie says
This is a bunless chili dog bake recipe.
Kristi says
It was so good! We doubled the recipe, so slightly more carbs, but the pan is empty and I staying with my carb count! Will definitely make again!
Jamie says
glad you liked it!
Nancy says
The chili is AMAZING. By far the best “home-made” – the ingredient combinations are perfect. Next time I am going to triple the recipe and make a meal of the chili itself. All around outstanding recipe. Thank you!
★★★★★
Jamie says
Thank you! I enjoy the chili too! I’ve got another post for low carb chili that you might like. Very similar to this recipe, but with a few tweaks. That recipe can be found here: https://www.scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/game-day-food-low-carb-chili-recipe/
dandydogs says
I tried this recipe today. My family love this low carb chili dog, perfect for gathering.
Christina says
This was amazing and really brought me back to my childhood and made me nostalgic. Easy to hide veggies too and my 10 YO son loved it. Great idea!
★★★★★
Enjoli says
What’s the nutritional value? I can’t find it in fitness pal and when you enter the ingredients it comes out hella high carbs
Joyce says
LOVE this recipe! Going Keto left me hungering for some old “grab in a dash” standbys, i.e. Dairy Queen Chili Cheese dog. I have to tell you THIS IS FAR SUPERIOR and has whittled that memory away! Thank you!
★★★★★
Jamie says
So happy to hear that – It’s a favorite of mine too!
Stephanie says
I live a chili dog and just cut carbs/sugar from my diet. Can’t wait to try it. One suggestion that is a little easier than using the food processor to make the chili finer. But the ground beef in a bowl and cover it with water for about 20 minutes. I do it all the time and the chili texture is spot on. Thanks for sharing!
Jamie says
Love the tip, thanks!
Faith says
My husband and I are making the low-carb chili cheese hotdog bake tonight and I just want to say this recipe is amazing and I can’t wait to see more recipes from Because I am a type two diabetic
★★★★★
Jamie says
I am so glad liked it!
Erin says
I have made this several times. My husband and I love it! Thanks!
★★★★★
Gwen Frazier says
Great idea! Being from Texas this needed a LOT more chili powder, so I would definitely say to taste it after it has simmered a little. I left out the green pepper too to cut down on carbs. Really good recipe
★★★★★
Sara says
Made this tonight! Used half the water, didn’t drain the hamburger grease (on the keto diet). Used the chili mix instead of the spices listed. Absolutely Delish! My husband also enjoyed it, and he isn’t on a diet! Calculated with the ingredients I used… 7net carbs per serving. 4 servings total. 2 hotdogs per serving.
Cyndi says
Made this for dinner. The hot dog chili sauce is really good. I used Swerve for the sweetener instead of sugar. My husband loved it. Definitely going into regular circulation.
★★★★
Mel says
This was so delicious!! #KidApproved I left the bell pepper out, used Truvia, ended up putting 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce and 2 tbs tomato paste both on accident and it still turned out amazing! This will definitely be a fave on our list!!
★★★★★
Jamie says
Thanks Mel, I’m glad you liked it!
nellie says
family loved this one, thanks for posting
★★★★★
jennifer says
6 months pist op VSG. I was so excited to cook this tonight and it did not let me or my family down. Seriously sooo good!
★★★★★
Julie Sullivan says
Going to make this tonight. However we have some homemade chili beans (so good!) that have been in our freezer for some time and will use those for now and then do the low carb version next time. As soon as I told my husband about this recipe, he was fully on board with making it and has been looking forward to it ever since then. I am really interested to see how it is going to turn out. Looks delicious!
Jamie says
Thanks, hope you like it! (I always keep chili beans on hand to serve to the kids!)
Rhonda says
My husfriend(long time boyfriend) and I love this recipe! It’s in my weekly rotation for low carb dinners. I do like to add about a 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes to give it a slight kick! Then top with sour cream! So delish!!
★★★★★
Jim O'Brien says
Top notch. I added some coriander, cilantro, stevia liquid for the sweetener, and 2 chiles de arbol to spice it up more. I made it in a porcelain bread pan in two layers because the hot dog pack only held five hot dogs. Very tasty! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Rochelle says
Made this last night and it was great! Thank you. I want to share the recipe with busy mom/not keto person…how many cans of beanless chili did you used to use? Thanks.
Jamie says
I made my chili from the recipe below. I’m not sure how many cans it equals. But if I were using canned chili, I would buy 2 cans and just use however much looked right.
Amber says
I have made this twice now only thing I tweaked was left onions out hurt my husband stomach and I chop my hot dogs up to make it easier to scoop and eat. But I love it
★★★★★
Linda says
This was AMAZING and so simple! My husband and I are eating Keto, but I think we could serve this to anyone! My only tweak was to add fresh sliced jalapeños to my bowl to add a good kick.
★★★★★
Leen says
Spook yum! My teen son would eat the whole pan if I let him!! In a pinch I’ve used a taco seasoning packet and also have used Earl Campbell hot n cheddar links. I make this about twice a month. Thank you!
★★★★★
Breanna says
Girly your awesome. I loved it. Can’t wait to try more of ur recipes.
★★★★★
Debra Steele says
I am going to try this soon. I will have to improvise a bit, because I am allergic to beef. Ground turkey, and turkey dogs for sure.
Kyle says
Really good we used Nathan’s hot dogs under 1g carb.the wife and kids loved it
★★★★★
Bobbi says
This recipe was delicious. Mine turned out quite watery. Any suggestions? Maybe browning the hot dogs first?
Jamie Sanders says
Maybe just cook the chili longer. The longer it simmers the less water there will be. But warming the hot dogs first will cut down the time needed in the oven.
trisa says
what kind of sweetner is the best to use in this? I have classic monk fruit, swerve confectioners, swerve brown sugar and cocanut sugar… thanks making it saturday night
Jamie Sanders says
Swerve is good, I’ve never used monk fruit, but I usually just use a squirt or two of liquid splenda for the hot dog chili. Some people just leave it out.
Cassie says
How long will this keep? Can you freeze this recipe?
★★★★