A delicious and easy regional dish this Cincinnati Chili is easy to whip up, tasty and absolutely filling! Topped over spaghetti with some cheese and you have a delicious dinnertime meal.
When it comes to something different and absolutely comforting this Cincinnati Chili is one dish that we whip up more than not. Just because everyone loves it and it has multiple uses.
Lot’s of people have their preference on chili and some wouldn’t even consider this one a chili per se. Some of our more traditional chili favorites are our Sweet Heat Chili, Pizza Chili or our Sweet Potato Chili.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Made all in one pot, it is a simple recipe to whip up.
- You can serve it many different ways, another way we serve it is over hot dogs.
- The mixture simmers over hours creating a smell in your house you cannot resist that thickens up over time.
WHAT IS CINCINNATI CHILI?
Cincinnati Chili is a “chili” recipe that originated out of Cincinnati. Now the chili part really messes people up on what it actually is. It’s not your normal type of recipe where you would just put it in a bowl and eat it, although I have debated this many times as we love this.
Cincinnati Chili is a chili sauce similar to hot dog chili that is served over spaghetti noodles with various toppings know as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 ways.
Those ways consist of just chili, chili with spaghetti, chili with spaghetti and onions, chili with spaghetti, onions and shredded cheese or chili with spaghetti, onions, cheese and beans.
We prefer ours chili with spaghetti and cheese, but we have had it all 5 ways and we love absolutely every single one of them with out a doubt.
HOW TO MAKE CINCINNATI CHILI, STEP BY STEP:
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In large pot add your ground beef and water.
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Bring to boil and stir your beef until it separates into little pieces, reduce heat a simmer for about 30 minutes.
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Once beef is cooked, add remaining ingredients and stir to combine
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Bring to boil and reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 2 1/2 hours or until thickened. Serve over spaghetti or hot dogs.
Did I not mention that this Cincinnati Chili aka Skyline Chili is a seriously easy recipe. These are the types of recipes I love, just dirtying one pot and your good.
Now the hardest part is actually waiting for it to be done, but seriously, once it’s done, you’ll be hooked and you will want to make this over and over again.
HOW TO FREEZE CINCINNATI CHILI:
Now this recipe does go a long ways, it makes a huge pot and a lot of the times we have leftovers which we usually use for hot dogs the next night but if you are wanting to save this for later use this is how you can freeze it.
Cook the chili according to directions and then let cool completely, you can do this on the stove or place it in the refrigerator. Place into gallon sized zip top baggies, we usually do a couple so we can have a few meals without having to use the whole bag.
Press air out of bags completely and lay flat, like you would freeze hamburger and place them in the freezer, they should keep for about 6 months.
To reheat vent your bags and defrost in microwave and then add to a large pan and heat slowly, adding a little bit of water to make it the consistency it started out as.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING CINCINNATI CHILI:
- Use lean ground beef, it produces less fat and breaks up into smaller chunks nicer.
- Serve this any way that you like, with cheese, beans, onions etc.
- You can use any pasta you like, traditionally spaghetti is used but works fine over any pasta.
- You can use the chili for pretty much anything, sandwiches, chili burgers, hot dogs, etc.
- For the last hour or so you can add the lid to help thicken the chili up.
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Cincinnati Chili
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 4 cups water
- 1 large onion diced small
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp all-spice
- 1 tsp cumin
- 3 Tbs chili powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbs cocoa powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In large pot add your ground beef and water, bring to boil and stir your beef until it separates into little pieces, reduce heat a simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Once beef is cooked, add remaining ingredients and stir to combine
- Bring to boil and reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 2 1/2 hours or until thickened.
- Serve over spaghetti or hot dogs.
Notes
- Use lean ground beef, it produces less fat and breaks up into smaller chunks nicer.
- Serve this any way that you like, with cheese, beans, onions etc.
- You can use any pasta you like, traditionally spaghetti is used but works fine over any pasta.
- You can use the chili for pretty much anything, sandwiches, chili burgers, hot dogs, etc.
- For the last hour or so you can add the lid to help thicken the chili up.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER, 2016
Amanda
I’ve made this recipe many times over the years. Being from Cincinnati, I can say this chili recipe is a great replica of the original. Very delicious!
Jennie Foley
Looks delicious and I will definitely be trying it.
The only thing I’d say to those new cooks, don’t forget to take out the bay leaves before serving.
Tiamo
Love this specific version of CChili! Only thing I question is the recommendation to cover the chili the last 1/2 hour or so. Won’t covering the chili keep the moisture condensing and being added back into the chili, therefore keeping it thin? I always learned to uncover to allow the moisture to be slowly boiled off and to lid when you want to keep the consistency thin…..?
Kyli
Might just be our taste buds, but my family was not a fan of the cinnamon in this recipe. It was over powering to me. Next time I will try to leave it out.
Kista
May I mix the spaghetti in the chili or do it have to be separated? I’m cooking it now.
Tornadough Alli
You can do either. I usually just serve in top but you can mix it together if you’d like.
Jessica
My hubby and I like to sweeten and spice it up a bit more by adding brown sugar and dried pasilla chili’s to it. So amazing on spaghetti noodles with Jack cheese.
Jen
It’s a rainy day at home today, so a pot of chili over spaghetti sounded like a great idea! This has been my go to Cincinnati Chili recipe for a couple years now. The whole family loves it!
Misty
I couldn’t find allspice, believe it .org not, so can I just leave it out? Will it affect the taste very much? This is my first time to make this and I really want it to be right.
Tornadough Alli
No it should be fine to leave it out.
Tim
That looks like the best recipe I’ve seen for this type of chili. I’m from the Cincinnati area and although I can get this at the restaurant (they are all over) or in a can to make my own three way anytime I want, I want to make this. The only thing is we don’t swirl on a fork. It is cut, like you would cut a piece of pie you were eating on a plate and it lays on top of the fork.
Diane
I have made this several times. My favorite way is over homemade french fries with cheese and onions. This is a must over spaghetti if you have never had it that way!
Shannon Blevins
As a native Cincinnatian, I can assure you that we do just eat bowlfuls of this 😂 Try it on a baked potato, fries, Skyline dip(layer of cream cheese, layer of chili, layer of cheese), burritos…We put this on everything!
Pinky
I can’t wait to make it! I’ve made for years out of the package and it’s always been a huge family favorite! On the menu for tomorrow… I’ll be glad to report back after dinner. Thanks for sharing!