Prime Rib Beer and Bacon Chili Dogs

Prime Rib Beer and Bacon Chili Dogs

Here's a lesson in how to use your frozen leftovers to make a quick, guilty pleasure meal on the go. We had a busy evening of kid activities without much time to cook the other day when some leftover frozen Prime Rib Beer and Bacon Chili came to the rescue in these fantastic chili dogs! Prime Rib  Chili  is something that we make with leftovers from a prime rib dinner, so these chili dogs are actually now 3 meals that we stretched out of the original roast beef dinner.

A visit to the venerable Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington DC last summer inspired the flat grilled version of this tasty hot dog. A favorite of many from Bill Cosby to President Obama, at Ben's you can order your dog flat grilled, meaning split in half lengthwise and grilled on all four surfaces to build extra flavor. That's exactly what we did here before placing on a toasted hot dog roll and topping with the chili before finishing with some grated cheddar cheese, melted under the broiler.

Serve these at your next game day get-together and they are sure to get rave reviews too.


Here's the original chili recipe:

Serves 8

• 2 to 3 pounds of leftover prime rib roast, cut in cubes
• 1/2 pound of smoked bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 small red onion diced
• 1 bottle of beer (or substitute 12 ounces of low sodium beef stock)
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 14 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups canned red kidney beans
• 1 1/2 cups canned Romano beans
• 2 large tomatoes diced
• 1 large roasted red pepper, peeled and diced small
• ½ to 1 whole jalapeño pepper finely minced (optional)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 5 tbsp chilli powder (more or less to taste)
• 2 tbsp chipotle powder
• 3 tbsp ground cumin
• 6 tbsp molasses

Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottom pot. Toss in the garlic and onions and cook until softened.
Next add the beer (or beef stock) and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the beans and the remainder of the ingredients except for the red peppers and fresh tomatoes.

Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to minimum. Cover and very slowly simmer the chilli for 2 or more hours, stirring about every 15- 20 minutes. Alternatively you can cook this in the oven at 325 degrees F. I like to do it that way because you don't have to tend it as much and it is much less likely to stick or burn to the bottom of the pot if you forget to stir it. A slow cooker is also an excellent choice for this recipe.

Add the fresh diced tomatoes, bacon and roasted red pepper in the final 1/2 hour. In the last 5 or 10 minutes add the leftover prime rib roast. Adding it last preserves the tenderness and moisture of the roast beef. Serve with the rest of the bacon sprinkled on top.

For chili dogs, I recommend using large, plumper, ball park style wieners or frankfurters which are easier to split horizontally before grilling well on all sides. Place the grilled hot dogs on toasted hot dog rolls before topping with chilli and grated cheddar cheese. Pop under the broiler for a minute to melt the cheese before serving.

Prime Rib Beer and Bacon Chili Dogs

Here's a lesson in how to use your frozen leftovers to make a quick, guilty pleasure meal on the go. We had a busy evening of kid activities without much time to cook the other day when some leftover frozen Prime Rib Beer and Bacon Chili came to the rescue in these fantastic chili dogs! Prime Rib  Chili  is something that we make with leftovers from a prime rib dinner, so these chili dogs are actually now 3 meals that we stretched out of the original roast beef dinner.

A visit to the venerable Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington DC last summer inspired the flat grilled version of this tasty hot dog. A favorite of many from Bill Cosby to President Obama, at Ben's you can order your dog flat grilled, meaning split in half lengthwise and grilled on all four surfaces to build extra flavor. That's exactly what we did here before placing on a toasted hot dog roll and topping with the chili before finishing with some grated cheddar cheese, melted under the broiler.

Serve these at your next game day get-together and they are sure to get rave reviews too.


Here's the original chili recipe:

Serves 8

• 2 to 3 pounds of leftover prime rib roast, cut in cubes
• 1/2 pound of smoked bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 small red onion diced
• 1 bottle of beer (or substitute 12 ounces of low sodium beef stock)
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 14 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups canned red kidney beans
• 1 1/2 cups canned Romano beans
• 2 large tomatoes diced
• 1 large roasted red pepper, peeled and diced small
• ½ to 1 whole jalapeño pepper finely minced (optional)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 5 tbsp chilli powder (more or less to taste)
• 2 tbsp chipotle powder
• 3 tbsp ground cumin
• 6 tbsp molasses

Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottom pot. Toss in the garlic and onions and cook until softened.
Next add the beer (or beef stock) and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the beans and the remainder of the ingredients except for the red peppers and fresh tomatoes.

Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to minimum. Cover and very slowly simmer the chilli for 2 or more hours, stirring about every 15- 20 minutes. Alternatively you can cook this in the oven at 325 degrees F. I like to do it that way because you don't have to tend it as much and it is much less likely to stick or burn to the bottom of the pot if you forget to stir it. A slow cooker is also an excellent choice for this recipe.

Add the fresh diced tomatoes, bacon and roasted red pepper in the final 1/2 hour. In the last 5 or 10 minutes add the leftover prime rib roast. Adding it last preserves the tenderness and moisture of the roast beef. Serve with the rest of the bacon sprinkled on top.

For chili dogs, I recommend using large, plumper, ball park style wieners or frankfurters which are easier to split horizontally before grilling well on all sides. Place the grilled hot dogs on toasted hot dog rolls before topping with chilli and grated cheddar cheese. Pop under the broiler for a minute to melt the cheese before serving.