Hot Dog Casserole

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Servings: 6-8

    • About This Recipe

    “The original version of this recipe came from “The Northern Exposure Cookbook” by Ellis Weiner. This is a real family-style kid-pleasing recipes that I often bring to potlucks and family gatherings. It is like a pot of macaroni & cheese but with the added surpise of the hotdog slices. It is easy prepare, is inexpensive, and doubles nicely. I have even prepared the ingredients the night before and baked it the next day with success (just allow the ingredients to come to room temperature before baking or add a little extra cooking time). You may use reduced fat ingredients if you have health concerns, but it will not be quite as rich. That being said, I do just about always use “light” hotdogs with no real sacrifice to taste. Prep time includes cooking the pasta.”

    Ingredients

  • 1 (8ounce) boxes elbow macaroni, freshly cooked,drained
  • 1/2 lbhot dog, sliced into rounds
  • 2 1/4 cups American cheese or 2 1/4 cupsVelveeta cheese, shredded
  • 5tablespoonsunsalted butter
  • 1smallonion, very finely chopped( about 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cupall-purpose flour
  • 2cupsmilk
  • 1/4 teaspoonground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoonsalt

    • Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
  • Grease a 2-quart casserole.
  • Add the freshly cooked and drained macaroni into the casserole along with the sliced hot dogs and just 2 cups of the cheese; mix well.
  • Combine butter and onion in a medium saucepan and saute over medium heat until the onion is wilted (about 5 minutes).
  • Whisk flour into the butter mixture quickly until flour is absorbed, then remove from heat.
  • Add milk slowly, whisking to combine well- make sure you whisk very quickly and thoroughly or you will have doughy clumps.
  • Return to heat, whisk in the salt and pepper, and bring to a boil (still whisking)- just be careful not to let it burn.
  • As soon as it starts to hit the boiling point, remove from heat and pour evenly over the macaroni mixture.
  • Stir to gently to combine.
  • Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and bake, uncovered, for 18-20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese has melted and browned (If you prepare this in advance, wait to add the remaining cheese until you are ready to bake the casserole the next day).
  • For variety, I have tried other types of cheeses and thought Cheddar blended with Monterey Jack was also very nice in this.
  • NOTE: This does not freeze well.

    • Reviews

  • “I made this for lunch today for the kiddos!I have made a similar thing but with boxed mac and cheese, and this was much better!I threw some peas into the equation too.The kids really liked it.Thanks for an easy way to please all three of my kids for lunch, Heather!”

  • “Very rich! Took lots of time and care to cook up the flour, milk and onion, but was well worth it. Tastes like potatoes au gratin but with macaroni and hot dogs in it.”

  • “AWESOME!!!!!!!!We had this tonight for a family B-day dinner and it was just marvelous!!!Highly recommended………..The kids went back for seconds and thirds, well so did some of the grow ups!”

  • “I make this dish for my grand children but use potatoes instead of the macaroni”

  • “This was a tasty meal with a lot of leftovers.I used too much pasta and added corn and mushrooms to the onion step, next time I’d like to use a sharp cheddar or velveeta like mentioned.Thank you for sharing this recipe!”

  • “On 11/20/11 I made this recipe for the Universal Dishes/Child’s Play Event in the Food Photo Forum and most importantly mine andSO’s dinner. I cooked 6 ounces of pasta, used 3 Tablespoons of butter, 1/3 cup of finely chopped onion and 1/4 cup of flour.Then added 1 1/2 cups of milk, 1 1/2 cups of cheese, and a lot of salt and pepper.Instead of putting the pasta and hot dogs into a prepared baking dish then pouring the cheese sauce over it, everything was mixed in the same pan that the sauce was made in. After pouring everything into the prepared dish the remaining cheese was sprinkle over the top and baked for about 30 minutes to get the top really browned and crusty. After a couple of bites,we decided that is was pretty good but it needed a bit more salt and pepper. Thank you for posting and, ” Keep Smiling 🙂 “”

  • “I wanted some comfort food and had all the ingredients for this. I followed someones advice and added a couple cans of Green Chilis. Even with this it was still fairly bland but they added to it nicely. It is a good start but I think it needs something more. I appreciate the recipe I want to experiment a bit with it. Thanks again.”

  • “Not what I hoped….but it was good. I think a spice of some sort would be good. Maybe green chiles or something. Next time I’ll jazz it up.”

  • “DH would give this 10 stars if he could…I made it for him cuz he’s a hot dog lover!I thought this recipe was really good, even to use it as a basic mac & cheese recipe.I used cheddar cheese in place of american & also added some parm.I didn’t add the chese to the ronis as stated, I added it to the milk mixture and then added the ronis & dogs.I also browned the dogs before adding.Yummy for an occasional treat, too high calorie for anything else.Thanks, Heather!”

  • “Yum!This is so easy to put together with ingredients I always have on hand and is quick too!I used light hot dogs and sharp cheddar for the cheese. I think this would be very good using ham too, which I want to try next! Will definitely be having this again, thank you for sharing your recipe! :)”

  • “Thanks for the post Heather.. Came in handy since I had an abundance of Hot Dogs I had to use up within the week. I made it exactly how it states plus a sprinkle or two of Johnny’s and a Tbs. of minced Garlic. I also used your suggestion at the bottom to use chedder (cause that is what I had on hand) Anywhoo.. Thanks Again.. Will make again.. 🙂 All 4 of my guys liked it.. What guy doesn’t love cheese and meat??? ;)”

  • “this was great the children loved it. its quick and easy and great for nights or at lunch time when your tired and dont feel likeing cooking much”

  • “My husband makes a version of this recipe with boxed macaroni and cheese. In addition to the ingredients you have, he puts sour cream and green onion tops. He tops it with cheddar and sliced tomatoes sprinkled with fresh-grated parmesan. Everyone loves it.”

  • “Heather this was delicious,my whole family enjoyed..Thanks for posting..Brenda”

  • “To be honest, I only made this because we really need to go to the store (which I didn’t feel like doing tonight) and hotdogs popped out to me when I opened the fridge.I must say, it was surprisingly good.I did change it up a bit (out of necessity) and used No Yolk Noodles rather than macaroni but even with using a different-style noodle it was great.I can’t say this is something I’ll make “regularly” though because I felt like I was standing in front of the stove for the entire “cook/prep” time and for a weekday, cook-what-ya-got meal I’d rather go for something easier (but that’s just me).Overall, I recommend giving it a try.”

  • “This was very good.We did add some chili powder for a little kick, and it was still a little on the bland side, but overall the kids loved it!Thanks for a simple easy recipe!”

  • “I gave this recipe 3 stars. This recipe got mixed reviews at my house. My 6 yr old newphew and 7 yr old niece did not like this casserole. My future hubby and I liked it. When I made this I used Velveeta and cheddar topping with the cheddar. Overall I think I’ll try this again when it just my future hubby and I. Thanks for posting a good recipe. Christine (internetnut)”

  • “My wife asked me to make dinner so I used this website that she uses all the time. This recipe was awesome! A delicious and easy to make dinner and it takes no time at all. I will use it again, although I might spice it up a little bit next time.”

  • “I cooked this the other night for my husband and 6 month old daughter. My husband is very picky and he actually liked this and my little one who is just learning to eat table food enjoyed it as well. it was easy to make and im going to use is as a basic for my bi-weekly menu…I think it would be fun to play with the ingrediants some as well.”

  • “This is very much a comfort food for a lazy day when you do not want to cook. very good! Margie”

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