Hot dogs are an incredibly easy camping treat, but what should you have with them? More importantly, how can you use them to create a filling meal? You’ll find the answers to these important hot dog questions here!
Sides like potato salad, cornbread, and baked beans can be perfect to eat with hot dogs while camping. Additionally, there are a number of recipes like taco dogs and waffle dogs that can liven up the hot dog experience. These recipes are easy to make while camping and even easier to enjoy.
These suggestions are really just the start. Keep reading and you’ll learn about some delightful hot dog sides and recipes that can make the experience even better.
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Sides That Go Perfectly with Hot Dogs
Most of us know that chips are an easy go-to side to have with hot dogs. However, they aren’t the most filling or nutritious. Because they are such an obvious choice, I’m going to take a look into some other options that will help to create a more satisfying meal.
I’ve gathered together a list of some sides that work very well with hot dogs. Most of them are easy to make right there at the campsite, while some others are best prepared beforehand.
Take a look and pick your favorites!
Baked Potatoes
Potatoes are delicious, filling and easy to cook even while you’re camping. They are an ideal choice for car camping because you won’t need to worry too much about carrying a bunch of heavy potatoes around.
You also won’t need to worry about figuring out how to cook them. All you need is a campfire and some foil. Simply poke a few holes in the potato, wrap it up carefully inside the foil and rest it in the coals of the fire. In a few minutes, you’ll have a hot, delicious baked potato to pair with your hot dog. Just don’t forget to pack your preferred toppings.
If you’ve never cooked over an open fire before, don’t worry. Our article guide on cooking over a campfire is a great place to start learning how to get started.
Cornbread
If you need an easy option that is relatively lightweight and suitable for just about any meal or snack throughout the day, cornbread is an ideal choice. Depending on your situation, you can opt to bake some up before your trip and pack it along or cook it up right there in the camp.
Making cornbread from scratch may be more rewarding, but it does mean packing a number of ingredients like flour, cornmeal, honey and more. On the other hand, there are also some “ready to bake” cornbread mixes you can use that only require the addition of a few things like eggs, milk and vegetable oil.
Baked Beans
Canned options almost always make for a great camping meal. They’re clean, easy to transport and you can rely on the cans to keep everything in place if you need to take it on the move. Additionally, baked beans tend to make for a great addition while you’re camping.
Baked beans also present another option that you can easily heat up over the fire. It may help to make sure that you have a grill to place over the fire. That’s not usually something you have to worry about if you’re staying in a campground, but it’s always good to have one handy just in case.
Corn On The Cob
Corn on the cob is a fantastic classic that works well with any meal, but especially hot dogs. Depending on your preference (and the tools you have on hand), you can opt to prepare the corn by either boiling it over the fire or by grilling it.
If you’re choosing to grill it, make sure you have foil to keep it safe while it’s in the coals. Additionally, you’ll want to bring along some of your favorite seasonings.
Some of the potential options include:
- Chili Powder and lime juice
- Parmesan and basil
- Sriracha
- Anything else you enjoy!
Grilled Asparagus
Asparagus is healthy, easy and super quick to cook as an addition to hot dogs. It helps to balance out the meal with some added vegetable nutrition, ensuring that your camping trip remains as healthy as possible.
If you want to add some veggies to your meal but don’t want to wait for a potato, or are looking for something even healthier, then grilled asparagus can be a lifesaver.
All you need is the asparagus, some foil and seasonings. Once the asparagus is seasoned and wrapped up, make sure that each side gets some time on the grill. Typically, about five minutes is enough time to get the job done.
Pasta Salad
Pasta salad is another easy option that you can opt to either make ahead and bring with you or prepare once you’ve settled into your campsite. Aside from boiling up your noodles, there’s not a lot you’ll need to worry about cooking.
Whatever your chosen pasta salad is, make sure that you bring the noodles, veggies, and cheese of your choice. Many pasta salads use feta cheese or something similar. Additionally, you may want some kind of vinaigrette.
Once you’ve got it prepped, you’ll have the perfect addition to your hot dogs.
Potato Salad
Once it has been prepped, potato salad is a perfect addition to hot dogs. Personally, I can’t imagine doing any grilling without using potato salad as a side dish. Although it can take some time to make, it’s simple, delicious and very filling when paired with a hot dog.
On top of that, you can adjust it to fit whatever your tastes are. There are a variety of ways to make potato salad. You may choose to include things like onions or bacon bits. It’s entirely up to you.
Fantastic Recipes with Hot Dogs to Fill You Up While Camping
There’s no denying that hot dogs are one of the easiest possible choices to take camping. They’re easy to cook with minimal cleanup, provide plenty of protein and you can eat them with your hands!
However, plain hot dogs can get boring when you’re camping for more than a couple of days. On top of that, they aren’t the most filling. The good news is there are so many hot dog recipes that can fill you up and leave you much more satisfied. Let’s take a look at a few creative hot dog recipes.
Quesadilla Dogs
Who doesn’t love a good quesadilla? They’re delicious, easy to make and you don’t have to worry about needing utensils to consume them.
At their most basic, quesadilla dogs only require tortillas, cheese, and hot dogs. However, if you want to add to the flavor then you can also combine them with additions like Monterey Jack cheese, chili powder, sour cream or even some nacho cheese.
When you’re making the quesadilla dogs, you can either choose to slice the hot dogs up and add them into a typical, flat quesadilla. If you’d prefer something even simpler to eat, you can just roll up the hot dog, cheese and any other ingredients in the tortilla. The latter will result in something more like a hot dog taquito.
Quesadilla dogs can easily be put together and heated up in a cast-iron skillet over the fire. Once the cheese has melted sufficiently, you can cut it up and enjoy the meal.
If you’re new to cooking with cast iron while you’re camping, you can really learn a lot from our article on the subject here!
Waffle Dogs
While the idea of a waffle dog might seem strange, don’t worry. These aren’t the kinds of waffles you might typically have with butter and syrup. Ultimately, this is just a simple way to make your own corndog creations without too much extra effort.
You have a few options for making waffle dogs, depending on your situation. To begin with, you can use either an electric or campfire waffle iron. If you’re using a waffle iron that creates larger waffles, whether those be square or round, then you may want to cut up the hot dogs to help everything fit into the iron more efficiently.
On the other hand, a waffle iron designed to make waffle sticks can use larger hot dog pieces. Depending on the size of the iron, you can cut the hot dog into thirds or halves. When you take this route, the results will be more like a corndog, with your mix creating a breading on the hot dog.
Instead of a typical pancake or waffle mix, you’ll just need a suitable mix for making corn muffins. At this point, you essentially combine the mix and hot dogs on the waffle maker but be careful not to cause the waffle maker to overflow.
If you have a waffle stick maker, it will offer an even more efficient way to make and eat waffle dogs. Just place a toothpick in the middle of the hot dog, leaving part of it sticking outside the waffle maker. This will make the waffle dogs easier to remove, and incredibly easy to eat!
Hot Dog Spaghetti
There are few things easier to get most children to eat than hot dogs and spaghetti, so why not combine the two? Hot dogs are easier to add to spaghetti than other meats that need to be cooked up in a skillet before they can be served. That makes them a perfectly suitable camping meal.
In addition, this is also a meal that you can make with just a single pot. No one wants to have a huge stack of dishes to do while camping, so that’s a huge blessing.
To begin with, take your hot dogs and cut them up into bite-sized portions. Following that, insert the hard spaghetti noodles into the middle of them. Then add both into a pot filled with water and boil for a few minutes until the noodles are soft.
If you want to, you can also add a pasta sauce to the meal.
Taco Dogs
Those who are a fan of tacos may also appreciate this fantastic way to create them in a simpler way. Cooking up meat in a skillet can be such a hassle while you’re camping, which is why hot dogs are such a popular option. By replacing your typical meat of choice with a hot dog, you can get the best of both worlds.
To create taco dogs, you’ll need your hot dogs, some tortillas. and cheese. If you want to, you can also bring along things like onions, avocado, tomato, lettuce or sour cream. Really anything you would put on a regular taco, you can also have on a taco dog.
Grilled Cheese Hot Dogs
The grilled cheese hot dog is a super simple meal that can make your hot dog experience more filling without including a lot of extra ingredients.
There are two ways you can go about this, and it will depend on whether you’d prefer something more like a grilled cheese sandwich or something more like a hot dog.
If you prefer the former, you can bring bread and slice up the hot dogs to heat up within what would otherwise be a normal grilled cheese sandwich. Just keep in mind that you may need some butter to keep the bread from sticking to your pan.
With the help of our handy guide to making toast while camping, you can also use any leftover bread for a satisfying breakfast.
On the other hand, you can opt to just add cheese into your hot dog bun with the hot dog itself and place that in the pan. This is the ideal choice if you’re not looking to pack extra bread and plan on having hot dogs anyway.
With either one, you can also add bacon for more deliciousness.
Pigs In A Cornbread Blanket
Cornbread is an ideal choice to combine with hot dogs because it basically results in something just like a corn dog. Because of that, there are multiple recipes that include this combination in different ways.
Some of those recipes include things like:
- Cornbread-Hot Dog Muffins
- Casseroles
- Cornbread Pigs In A Blanket
Many of us are familiar with regular pigs in a blanket, but with cornbread, they become more like mini corndogs than just hot dogs wrapped in biscuits or warm breading.
All you really need to do is add the hot dogs into your cornbread mix in some form or another. Some opt to dip the hot dogs in the mix using toothpicks, while others may just combine it all and cook it in a skillet.
There’s a lot of freedom to be had when pairing cornbread and hot dogs.
Nachos With Hot Dogs
Hot dogs can also be used to add some protein to your nachos. If for some reason you don’t want to bring refried beans or chili (they can be messy to cook up), then hot dogs are a decent alternative to consider while you’re camping.
For the most part, you can add in anything you might normally choose to add to your nachos. Things like cheese, sour cream, veggies, avocado, and more. You might even find that nachos are a little bit less messy this way.
A cast-iron pan or dutch oven can work to get your nachos warmed up to the perfect temperature, but you can also opt for an aluminum pan if you don’t want to have to clean up a cheesy mess.
Pizza Dogs
Another way to make your hot dog more exciting is to turn them into a pizza surprise. With the addition of some mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices, that boring hot dog is sure to be more enticing.
Once you’ve gotten the hot dog cooked up and placed into a bun, you’ll just need to add the cheese and get it melted. This can be the perfect time to make use of a Dutch Oven, which can help to get the cheese melted without heating up the bun too much. Then, you can add the pepperoni of any other pizza toppings you may want.
Hot Dog BLTs
Sometimes all it takes is some produce to liven up your hot dog. This is the ideal solution for those who want something filling but not too heavy. The addition of produce creates healthier results and it keeps you from becoming too full and sluggish while you’re on your camping trip.
Essentially, what you’ll be getting is a BLT with a bit of extra protein, thanks to the hot dog. If you want to, you can replace the bacon with the hot dog since hot dogs are easier to prepare. However, you can also certainly add both if you want to.
Start by heating up your hot dog as you normally would, whether that’s boiling it, grilling it or just cooking it over the fire. After it’s heated and placed into a bun, you can add the lettuce, tomato, and bacon for perfect results.
