The Chili Pot

A Family Chili Dog Sauce, Kept

Some of my strongest food memories don’t start in a kitchen.

They start in a freezer.

My grandma used to make chili sauce in large batches that simmered for hours and ended up in old margarine tubs stacked neatly in the freezer. Those tubs were the perfect size: just enough chili to make chili dogs anytime.

At the time, I didn’t think about where the recipe came from. The only chili we ate growing up was this chili, always on hot dogs. It clung to the hot dog, soaked into the bun, and it always hit the spot.

Handwritten recipe for the chili sauce, preserved in family notes.

The original handwritten recipe. The notes were written simply. Quantities were large, and the instructions were sparse, which makes sense for a recipe intended for a restaurant pot.

Original Chili Pot Recipe

I chose not to modernize or change the original recipe. It felt more authentic to leave it as it was. This is how it was made for years, both at the restaurant and at home.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. hamburger
• 6 oz melted suet
• Soup bones, used to make 1 gallon beef broth
• One 6-inch onion, finely diced
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 3 Tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic salt or 2–3 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp dried peppermint
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp hot ground pepper
• 1 large can tomato sauce
• 6 slices dried bread
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with water
• 3 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Accent

How It Was Made

Fry the hamburger in melted suet. Add the finely diced onion and cook until softened. Add the beef broth made from soup bones, followed by the spices, tomato sauce, and dried bread slices. Cook for about two hours, stirring occasionally. Add the cornstarch mixed with water to thicken.

At home, this chili was frozen in meal-size portions, poured into empty margarine containers that were just right. They stacked neatly in the freezer and made reheating simple—practical, familiar, and exactly how it was done.

Why This Was Written Down

In her written recollections, my mom wrote about her Uncle Nick and Aunt Persida in Traverse City, and about the chili he made at The Chili Pot.

Writing it down now felt like the right way to keep it from quietly disappearing.

A Home Kitchen Version

The original recipe was written for a restaurant. This version is written for a home kitchen.

After making the original recipe, I realized how much it was designed for restaurant use. It makes a large amount of sauce. The sauce is also a little looser than I expected, which likely made sense in a chili pot where it would simmer for hours during the day.

After experimenting, I worked out a smaller batch version that captures the same flavor but can be made quickly at home with common ingredients.

Home Kitchen Chili Dog Sauce Recipe

Inspired by the original chili, with one adjustment that brought the flavor back: a little more mint.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
• 1½ cups water
• 1 small onion, very finely diced
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 Tbsp beef tallow
• 1 tsp sugar (optional)
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried mint flakes
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp Accent
• 3 saltine crackers, finely crushed

How It's Made

In a saucepan or enamel Dutch oven, combine the ground beef and water. As it cooks, break the beef apart until it becomes very fine. The water helps the meat separate easily.

Add the onion, tomato sauce, tallow, sugar, spices, and crushed saltines. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.

Simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly but remains thin enough to soak into the bun.

Makes about 4 cups of sauce.
About 1 cup works well for a batch of chili dogs.

Storage

I portion the sauce into 1-cup containers and freeze it. The Rubbermaid TakeAlong 1.26-cup square containers turned out to be just about the right size.

The chili may have started in a restaurant pot, but it found its way into our family kitchen and stayed.