Leave This Store-Bought Chili On The Shelf And Your Tastebuds Will Thank You

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Store-bought chili is a useful product to stash in the pantry for dolling up a basic hot dog. You can keep things simple with an unadulterated slather straight from the can or load it with additional toppings, like shredded cheddar, mustard, and green onions to make this recipe for French's chili dog, for instance. However, not every store-bought option hits the spot. The one brand you should leave on the shelf is Walmart's Great Value hot dog chili sauce. The loser in our taste test of 8 store-bought chili brands for hot dogs, ranked worst to best, this product looked and smelled like dog food.

Hot dog chili is supposed to be thin with an almost paste-like, uniform consistency, unlike a classic soup-style chili that's chunky and loaded with different textures. This allows the topping to cling to the frankfurter and bun without falling off and elevate the flavor of the hot dog without overwhelming its texture. However, hot dog chili can also be used as a filling for baked potatoes or to dress up rice and pasta dishes, making it incredibly versatile. While Great Value hot dog chili had a spreadable consistency, we would never buy it again. Firstly, it smelled almost rancid with an extremely savory note as soon as we opened the can, which was completely off-putting. Meanwhile, its appearance was unpleasant too, reminding us of dog food. Both the texture and taste of the product was gag-worthy, and we can safely say we'd never buy it again.

When a product is labeled chili, you'd rightly expect it to contain all the classic ingredients, such as ground beef or beans and tomatoes. Walmart's offering does list tomato puree as one of the top ingredients, but its meaty flavor actually comes from beef fat and pinto beans rather than ground beef. Perhaps this explains why it has such a smooth texture (wheat flour and soy flour are also added to the mix, likely as thickeners).

The product has several one-star reviews on Walmart's website. One shopper said, "This chili is so gross, and you can tell [it] has a lot of tomato paste or something tomatoey in it ... it's terrible!" Another customer said, "The flavor is just off and even with hot dogs, it doesn't taste right. You're better off buying ingredients and making homemade chili or splurging on a more expensive kind."

In our opinion, the best store-bought chili for hot dogs comes from the old-school brand Steve's & Ed's, even though it's another chili sauce made with beef fat versus ground beef. Its umami flavor and hint of spice from jalapeño gave it balanced flavor and layered character.