Have you had a chili cheese dog lately? Homemade beanless chili is scooped onto a WW friendly hot dog and topped with shredded cheddar cheese, making a warm, inviting laid-back approach to dinner. Nothing too fancy, which my kids loved. My husband and I loved these too! This simple weeknight dinner is a crowd-pleaser.

Beans or no beans?

I chose to make the chili in these chili cheese dogs beanless, but you could certainly add beans in the mix as it cooks on the stove-top if you want to. On the one hand, beans are zero points, taste great in chili cheese dogs, and provide extra fiber. On the other hand, if you added a full can of beans, you would be making closer to 16 chili cheese dogs, which means most of us would need to either have company over for dinner or eat them all week long.

You could, however, use 1/2 pound ground turkey and 1/2 of a can of beans in place of the full one pound of ground turkey suggested in this recipe. I think that would taste great! You would just have to come up with a plan for what to do with the extra beans and ground turkey. If you are looking for something to do with extra beans, these breakfast tostadas (pictured below) are absolutely fabulous!

Canned turkey chili with beans can also be swapped out for the homemade chili suggested in this recipe, with similar results.

Here is a cool idea…if you are going to be making 18-24 hot dogs for a larger crowd, Nostalgia has this really fun hot dog steamer that you can set out and cook the hot dogs in!

Wouldn’t this be fun for a kid’s birthday party or Super Bowl party? My kids would go nuts over this! I definitely want one of these. This could make a great Christmas present for a hot dog lover too! 🙂 Check it out on Amazon here.

Does it matter if I use the low fat versions of the ingredients?

This recipe is a perfect example of the how using full fat ingredients instead of their reduced fat counterparts can change the total of WW FreeStyle Smart Points per serving!

I intended to get the 97% fat free beef franks, but when I got to the grocery store, they were all out of them, so I decided to go ahead and get the regular franks. When I got home, I checked to see what the difference was in Smart Points. Guess what the difference in Smart Points was between the two…

Regular Hebrew National beef franks: 5 WW FreeStyle SP
97% Fat Free Hebrew National beef franks: 1 WW FreeStyle SP

So, it made me curious…what would happen if I changed all of the “reduced fat” ingredients in this recipe to the full fat versions in the WW recipe builder. Here is what I discovered…

97% fat free franks, reduced-fat cheese, and light buns: 5 WW SP each.
Regular franks, regular cheese, and regular hot dog buns: 12 WW SP each!

So, you could literally eat two low fat chili cheese dogs for less points than the full fat version.

Not sure what light hot dog buns are? They are buns that are just 2 WW SP each. We have a list of light hot dog and hamburger buns that are 2 WW SP each and breads that are 1 WW SP per slice that you can print and take to the store with you, if you like.

Are you ready for a casual dinner option? Good! Let’s get to making some chili cheese dogs!

Here is what you need:

8 Hebrew National 97% fat-free beef franks
Cooking spray
1 pound 99% lean ground turkey
1/4 cup diced onions (plus additional onions if you will be putting them on top of the chili dogs)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup salsa
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
8 light buns
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Here is what you do:

Cook hot dogs in boiling water or on a grill pan.

Meanwhile, spray a large skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Cook ground turkey and onion in the skillet until turkey is fully cooked, breaking up the meat as it cooks.

Stir ketchup, salsa, water, tomato paste, brown sugar, onion powder, and chili powder in with the ground turkey and onion. Simmer uncovered 4-5 minutes or, until all of the flavors are blended together.

Place hot dogs in hot dog buns, then top each with 1/4 cup of the chili mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese. You could also add extra onion on the top, if you’d like.

Makes 8 chili cheese dogs.
One chili cheese dog is 5 Green, 5 Blue, and 5 Purple points.

Print Recipe

WW Friendly Chili Cheese Dogs

5 Green, 5 Blue, and 5 Purple points per chili cheese dog.

Makes: 8 servings

Calories: 223

Author: Alisha Hughes

Ingredients

• 8 Hebrew National 97% fat-free beef franks
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound 99% lean ground turkey
• 1/4 cup diced onions, plus additional onions if you will be putting them on top of the chili dogs
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 8 light buns
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Cook hot dogs in boiling water or on a grill pan.
• Meanwhile, spray a large skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Cook ground turkey and onion in the skillet until turkey is fully cooked, breaking up the meat as it cooks.
• Stir ketchup, salsa, water, tomato paste, brown sugar, onion powder, and chili powder in with the ground turkey and onion. Simmer uncovered 4-5 minutes or until all of the flavors are blended together.
• Place hot dogs in hot dog buns, then top each with 1/4 cup of the chili mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese. You could also add extra onion on the top, if you'd like.