Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Total Time 10

Nothing will take you back to childhood faster than whipping up a batch of Easy Skillet Beanie Weenies; it’s like tasting memories.

Square cast iron skillet filled with sliced hot dogs mixed into baked beans; wooden spoon resting on a blue and white linen.

Ahh Beanie Weenies are one of those foods straight out of childhood.

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 beans n’ franks 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?

Vintage dish of beanie weenies in a cast iron skillet with a blue striped linen in the background.

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

However, a simple can of pork n’ beans will work too.

You can use homemade baked beans like my skillet baked beans or a canned/pre-made baked beans.

I found myself with a lot of extra baked beans after a canceled gathering (damn you Covid-19.) And as much as I love them, man cannot live by beans alone.

Add some hot dogs and game on.

Making beanie weenies

Coin-sliced hot dogs searing in a skillet.

Grab a package of your favorite hot dogs and slice them like coins.

Toss them in a hot skillet and let them get a nice sear. They can render some serious fat, so drain that off.

Baked beans with bacon have been added to sliced hot dogs in the skillet.

As I mentioned, 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.

Simply warm it through and serve. To make us feel a bit fancier, I garnished with some fresh parsley, but again, totally not required.

Cooked and ready to serve skillet beanie weenies garnished with fresh parsley.

Tips and adaptations for making skillet beanie weenies.

As I mentioned, there’s literally countless ways for making what’s probably the easiest recipe that really shouldn’t be a recipe, recipe.

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 plan ole water.
Canned pork n’ 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.

Close up image of beanie weenies on a white plate, salad and cornbread in the background.

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 onion and bell pepper, well that becomes cowboy beans.

Here’s a couple of examples of cowboy beans from my amiga The Complete Savorist: a really retro-style stove top version with canned pork n’ beans and ground beef and a much fancier slow cooker (and Dutch oven) version using steak and a 15-bean mix.

A branded image with a white bowl of the stew garnished with fresh parsley, cornbread in the background.

Here’s a few common mix-ins:

Brown sugar
Barbecue Sauce
Ketchup and/or yellow mustard
Onion and/or garlic
Salt and/or pepper

That’s really it. Beanie Weenies really is a humble and simple recipe.

A branded image of the beans and franks, cornbread, and a salad on a white plate with a fork, a glass of soda and the skillet in the background.

Cornbread, salad, and beans n franks on a white plate, a glass of soda and the skillet nearly out of frame.

Print Recipe

5 from 12 votes

Easy Skillet Beanie Weenies

Nothing will take you back to childhood faster than whipping up a batch of Easy Skillet Beanie Weenies; it's like tasting memories.

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Total Time10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Skillet Beanie Weenies

Servings:

Calories: 626kcal

Author: Ned Adams

Equipment

10-inch cast iron skillet

Ingredients

8 hot dogs sliced (see notes)
6 cups baked beans (~48 oz of canned beans)

US Standard – Metric

Instructions

Heat the skillet over medium high heat.
Slice the hot dogs.
Sear the hot dogs in the hot skillet for just a minute or two.
Add the baked beans, stir well.
Heat through, about 2 minutes.
Serve and enjoy.

Notes

Use a package of your favorite hot dogs; some have 8 count and others have 10 count. Some packages are 10 ounces, others 12, 14, or 16 oz.

Nutrition

Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.

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