Easy Skillet Beanie Weenies

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• What are Beanie Weenies?
• Recipe Ingredients
• How to make homemade beanie weenies
• Tips and adaptations for making skillet beanie weenies.
• Other Side Dish Recipes
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Ahh Beanie Weenies are one of those great recipes straight out of childhood; something the whole family will love.

Plus they're as easy to make as pouring a bowl of cereal or a making PB&J.

What are Beanie Weenies?

Well, the name is pretty easy to deduce, beans and weenies, aka hot dogs, aka frankfurters.

They were originally known as franks and beans but someone, somewhere along the way, got cutesy with the name and beanie weenies was coined.

What type of beans are used in frank and beans?

There are as many version of this dish as there are ways to make macaroni and cheese. Classical speaking, beanie weenies are made with baked beans.

However, a simple can of pork and beans in tomato sauce will work too. Navy beans are most often used in making canned beans

You can use homemade baked beans like my skillet baked beans or a canned/pre-made baked beans. Bush's baked beans is popular brand of canned baked beans. (Their brown sugar baked beans are pretty tasty.)

Add some sliced hot dogs and game on.

Recipe Ingredients

• Hot dogs — we used our favorite brand of hot dogs, so use your favorite.
• Baked beans — we went with our homemade baked beans, which had the extra deliciousness of having bacon and diced onions.

How to make homemade beanie weenies

Step 1 — Heat the large skillet (at least 10-inches) over medium high heat. Slice a package of your favorite hot dogs and sear them in the hot skillet for just a minute or two. Just enough get a a little color. They can render some serious fat, so drain that off.

Step 2 — Reduce to medium heat and gently stir in the baked beans. (I used my leftover baked beans which are cooked with strips of bacon atop. I chopped up the bacon and mixed it right in to this dish, but it's not required.)

Step 3 — Heat thoroughly, stirring occasionally, about 2-4 minutes.

Step 4 — If you're feeling fancy, garnish with some chopped parsley, then serve hot and enjoy.

Tips and adaptations for making skillet beanie weenies.

There's literally countless ways for making what's probably the-easiest-recipe-that-really-shouldn't-be-a-recipe-recipe. It's a delicious, versatile recipe that kids love.

Here's a few tips, tricks, and adaptations for making this retro comfort food.

• Homemade baked beans may be a bit drier than you like, especially once reheating. To thin, add some ketchup, tomato sauce, tomato juice, tomato water, chicken broth, or water. For a little extra sweetness you can add a little apple or pineapple juice.
• Canned pork and beans like VanCamps can be used without doctoring. Just as tasty, and is probably closer to the childhood taste.
• Canned baked beans are generally thinner than homemade, so draining some of the liquid may be necessary, but that depends on your personal taste preferences.
• Swap out the hot dogs for smoked sausage or use little smokies for bolder flavor.

Add-in ideas

Tossing a few other ingredients is pretty common. But tossing in too many things makes it a completely different recipe.

For example, adding in a little diced onion is still beanie weenies. But swapping out the hot dogs for ground beef, adding onions and bell peppers, well that becomes cowboy beans.

Here's a few common mix-ins for this skillet meal:

• Brown sugar
• Add ketchup, bbq sauce, Dijon or yellow mustard.
• Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce to deepen the flavor
• Onions and garlic or onion powder and garlic powder
• Salt, pepper and even a pinch of cayenne pepper for some additional heat.

That's really it. Beanie Weenies really is a humble and simple recipe making for a classic favorite meal.

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