If there’s no country fair, bring the fair food to you!
Cheddar Ranch Hotdog Nuggets
Well, it looks like there won’t be any country fairs this summer. And no fairs means no fair food — no funnel cakes, no cotton candy, no corn dogs. No fun! Missing out on all those guilty pleasures seemed so sad that I decided to try making some of my own at home. And I started with that carnival classic, the corn dog. Because if there’s anything better than a good hot dog, it’s a hot dog dipped in batter and fried.
When it came to actually battering and deep-frying the dogs, though, it just seemed like too much work. So I decided to do mine the easy way: by wrapping them up in refrigerated crescent rolls and baking them. And as long as I was tinkering with the dogs anyway, I figured, why not dress them up a little with some cheese and ranch seasoning? And cut them up into little pieces to serve with dipping sauce?
So, as it turns out, these Cheddar Ranch Hotdog Nuggets don’t really look much like the classic country fair corn dog. But they taste even better, and that’s the important part. Now if I can just figure out how to make my own Ferris wheel….
Where did corn dogs originally come from?
- According to Wikipedia, no one knows exactly who was the first to serve a batter-fried dog on a stick. Lots of different vendors claim to have started the trend in the 1930s and 40s, but corn dogs were definitely around before that, because a machine for making them showed up in a catalog way back in 1926. The best guess we have is that German sausage makers who immigrated to Texas started wrapping their sausages in dough to make them more appealing, and the stick came later.
They look tasty, but how would you serve them? Are they an appetizer, a snack, or what?
- All of the above! Serve them as a finger food for parties — especially for kids’ birthday parties, because kids love them. Pack a bunch of them in a lunchbox with the dips of your choice for a lunchtime surprise. Have them as an appetizer before a family meal. Or just whip up a batch for snacking any time!
What dipping sauces are good with these Cheddar Ranch Hotdog Nuggets?
- Any topping you’d serve on a plain hot dog, like ketchup or mustard, will work well with these. Since they already have ranch flavor in them, ranch dressing also works well. And if you like things spicy, try them with your favorite hot sauce.
How to make Cheddar Ranch Hotdog Nuggets
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out your crescent roll and pinch the seams together. Using a pizza cutter cut your dough into 8 strips. Then cut those 8 strips, 4 times lengthwise. Lastly cut those squares in half.
- Sprinkle ranch dressing over your crescent rolls. Next, add a pinch of cheese and one piece of hotdog to each square of dough.
- Wrap each hotdog piece and pinch together the dough on the bottom.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for 8 minutes.
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Cheddar Ranch Hotdog Nuggets
Ingredients
- 6 hot dogs cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 tube of crescent rolls
- 1 pack of ranch dressing mix or homemade like this one https://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2014/07/diy-homemade-ranch-dressing-mix.html
- 1 ½ cups of finely shredded cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Roll out your crescent roll and pinch the seams together. Using a pizza cutter cut your dough into 8 strips. Then cut those 8 strips, 4 times lengthwise. Lastly cut those squares in half.
- Sprinkle ranch dressing over your crescent rolls.
- Next, add a pinch of cheese and one piece of hotdog to each square of dough.
- Wrap each hotdog piece and pinch together the dough on the bottom.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for 8 minutes.
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Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals 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.
Kathy says
Can I make this a day or two ahead of time and place them unbaked in the fridge?
Corey says
I would bake them and store them Kathy if it’s just a couple days. Then just reheat them in the oven when you are ready to eat them.