A juicy hot dog topped with finely crumbled beef sauce and diced onion brings the unmistakable flavor of an A&W drive-in favorite home.
Photo by Dave
Copycat A&W Chili Dogs
A&W Chili Dog combines an all-beef frank with a mild, finely textured tomato-beef coney sauce and freshly diced onion on a soft golden bun.
Start the ground beef in cold water and break it apart before turning on the heat. This produces the unusually fine, loose texture that separates coney sauce from ordinary chunky chili.
Quick Recipe Overview
- Best For: Easy family dinners, game days and nostalgic drive-in meals
- Flavor Profile: Savory beef, mild tomato, gentle chile seasoning, mustard tang and fresh onion
- Skill Level: Easy
- What Makes It Like the Restaurant: An all-beef frank topped with finely crumbled signature-style coney sauce and diced onion
A&W
A&W traces its beginning to 1919, when Roy W. Allen opened a roadside root beer stand in Lodi, California. Allen later partnered with Frank Wright, joining their last initials to create the A&W name. The company began franchising in 1926 and developed into one of America’s earliest widespread drive-in restaurant chains.
Frosted mugs of root beer became the signature attraction, but burgers, hot dogs, fries and other roadside favorites helped turn the stands into complete family restaurants. That combination of fountain drinks, simple food and car-friendly service gave A&W a lasting place in American fast-food history.
More Than Chili on a Hot Dog
A&W currently lists the familiar chili dog as its Coney Dog, an all-beef frank served on a golden bun with signature coney sauce and diced onions.
The sauce is finer and milder than bowl-style chili, with ground beef broken into very small pieces and simmered in a tomato-based mixture seasoned with mustard, Worcestershire sauce and warm spices. It contains no beans and should remain loose enough to spoon over the frank without running off the bun.
Cheese belongs to A&W’s separate Coney Cheese Dog, so the classic version needs only sauce and onion.
A&W Chili Dogs Recipe
A&W Chili Dog tops an all-beef frank with a mild, finely crumbled beef coney sauce and freshly diced onion on a soft hot dog bun.
Yield: 8 Chili Dogs
Ingredients
Coney Sauce
- 1 pound 80/20 Ground Chuck
- 1 cup Cold Water
- 1 6- ounce can Tomato Paste
- 1 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Yellow Mustard
- 1 tablespoon Dried Minced Onion
- 2 teaspoons Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Celery Seed
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
Chili Dogs
- 8 All-Beef Hot Dogs
- 8 Hot Dog Buns
- 1/2 cup finely Diced White Onion
- Yellow Mustard optional
Instructions
- Add ground chuck and cold water to a medium saucepan before placing it over heat.
- Use a potato masher or sturdy whisk to break the beef into very fine pieces.
- Place saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring and continuing to break apart the beef, until no pink remains.
- Do not drain the beef.
- Stir in tomato paste, sugar, yellow mustard, dried onion, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, celery seed, cumin and black pepper.
- Bring mixture to a gentle simmer.
- Reduce heat to low.
- Cook uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick but still spoonable.
- Add 1 or 2 tablespoons water if the sauce becomes too thick.
- Bring a shallow skillet of water to a gentle simmer.
- Add hot dogs.
- Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until heated through.
- Warm hot dog buns briefly in the microwave, oven or over steam.
- Place one hot dog in each bun.
- Spoon about 3 tablespoons warm coney sauce over each hot dog.
- Top with diced white onion.
- Add yellow mustard, if desired.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Starting the raw beef in cold water helps separate it into the fine particles associated with restaurant coney sauce.
- Do not drain the ground chuck. A modest amount of beef fat gives the sauce body and carries the seasoning.
- The sauce should be thick enough to remain on the hot dog but softer and looser than ordinary chili.
- Leftover coney sauce can also be served over french fries, baked potatoes or hamburgers.
Related Copycat Recipes
- Lum’s Beer-Steamed Hot Dogs – Juicy hot dogs steamed in beer pick up a rich, malty flavor that sets them apart.
- Dairy Queen Hot Dog Chili Sauce – Rich, meaty chili sauce with bold seasoning gives hot dogs classic drive-in flavor from the first bite.
- City Billiards Chili Dogs – Hearty chili dogs that hit salty, savory, and nostalgic all at once
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Questions People Ask
Is the A&W Chili Dog still available?
Yes. A&W currently lists it as the Coney Dog at participating locations.
Does A&W coney sauce contain beans?
No. It is a finely textured ground beef sauce rather than traditional bean chili.
How do I make the beef very finely crumbled?
Mix the raw beef with cold water before cooking, then continue breaking it apart as the mixture heats.
Does the classic A&W Coney Dog include cheese?
No. The classic version has coney sauce and diced onion. Cheese is used on the separate Coney Cheese Dog.
Can the coney sauce be made ahead?
Yes. Refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months, then reheat gently before serving.
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Photo of “Dog w/ Chili, Cheese, Mustard & Onion” is by Dave and is used by permission under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) Creative Commons License. Read the Full License Here – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode. Thank you, Dave. Great Picture. Photos may be representative of the recipe and not the actual finished dish. All photo licenses listed were correct at the time of the posting of the page. Recipe is original to Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes. Recipe created by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes based on information from the restaurant and other sources on the internet – many courtesy of the Wayback Machine. Additional Information is from original research done by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes and/or courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission.
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It takes 10 seconds and helps another drive-in food fan recreate that classic A&W coney sauce and onion combination at home.