Easy to make and freezer-friendly, Cincinnati Chili is unique Midwest favorite with Mediterranean flare. It makes a delicious, satisfying meal (and is also one of the best chili dog toppings ever)!
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Why You Will Love this Recipe
If you are used to making Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex chili, a few of the ingredients in this recipe may surprise you. With roots in Macedonian cooking, the flavor profile of Cincinnati chili more closely resembles Mediterranean, Greek, and Indian foods than it does American chili. (It may even remind you a bit of Mexican molé.)
There are many well-known hyper-local variations made famous by Cincinnati restaurants; including Empress Chili, Gold Star Chili, Dixie Chili, and Skyline Chili.
Cincinnati chili is traditionally served over spaghetti noodles, but it makes an outstanding meat sauce for homemade Coney Islands, too.
What Goes into this Recipe
For the Chili, you will need:
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- 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.
- 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. (Beef broth brings to most flavor to the table.)
- 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: 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.)
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 Recipe
Not only does this recipe have a unique list of ingredients, but it employs an unusual technique for cooking the meat as well.
(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.
Serving Suggestions
Serve prepared chili over cooked spaghetti noodles.
Top with grated cheese, chopped onions, and beans.
Tips & FAQs
This is a great Make-ahead meal. (Chili always tastes even better the next day!)
Cincinnati chili also makes an amazing coney sauce for homemade chili dogs, and it's great on fries and baked potatoes, too.
Want to lighten it up? Serve it over cooked spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti noodles!
One of the other unique features of Cincinnati Chili is the toppings, or Ways, with which it is served.
• 2-way = spaghetti + chili
• 3-way = spaghetti + chili + cheese
• 4-way = spaghetti + chili + cheese + onions
• 5-way (The Works) = spaghetti + chili + cheese + onions + beans
Some people (like Mr B!) even top off their Ways – with oyster crackers and hot sauce.
Absolutely! 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.
This recipe is super easy to make in a slow cooker! Cook and drain the meat as directed, then load it along with all of the chili ingredients into a slow cooker. Get it a stir and cook on High for 3-4 hours, or LOW for 6-7 hours.
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Cincinnati Chili (Skyline Copycat Recipe)
Equipment
- 1 enamel Dutch oven or slow cooker
Ingredients
Chili Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 quart beef broth divided
- 2 cups water
- 2 large yellow onions finely chopped
- 15 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons chili powder
- 2½ tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ - ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Serve Over:
- 16 ounces thin spaghetti noodles
On the Side:
- cooked small red beans or kidney beans
- grated sharp cheddar
- chopped sweet onions
- oyster crackers
Instructions
Prepare Chili:
- Break up the ground beef into a cast iron Dutch oven or heavy stock pot. Pour in 2 cups of beef broth.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 to remove some of the fat. DO NOT RINSE.
- 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.Stir in 2 cups of water and the remaining 2 cups of beef broth.
- Simmer over LOW-LOW heat, stirring about every 10-15 minutes, for about 3 hours. Add more water if needed to keep chili from burning.
- 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 until al dente. Drain and set aside.
Serving Suggestions:
- Serve chili mixture over cooked spaghetti noodles.Top with your choice of beans, grated cheese, chopped onions, and oyster crackers.
Notes
• 3-way = spaghetti + chili + cheese
• 4-way = spaghetti + chili + cheese + onions
• 5-way (The Works) = spaghetti + chili + cheese + onions + beans Nutrition facts include values for Chili only. They do not include information for spaghetti noodles or toppings.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
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Natalie says
This chili looks absolutely delicious my mouth is watering! So comforting and perfect for a hearty dinner ♥
Tara says
Oooh, it has been way too long since I have had Cincinnati Chili! Yours looks so good! I love all that flavor and so much cheese on top.
Pavani says
We love a good chili and this sounds absolutely amazing with the addition of spices. Cannot wait to try the recipe for my family. Thank you for sharing this.
Anjali says
This chili is so hearty, flavorful and satisfying!! Made it for our family dinner tonight and everyone loved it!
Don Taulbee says
I grew up on Cincinnati chili and Skyline is the worst of all the chili's sold in Cincinnati. Until you try most of them, don't proclaim one as the best. Besides, taste is a subjective matter.
Renée says
We appreciate your informed perspective, Don, and you are absolutely right: chili, (Cincinnati or otherwise) is definitely a matter of taste, and taste is subjective.
(You may want to recheck the post though: I never proclaimed any of them "the best.")
Renée ♥ says
Lightened and over spaghetti squash, it's definitely not Skyline, but it is delicious nonetheless. (As a food blogger yourself, I'm sure that you know sometimes comments don't always read the way they were intended, so I'm taking this one with a smile.) Have a lovely day, Heather.