Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati Chili is a unique Midwest favorite with Mediterranean flare. It is traditionally served over spaghetti noodles, and topped in a variety of Ways.

If you are used to making Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex chili, a few of the ingredients in this Cincinnati Chili recipe may surprise you. With roots in Macedonian cooking, this chili's flavor profile - created with a unique combination of warm spices, savory ingredients, and chocolate! - more closely resembles Mediterranean, Greek, and Indian foods than it does American chili. (It may even remind you a bit of Mexican molé.) 

Jump to:

• Cincinnati Chili Ingredients
• How to Make this Chili Recipe
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top Tip
• FAQ
• More Savory-Sweet Recipes
• Serving & Pairing
• Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati Chili Ingredients

• Ground beef: We use 85-90% lean ground beef: any leaner and the chili end up tasting bland.
  • By draining the cooked meat in a colander before proceeding, this recipe gets rid of some of the extra fat from the ground beef without stripping it of all flavor.
• Beef broth: Use boxed or canned broth, or Better than Bouillon Beef (1 teaspoon per cup water.
• Onions: We use yellow onions to make the chili and sweet onions for chopping for the topping.
  • Yellow onions ironically have more natural sugar than sweet onions, which cooks down into the meat sauce. "Sweet" onions have a higher water content, are taste milder and sweeter when eaten raw.
• Cocoa powder: Use a good-quality baking cocoa.
• Water
• Tomato sauce
• Apple cider vinegar
• Worcestershire sauce
• Garlic
• Brown sugar: Brown sugar helps to cut the natural acidity of the tomato sauce and balance the coney sauce.
• Chili powder: To make traditional Cincinnati chili, use a regular chili powder.
• Cinnamon
• Kosher salt
• Ground cumin
• Ground allspice
• Ground cloves
• Ground nutmeg
• Cayenne

For the complete Cincinnati Chili experience, you will also need: 

• Spaghetti noodles for serving chili over. We prefer thin spaghetti.
• Chili Toppings:
  • Beans: If everyone in the house loves beans, go ahead and add them right to the chili; otherwise, serve them on the side. We use small red beans.
  • Grated cheese: Traditionally served with sharp cheddar.
  • Chopped onions: Use a sweet or sweet red onion for the toppings. 
  • Oyster crackers: Crumbled Saltines also work perfectly well.

How to Make this Chili Recipe

The reason for the even consistency of this chili is the unusual technique used for cooking the ground meat. Instead of frying, the ground beef is boiled in broth or water. As the meat cooks, a meat masher is used to break it up, creating even, finely-crumbled ground beef. (This is the same technique we use to make Coney Island sauce.)

(1) Break up the ground beef into a cast iron Dutch oven or heavy stock pot. Pour in 2 cups of beef broth.

(2) Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the ground beef into fine pieces as it cooks.

Drain cooked beef in a colander. DO NOT RINSE. 

(3) Pour the drained meat into cast iron Dutch oven or heavy stock pot.

Add onions, tomato sauce, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, brown sugar, chili powder, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, cayenne (or hot paprika), salt, cumin, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg.

(4) Stir in 2 cups of water and the remaining 2 cups of beef broth.

(5) Simmer over LOW-LOW heat, stirring at least every 15 minutes, for about 3 hours. Add more water if needed to keep chili from burning. Season to taste.

When it is done simmering, this chili will be a little soupier than the Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex chilis you may be used to. It will thicken some over time. 

(6) About 20 minutes before you plan to serve the chili, bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Lightly salt the water and add the thin spaghetti. Cook according to the package directions until al dente.

Drain the cooked spaghetti noodles.

Substitutions

• Ground beef: You can sub in ground turkey; but if you do, add an extra tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. We don't recommend ground chicken for this recipe.
• Beef broth: You can substitute in chicken broth, vegetable broth, or even water.
• Cocoa powder: You can substitute half of an unsweetened baking chocolate square (1 ounce) for the cocoa powder.
• Cayenne: You can use ¼ - 1 teaspoon hot paprika or ½ - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes in place of the cayenne. (If you don't like much spice, you can just leave it out.)

Variations

There are many well-known hyper-local variations made famous by Cincinnati restaurants; including Empress Chili, Gold Star Chili, Dixie Chili, and Skyline Chili.

Coney Island Chili: Coney Island sauce has the same texture and a similar culinary pedigree as Cincinnati Chili. The spices and flavor profiles are somewhat different, but they both have that Mediterranean savory-sweet vibe, and in many cases can be used interchangeably. (Just don't mention that to anyone from Ohio or Michigan - it may cause a riot!)

Equipment

Meat Masher

Use a meat masher to break up the meat. It is important for success of this chili recipe that the meat to be very finely crumbled, this inexpensive little kitchen tool will make the job 10x easier, and save your wrists, too.

Dutch Oven

When making this Cincinnati Chili recipe, I recommend using an enameled cast iron Dutch oven. 

A good quality enameled cast iron Dutch oven is one of the best purchases you can make. My Dutch oven, along with my large enameled cast iron skillet, accounts for sixty to seventy percent of the cooking that happens in my kitchen.

Storage

Cincinnati Chili can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. Allow to cool completely and seal in an air-tight container before refrigerating.

Cincinnati chili freezes very well. Cool completely and portion into freezer safe containers, or vacuum-seal it in freezer bags.

To reheat, simply thaw and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

Top Tip

Slow Cooker Chili

Cincinnati Chili is a great Make-ahead meal. (Chili always tastes even better the next day!) It's super easy to make in a slow cooker, too!

Slow Cooker Directions: Cook and drain the meat as directed, then load it along with all of the chili ingredients into a slow cooker. Give it a stir and cook on High for 3-4 hours, or LOW for 6-7 hours.

FAQ

More Savory-Sweet Recipes

Serving & Pairing

Serve prepared chili over cooked spaghetti noodles. Top with grated cheese, chopped onions, and beans as desired.

Cincinnati chili isn't just for spaghetti. Try it on:

• Nachos
• Poutine
• Tacos
• Baked potatoes
• Hotdogs
• Rice

Want to lighten it up? Serve Cincinnati chili over cooked spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti noodles!

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Thank you for visiting the Good Hearted Woman. Remember to bookmark this site, and come back soon!