Cheesy Baked Hot Dogs

Oh, the humble hot dog! It’s perhaps the most iconic American children’s meal, and with good reason.

Hot dogs are easy to cook – in fact almost all of them are pre-cooked so you can safely eat them cold out of the pack if that’s your thing. They are easy for children to eat, either with their hands or cut into pieces. They’re damn tasty too.

Which hot dogs to buy?

My kids eat pretty much any hot dog, but if I make these for my dinner too, I want a good quality hot dog. I prefer to buy all-beef hot dogs with natural casings so they have some bite.

Hebrew National is my favorite brand when it’s available, and Nathan’s is a close second.

Why Should You Bake Your Hot Dogs?

To ensure the hot dogs have a little bite, I recommend searing them in a pan before baking. Sure, it takes a few minutes, but it adds a nice texture to the dog.

Baking the hot dogs will melt the cheese and give the bun a crispy top. It’s a beautiful and easy combination!

What do you serve with your hot dogs?

To finish off the plate, I recommend serving these with some sort of steamed veggies. I chose peas as it’s an easy treat for my kids (they actually eat them frozen) but steamed broccoli would be great too! Just something green!

The father adds: Pickle Relish

I can’t eat a cheesy hot dog as is with anything else and be pretty satisfied. But I don’t have anything to do while the hot dogs are baking anyway, so I like to quickly chop up a cheater giardiniera (aka fancy Italian relish) with ordinary store-bought pickles.

I use a mix of dill pickles, spicy pickled cauliflower, and banana peppers, which adds a savory crunch and cuts some of the richness of the hot dogs. I chop the mixture fairly finely since it gets on the dogs.

I recommend making a double batch and storing it in the fridge. Giardiniera is also pretty staple on every deli sandwich.

The children’s certificate

These hot dogs were a science lesson for my kids. The first thing they wanted to do with these beautiful hot dogs was to completely deconstruct them. They both scraped off the topping, pulled out the hot dog, and ate each separately.

The key? they ate everything. A bite of a hot dog there, a bite of a bun here, and smiles everywhere, even though they haven’t tried the Dad Add. I tend to worry about my little one choking because she tends to put WAY too much food in her mouth at once, so I took the extra step of thinly slicing her dog.

Hot dogs are a fairly easy win for most kids, so maybe try different toppings with your kids, such as:

More kid-friendly recipes:

• Broccoli and Cheddar Quesadillas
• Pepperoni Pizza Penne Pasta
• Easy Chicken Mac and Cheese
• The best sloppy joes ever