This recipe is a copycat recipe for the original Der Wienerschnitzel Chili Sauce. It is so close to the original you will think you are in their drive-thru!
The Original Der Wienerschnitzel Chili Sauce
If you are from or have ever been to So Cal, then you should know Der Wienerschnitzel.
This iconic hot dog stand has been around forever - best known for its original chili cheese, mustard, and kraut dogs. As with all fast food joints, their menu has expanded, and apparently, they have also shorted their name, no more Der, but the chili sauce remains the same.
I adapted this copycat recipe for Der Wienerschnitzel Chili Sauce, originally put out by Top Secret Recipes. That recipe was very close, but I tweaked it a bit to get it closer asI had just enjoyed a chili dog there the weekend before, so the taste was still fresh in my mouth. So strike while the iron is hot I always say!
This chili sauce is easy to make and really tasty. If you have a hankering for a chili cheese dog, make up a batch, (even if you have never enjoyed the original sauce), grab some hot dogs, and have yourself one!
What you need to make this Der Wienerschnitzel Wanna Be Copy Cat Reicpe
- Ground Beef - use lean ground beef for best results.
- Ground Pork - Again use lean if you have it. Do not use pork sausage. Just ground pork.
- Corn Starch
- Wondra Flour - a fine milled flour that mixes instantly with water.
- Tomato Paste - a 6 ounce can will do it.
- White Vinegar - Do not use white WINE vinegar. Just used distilled white vinegar.
- Chili Powder - My preferred chili powder is Gebharts but you can use another brand if you wish.
- Dried Onion Flakes - This is a key ingredient, do not use dried onion powder in its place.
- Sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Step by Step Instructions
Put meat in deep pot or Dutch Oven Cook over low-heat till grey
In a deep bowl mix together the corn starch and Wondra Blend well with 6 cups of cold water
Mix in tomato paste Blend well
Place the spices in s small bowl and mix well
Add the spice mixture to the starch mixture that is now in the pot Add back the meats, then simmer slowly for 30 minutes
A pot of delicious chili sauce 
Ready to use on your hot dog...
And the result is, a very tasty chili sauce to put on your hot dog...
FAQ's
The sauce is more towards the sweet side. If you want a savory sauce, try my Chili Gravy recipe or Hormel Chili No Beans Copycat Recipe.
The onion flakes are an important taste element to the sauce, so the simple answer is no. You need to get the flakes.
Tasting and adjusting for seasoning is always the best way to do this. I always recommend you start with the least amount listed in the recipe, then taste and adjust until you find the right balance of heat, sweet, and acid. If you add more vinegar, then you may need to add more sugar. Or if you add more chili powder you may want to add more salt and sugar.
Yes. Use an immersion blender to make the sauce a little less chunky.
How to store Der Wienerschintzel Sauce
You can store Der Wienerschnitzel chili sauce in the freezer. I break my servings down into usable servings, how many dogs I will be needing it for, and then put it into a freezer-safe plastic storage container.
If I'm not planning on using it within 3 months, I transfer my serving into a seal-a-meal bag. Once sealed the sauce will stay as good as the original for a year, or more.
Serving Tip
LindySez: When I make a chili dog, I like to grill my dog a little, then I put it into the bun, wrap the whole thing in a paper towel, and micro it for 15 seconds to get a nice soft bun. Top it with the chili and whatever toppings you like, cheese, onions a little mustard? Hey, it's your dog, have it your way. ~ Cheers
This gravy is a little sweet, if you want one more like a Cincinnati chili gravy, try my original attempt at creating a sauce with this recipe for Lindy's Chili Gravy.
Here is a video showing the Making of Lindy's Chili Gravy.
Der Wienerschnitzel Chili Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ⅓ pound lean ground pork
- 6 cups water
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup Wondra Flour this is a finely milled flour that mixes instantly with cold water
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 - 2 tablespoons white vinegar it is important this be white vinegar, not white wine vinegar
- ¼ to ½ cup chili powder I used Gebharts, the recipe called for McCormick
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes the flakes are a key ingredient, don't substitute dried onion granules
- 1 - 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ½ - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a deep pot or Dutch oven, cook the meat over medium-low heat, taking care to get the meat well crumbled (almost like grain). You don't need to brown it, just grey it. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the meat from the pan and drain off most of the fat (if you used lean meat, there shouldn't be too much fat).
- While the meat is steaming (simmering); put the cornstarch and Wondra into a large measuring cup or deep bowl, slowly add the water, whisking until well blended. Add the vinegar and tomato paste, blending well. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the chili powder, salt, onion flakes, sugar, garlic powder, and pepper. Mix well. Set aside.
- Add the water mixture to the now-empty pan and stir well, return the meat to the pan along with the spice mixture; bring to a simmer, stirring often. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use to top your hot dog, hamburger, or fries...it's all good.
Jessica
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
LindySez
Hi Jessica, my best guess is yes. I think that once you got the meat grey, you could put it all into the cooker and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours or high for 3. It should thicken just fine as it cooks. Let me know if you try this and how it worked! Cheers ~ Lindy
Jessica
Thank you!! Just got all the ingredients so I'm going to try it now!! Thanks again 🙂
Jessica
Just had this for dinner in the crock pot. Amazing!! Tastes so much like the real recipe. I did add an extra teaspoon of salt and extra table spoon of vinegar. I cooked it on low for 6hrs. So delicious and looks and tastes great. My husband loved it, this recipe is definitely a keeper!
LindySez
So glad it worked out for you Jessica. Now I'm going to have to make it that way!
Geri
Not to be unkind but this recipe did not work our for me.
Could have been the cast iron I used
LindySez
Could you be more specific? I do find that tomato bases, or any acid based dish doesn't do well in cast iron as the acid and the iron create some sort of conflict. First, is your cast iron "WELL SEASONED"? That means it is really coated and almost a non-stick pan.Since this doesn't cook all that long it should have worked in a well seasoned cast iron pot. But if it took on a "metallic" flavor, then yes, it probably didn't agree with your cooking vessel. I hope you try it again in a non-reactive pot.
Jim Schroeder
You forgot the main indigence in the instructions.....Chili powder
LindySez
I was all like...yes it is, it's there...but then I notice, I do not include it in the second step of the instruction, you are right. I omitted it...of course, in my head I included it. This, of course,is the beauty of a blog and the internet, I can go fix that right up right now. Thank you Jim for pointing this out. Cheers ~ Lindy
Claire
I agree, a little more vinegar and salt! After that it tasted amazingly like the real thing. I had some with a hot dog and tater tots with cheese on top and was oh so satisfied! And now I have tons of leftovers! Thank you for this recipe!
LindySez
I'm glad you enjoyed it Claire. That's what I love about cooking, you can always adjust to fit your own tastes. Add a little here, take a little from there...now YOU own it! Cheers ~ Lindy
Ken Lapham
Can leftovers be frozen?
LindySez
Oh yes Ken, the leftovers freeze beautifully. And always nice to have a batch in the freezer for when you just have to have a chili dog! (or burger) Thanks for stopping by... Cheers ~ Lindy
dshep
Some sites say use only 1 tbl tomato paste or it makes it too sweet.
dshep
south Texas
LindySez
Well, there is always more then one way to make a recipe, personally I think that would totally lack any tomato flavor. I adjust with the sugar and vinegar and of course with the chili powder. I think the tomato portion of the program is perfect. Try it either way and see how you like it best. It's all a matter of taste, but this is more authentic and a copy-cat recipe. Cheers
Karinna M
I have to try this!!!
I was curious, i really love the chilli cheese fries by them, do you know the exact cheese they put on top??
LindySez
Hi Karinna, Yes, chili cheese fries yum! I believe they use shredded mild cheddar cheese on their fries. Cheers ~ Lindy
Brigitte Graves
I'm making this recipe right now. I needed to add more salt and white vinegar. I didn't have tomato paste so substituted with catsup and cut back on the water and sugar. I didn't have dried chopped onions so I finely minced fresh onion. I also didn't have Wondra flour so I used unbleached flour. Threw all the dry ingredients with 2 cups of the water and blended in my bullet. The sauce is very smooth and simmering slowly at the moment. It tastes very good right now and we are anticipating chili cheese dogs like we used to get at der Weinerschnitzel. There isn't one located where we live.
Bianca
Would it be possible to use a ground beef and ground pork blend? If so how much would be best to use?
LindySez
I'm sorry I didn't see your question sooner, I suppose it would be ok to mix ground beef and pork. It shouldn't be that much different in texture, only slightly in flavors. If you do I wouldn't go more than 1/2 and 1/2. Cheers, and let me know if you do! ~ Lindy
richorn
OK, I just finished dinner…
I have made a couple of “fast food style” chilis before. They were ok.
I missed a couple of cues. I used the max of each ingredient. Then at 20 minutes, I had an “Oh Sh*&” moment… but the tasting was awesome!
I did a couple of things "different". I used a special chili blend from Penzy's Spices mixed with Chipotle Chili powder (1/2 and 1/2 totaling a cup), and I deep fried the Hot Dogs after the fries were done. Penzy's special Chili 3000 was an awesome "oops"!!
The result was AMAZING! It really was Der Wein, but with a kick!
Thank you for this! I am freezing a jar and sending it to my friend in Oregon. He is really missing our Der Wein outings and the arrival of a frozen jar of this Chili will make his year!
Patrice
I’ve made this before (used the copycat recipe) but I just don’t like the ground pork anymore. So I bought one of their cans (yes, they sell it now!) and per the ingredients list it just has beef and soy protein. Anyway, I have a bag of those soy bits and I just used about a half cup of them reconstituted in hot water instead of the pork. It came out great!
LindySez
Interesting, when I worked in fast food we often used soy bits to extend our meat, mostly in taco meat. But it makes sense that it would work. Recipes change over time, perhaps in commercial production they found soy protein to be not only cheaper but now might appeal to those who don't eat pork. Always willing to experiment! Cheers ~ Lindy
M A
I followed recipe, using the larger amount of chili powder (1/2 cup!).
(Actually I substituted a can of tomato sauce for tomato paste as it was on hand. So I reduced the water a bit too.)
The chili is great! I want to comment that the starch mixture is good and gets the thickness I was looking for, so thank you for those proportions. (I used regular flour and sifted it into my bowl then whisked with the corn starch and water and I think it worked just fine. I didn’t have Wondra flour)
Also, I wanted the meat to be like you said, almost grains, but I couldn’t get it fine enough with my spatula. So I let my cooked ground beef cool, put on gloves, and went through and crumbled the pieces by hand. It took me a few minutes to do this, but got the fine texture I wanted.
Thanks for the recipe!
Linda Baker
So glad you enjoyed the recipe. I love adapting my spices to my taste, sounds like you do too! Interesting using your gloved hands, but yes, that would totally work. I'll add that to my FAQ's. Thanks for the feedback. Cheers ~Lindy