This is an easy leftover hot dog recipe. We love making hot dog fried rice because it quickly turns leftovers into a tasty family dinner that the kids love.
Hot Dog Fried Rice
Hot Dog Fried Rice is a staple in our household. It's super easy to make, and everyone gobbles it up. It's not uncommon for the kids to have seconds when I cook this hot dog fried rice for dinner.
This recipe is very simple. But I want to share it because it's a favorite family dinner. It's a great recipe when you need to get dinner on the table fast.
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What Recipe Should I Make to Use Up Leftover Hot Dogs?
We typically make this recipe when we have leftover hot dogs to use up. Sometimes we use up all the hot dog buns, but have a few extra hot dogs leftover.
More often than not, we find ourselves with leftover hot dogs after camping trips too. Also when we host and grill for a lunch or dinner party, I always overbuy hot dogs.
However you find yourself with leftover hot dogs, this recipe can help you use them up. It's a great recipe when you have leftover hot dogs, but don't want to buy a pack of buns.
Kids Gobble Up This Hot Dog Fried Rice Recipe
Truth be told, you don't need to follow this recipe exactly. Feel free to estimate a lot of the ingredients, scale up or scale down the recipe, and even sub out some of the ingredients.
We love this hot dog fried rice so much that my preschooler asked if we could "share this recipe with everyone because it is so yummy." You can see her helping out in the photos.
And in case you were wondering, yes, she snuck several bites in as I was speeding through taking the photos before dinner today. Both kids couldn't wait to have dinner tonight, even though it was 4 PM and I thought I was ahead of schedule.
Don't miss these other recipes that the kids love: Kids Tuna Pasta and Pasta and Peas with Bacon.
Ingredients for Hot Dog Fried Rice
This hot dog fried rice recipe uses three basic ingredients:
- Rice
- Hot Dogs
- Vegetables
Read below for details and helpful hints for each of these, including what vegetables work well.
As I mentioned above, this is a very flexible recipe. So I'll share what we typically do, but I encourage you to make substitutions for ingredients you have on hand.
Best Type of Rice To Use for Kids Fried Rice
For making fried rice, we just about always cook a mix of Nishiki white and Nishiki brown. You can see it in the photos, though it's hard to tell there are both white and brown rice grains.
Personally, I like using medium grain sushi rice for fried rice, especially if I am making it for my kids. The slight stickiness of the rice makes it easy to spoon up.
The rice, hot dog and small veggie pieces also slightly clump together. As a result, the kids don't bother picking out just the hot dog and eat everything together.
Compared to fried rice made with long grain rice, the slight stickiness of medium grain rice makes it easy for the kids to eat neatly and clean out the entire bowl. There is rarely a grain of rice on the table after they eat this hot dog fried rice.
The kids love these bowls! We've been using Bobo and Boo Bamboo Bowls since 2017. See them in this 10 Healthy Porridge Topping post I wrote back then.
Lastly, this recipe takes either freshly made rice or previously refrigerated leftover rice.
What Vegetables Are Good For Kids in Fried Rice
We make hot dog fried rice with all sorts of vegetables and mix-ins. You don't have to follow this list exactly. However, these are our favorite vegetables that we routinely use for this leftover hot dog fried rice recipe:
- Carrots
- Celery
- Frozen peas
- Frozen corn
- Baby spinach
We generally always have the first four veggies on the list. If you don't, however, you can instead use a bag of frozen mixed vegetable.
When I make Leftover Hot Dog Fried Rice, I often swap out the baby spinach for kale, chard, collard greens, cabbage, or whatever other leafy green vegetables that we happen to have.
If we don't have any, then it gets left out completely. At the same time, since the kids reliably scarf down this dinner, I try to throw in as many healthy greens as I can.
Can I Use Any Leftover Hot Dog for this Recipe?
You can use any leftover hot dog for this recipe. You can use more or less than the recipe indicates, as you prefer.
When making this fried rice, we have used hot dogs straight from the packet and leftover grilled hot dogs. Both are fine, though the grilled hot dogs tend to be a bit drier.
In addition, we also have used Lit'l Smokies or cocktail sausages when making fried rice. Previously frozen hot dogs also work too.
How to Make Leftover Hot Dog Fried Rice
Not including the rice, which must be cooked separately, this is a one knife, one cutting board, and one pan meal.
Three simple steps to make hot dog fried rice:
- Add in the vegetables and sauté
- Add in the hot dogs and sauté
- Add in the rice and stir fry it all together
Sounds simple enough, right? There's just two tips you'll want to keep in mind:
- Add in the vegetables in the order of what takes the longest to cook (ie. carrots first)
- Turn down the heat when you add in the rice, so you don't burn the rice
Full details are below in the recipe.
Leftover Hot Dog Fried Rice
Equipment
- 1 10-inch sauté pan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 3 small carrots - diced into about ¼'' pieces
- 4 stalks celery - diced into about ¼'' pieces
- ½ cup frozen peas
- ½ cup frozen corn kernels
- 4-6 leftover hot dogs - diced into about ¼'' pieces
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves - washed and ready to eat
- 4-6 cups cooked rice - I use a mix of white and brown medium grain rice
- salt - to taste
- ground white pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil on a 10-inch sauté pan on medium to medium-high heat.
- Add in the carrots and sauté for about 3 minutes.
- Add in the celery and sauté for about 3 minutes, until both the celery and carrots have started to soften.
- Add in the frozen peas, frozen corn kernels and hot dog. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until everything is cooked and starting to brown.
- Add in the baby spinach leaves and sauté for about 2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.
- Turn down the heat to medium. Add in the rice and sauté until the rice is heated through and everything is mixed together.
- Add salt and white pepper, to taste. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Keep Reading For More
If you love fried rice, here are two more of our favorites:
Any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments below.
Andrea J says
Thank you! I'm always looking for recipes like this. Quick and easy, and kids loved it.
Tina says
Yay! Thanks for sharing!