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This mini corn dog recipe is the perfect answer to a kid-friendly lunch! The crispy, sweet homemade corndog batter is perfect surrounding your favorite hot dogs. Dip in ketchup or mustard for an easy meal.
These mini corndogs are the perfect kid-friendly meal!
Karly’s Notes
What’s the best part of going to the county fair? The corndogs. And okay, maybe the fried Oreos too.
I don’t eat a ton of hot dogs (unless they’re topped with my hot dog chili and then it’s game on), but I can absolutely demolish a pile of these mini corn dogs.
That sweet, crispy batter dipped in mustard is my favorite. It’s the best way to eat a hot dog if you ask me!
These are made in a pot of hot oil, so it’s not something I make every day of the week, but they make an excellent treat every now and then. Give them a try and let me know what you think!
What Readers are Saying!
“These had great flavor just like at the amusement park. This will be my go to recipe…” – Ryan
Ingredient Notes:
Hot Dogs – I’m definitely a fan of 100% beef corn dogs! Hebrew National are my personal fav, but you do you.
Batter – The corn dog batter is made from a mix of cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and milk. You probably have everything on hand.
Oil – I’m using vegetable oil to fry these mini corn dogs, but peanut oil or canola oil are also great.
How to Make Mini Corn Dogs:
Batter: Stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder in a bowl and then stir in your milk.
That’s all it takes to make corn dog batter.
Hot Dogs: Start by cutting your hot dogs into thirds. Of course, if you wanted full sized corn dogs, you could leave them whole, but what fun is that?!
Coat: Roll your hot dog piece in flour and then use a fork to dip it into the wet corn dog batter to fully coat the piece.
Fry: I carefully use a toothpick to push the battered hot dog pieces off the fork and into the hot oil! They should take about 3 to 4 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they are golden brown and crispy!
FRYING TipS!
For perfectly fried mini corn dogs…
- Canola, vegetable, peanut, and avocado oil all work well for frying. Use whatever you prefer.
- The hot dog should be fully covered in batter and as evenly coated as possible. This will help ensure even frying.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan as it will cool the oil or cause the corn dogs to stick together. It is best to cook these in batches.
- Rotate the dogs halfway through the cooking. They will want to flip themselves back over, so use tongs and hold them in place for a few seconds.
Storage & Reheating:
Store these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To reheat, we recommend the air fryer. Reheat at 380 degrees for about 5 minutes, shaking the basket gently halfway through cooking.
If you don’t have a microwave, these will also reheat nicely in a hot oven. We don’t recommend microwaving them.
More Fried Food Favorites:
Corn Dog Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour, divided
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup milk
- 8 hot dogs, cut into thirds
- vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- Preheat about 3 inches of oil to 350 degrees over medium heat.
- Combine 2/3 cup of flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic powder and onion powder in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the milk.
- In a pie plate or other shallow dish, add the remaining flour.
- Dredge each hot dog piece in the flour and then dip it into the cornmeal batter. Shake off any excess batter, but be sure that the hot dog is fully covered in batter.
- Drop into the hot oil and fry for 3-4 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and crispy.
- Fry in batches, being careful not to over crowd the pan.
- Drain on a paper towel lined plate and keep warm in a 200 degree oven until all of the hot dogs are fried.
- Serve immediately with ketchup and mustard, if desired.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in June 2012. It was updated in March 2020 with new photos.
Georgie says
Can I use corn flour instead of cornmeal?
Karly says
@Georgie,
I’m really not sure. I’ve never worked with corn flour before and would worry that it would be much finer than corn meal.
SaraKate says
So. Our Culver’s burned down on Saturday. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but I am now corn dog deprived for an undetermined amount of time, and have OF COURSE been craving them for three straight days, so I made these for dinner tonight.
SO. GOOD. I mean like, CRAZY delicious awesomeness. I did add a little extra cornstarch and a little extra cornmeal because the batter seemed thin. I also used Hebrew National hotdogs. My picky five year old, who was VERY skeptical, took one bite and yelled ” YAHOOOOOOO! This is SO YUMMY, Momma!!!!”
I also took the extra batter and made hush puppies, which my husband said were better than Long John Silver’s.
Thank you for this recipe! It’s in my “keeper” file and will hopeful keep my corn dog cravings at bay for the next couple months!
Karly says
@SaraKate,
Eek! Hope no one was injured in the fire!
Glad to hear you’ll still be enjoying corndogs. We LOVE these too! 🙂
alloy wheel refurb Harpenden says
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Leslie says
I used to eat these from A&W here in the Seattle area until they all closed for business. I must try!
LESLIE says
Hi I found your site thought google! witch I am glad I did!! I wanted to know can you freeze these? if so how did it turn out when you reheated them? thanks! 🙂
Karly says
Hi Leslie!
I’ve never tried freezing them, but I imagine it would work just fine. I’d let them cool, flash freeze them, then dump them in a ziplock bag and keep frozen until ready to use. At that point, I’d bake them at 350 degrees until warmed through. I think this would work fine, but I’ve never tried it so no guarantees!
Good luck!
Karly
Kelly C from Bville says
Karly…just made these tonight. I have two boys 18 and 15 and they both absolutely LOVED these! That batter was to die for!! Definitely gonna be following you girl! You crack me up =)
Julie says
Hi! I was searching the Internet for a good corn dog bite recipe and came across yours. I made them tonight and I gotta tell you, these things are amazing!
Thank you so much for sharing. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Susie says
Red Fried and Brew is July 14th, in SE Michigan 🙂 *road trip!*
We fry up a turkey, home made lumpias (yes you should look them up, they are Filipino egg rolls and you’ll never go back), and this year I’ll bring your corn dog bites.
Last year I brought out my deep fryer and we tried deep fried twinkies, snicker bars, and oreos. (I used pancake batter). Soooo good. If you’ve never done it the trick it to put them in the freezer first.
I’m going to have the leftover bites for dinner and I was gonna warm them in the oven and see how they did, I really hope they do well because everyone keeps asking me if I’m bringing them. 🙂 Thanks Again.
Susie says
Karly-
If it’s ok with your hubby can I marry you too? I made these for my husband last night and I think I feel in love with you. (He with me of course and wanted more…) but you are as amazing as these lil dogs. Yum. I’m going to see how they reheat and possibly take them to a 4th of July party, where all we serve is fried food. It’s the biggest cheat day of the year, and my friends are drooling at the pictures and mentions of small corn dog bites. Thanks!
Karly says
@Susie,
We can totally get married if that means I’m invited to your fried food party!
I bet these would reheat fine in the oven! I’ve considered making a big batch and freezing them, but I haven’t done it yet!
Jenny @ Savour the Senses says
I can’t even remember the last time I had a corn dog, but I DO remember them being my favorite elementary school lunch item! I have to try these!
Amber says
These look delicious! One question.. when I tried to make corn dogs before I had a lot of problems with the batter sticking to my hands and not sticking to the hot dogs. Any suggestions?
Karly says
@Amber,
I just used my tongs to dip them in the batter and toss them around to coat, then I lifted them out with the tongs and carefully dropped them in the oil. I didn’t get my hands dirty at all. 🙂
Beth says
I use toothpicks. Sometimes I slide the little guys off of said toothpicks, other times I just cut the picks in half and leave ’em ’til they’re done frying. I have never thought to use my tongs, which is strange, since I have at least 7 pairs.
Riley says
I always look forward to corn dogs during the summer! These look so fun!
Julia says
Haaaaahaha: “Child, I am not putting a bra on, which means I am not leaving this house. ” That’s rad! And these little bitty corndogs are rad too!
Stephanie @ Macaroni and Cheesecake says
These are so cute and such a fabulous idea! I hate frying but I am tempted to break out the oil and try these bad boys because they look so amazing!
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
For shizzle, these rule. I love corn dogs SOMUCH and they’re SOPERFECTLYCRISPY and whoever suggested beer battering them became my new BFF (though you’re my new BFF too and you don’t even know it yet). Also, I totally laughed at the “no bra, no dice” comment because my mom’s the same way (and uh, so am I). Whenever she has real clothes on (okay, it’s not like she runs around naked and insists we pretend she’s wearing clothes or anything; that’d be weird–I mean like, jeans or a nice top or flats or A BRA), we automatically know she’s going somewhere and hound her to know where. Great moms think and act alike, I suppose 🙂