This Retro Super Bowl Dish Will Steal The Party

Super Bowl Sunday is America's unofficial national holiday, and a perfect choice for your party's food spread is hot dogs, one of the nation's favorite foods. Americans consume a shocking number of them, about 70 every year each, or nearly six a month. But instead of the same old franks on a bun, give your guests something more memorably tasty to enjoy while watching the game and critiquing the commercials: a retro dish of hot dogs stuffed with mashed potatoes.

You only need frankfurters, the potatoes, and cheese to make the simple dish. Slice the wieners length-wise, leaving the bottom still attached, so they can fold open, filled with the mashed spuds and topped with shredded cheese. Then, put them in the oven for a few minutes to warm, melt the cheese, and brown the top a bit. They can be stuffed right out of the fridge, or simmered in water, grilled, or pan-fried for a short while first. You can whip up the potatoes from scratch or use instant.

The recipe comes from the mid-20th century, when it wasn't uncommon to see franks incorporated into dishes in a way we don't see much today. Some Redditors remember eating the mashed potato-stuffed wieners at home or in school as kids, with different names like weenie boats, pronto pups, tater-capped wieners, weenie puffs, and steamboats. Other monikers include frankfurter blimps and spud pups, and a similar 1963 "Pillsbury Family Cookbook" recipe that sandwiched the spuds and cheese between two split franks called them hot dog s'mores.

With such a basic recipe, it's easy to play around with the dish's ingredients to create some flavorful variations, and you could serve more than one kind for your guests to choose from. Instead of regular hot dogs (we ranked brands from worst to best), you could go a little fancier with gourmet franks, like those made with wagyu or kobe beef. Chicken or turkey franks are another option, as are ones that are plant-based if some attendees are vegetarian. They'll be even more substantial if you make them with sausage, like Bratwurst, Italian sausage, kielbasa, fresh Mexican chorizo, or andouille.

Zhuzh up the mashed potatoes by mixing in ingredients like herbs, roasted garlic, chopped chipotle peppers in adobo, French onion dip mix, horseradish, sour cream, cheese, or a dash of hot sauce to heat things up. As for the shredded cheese sprinkled on top, it should be something that melts well, like American, cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Swiss.

Finally, you can add other toppings too. They could be a finishing touch like sliced scallions, chives, or a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning, or something heartier, such as chili, sauteed mushrooms, or caramelized onions, which you can make faster with Ina Garten's pro tip. Other choices could add texture, like fried onions, crumbled bacon or potato chips, or even chili crisp.