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.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this CINCINNATI CHILI or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
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
Robin Evans
Does the bay leaves crush up as it is cooking or how does that work out ?
Tornadough Alli
They do not, you can just discard them after it is done cooking.
Mowse
Made this for dinner tonight and the family loved it. Will definitely be making again. Used less chili powder just because my fiance has a rather sensitive stomach, though really with all the other spices it didn’t need much to be tasty, though a little salt sprinkled on, in the end, made everything sing.
Hannah
How many does this recipe serve?
Tornadough Alli
About 6 🙂
Krista
I plan on making this tomorrow. My husband is a picky eater, but he loves spaghetti and chili, so this seems like the perfect meal to try! If I want to add beans, cheese and onions – when do I add them and what kind of beans should I pick up? Thanks!
Tornadough Alli
You just add them to the topping after wards. Regular kidney beans will work for this 🙂
Clay Williams
I’m from the Cincinnati area and this is about as authentic as you can get. I’m making it right now because we have some colder weather coming through and I want my family to have a great dinner tonight. Bon A petite!
Hilary
Hi! I made your recipe for a party I’m having this weekend and just tasted and its delicious! I had to triple the recipe though and now its still pretty thin and watery… any suggestions on what to do to thicken it? I’ve had it simmering for a while now… thanks!
Clay Williams
Hi Hilary, you could have added tomato paste. That would have helped a lot.
Elisa
I won a chili cook off with this recipe! Thanks so much! My husband and I wanted to show our New England friends what Cincinnati chili was like and this was the perfect recipe. They loved it enough to give us first prize! So simple and so delicious.
Tornadough Alli
Oh yay!! That’s so exciting! I’m so happy everyone LOVED it!!
Mandy
Thank you!!!
Mandy
How do you get the hamburger pieces so small? I’m currently making it and they’re still pretty big..
Tornadough Alli
Hey Mandy, when you boil the meal continuously break it up, smash it around and stir.
Kjersti
Why no salt?
Tornadough Alli
I’ve just never added salt to mine in the years I’ve made it and honestly can’t even tell. You can add if you like.
Kelly
I live in Alabama but my grandparents were raised in Cincinnati so this was a favorite growing up! I cannot find skyline chilli packets anywhere down here so I decided to try this recipe, it is on the stove now and I AM SO EXCITED!
Amber
How can we get your sweet heat chili recipe? That sounds right up mine and my husbands ally.
Tornadough Alli
Hi Amber! Here’s the link to my Sweet Heat Chili https://tornadoughalli.com/2015/08/sweet-heat-chili/
Slugs 3511
Taste is very similar and spot on …. followed the recipe to make it to a “T” and ate two plates with thick spaghetti and cheese… Awesome😉
Julie
Might be a dumb question but do I drain the water after the hamburger meat is cooked?
Tornadough Alli
Nope, it stays in there, its makes a base for the sauce.
Jasmine
Currently making 🙌🏽🙌🏽
Tornadough Alli
Hope you love this! It’s one of my fave ways to eat spaghetti. My boys adore it on their hot dogs so we are a family divided.
Erin D
This is simmering on the stove right now and I can’t wait! It smells delicious.
Tornadough Alli
Hi Erin, it’s not like your normal chili that’s for sure! We love it’s unique flavor and over spaghetti or hot dogs just makes it!
Anna
I live in Cincinnati and eat Skyline Chili (one of the locals) frequently. I’ve tried a few different recipes and they never quite have “it”, whatever “it” might be. I’m eager to try yours! I’ve never seen one with cider vinegar before. Where did you get your recipe from? Oh, and locals eat it in burritos with beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomato too…yum!
Tornadough Alli
Hi Anna! I hope this one you like. I’m a collector of old cookbooks and this one came from one of my old church cookbooks I’ve had for many years. They call it hot dog chili in there, I’ve adapted it over the years to a flavor I like and this is kinda what I stuck with, of my faves. Probably not the original since there is so much controversy over this recipe..whats right, what should or shouldnt be included. All I know is this has become my fave 🙂
Debbie
It is very simple to make in a crock pot. Just add everything, turn it on and go to work. When you come home – make the spaghetti, grate the cheddar and you’re ready.
Sydney
How long do you normally cook it for with the crockpot. On high or low??
Tornadough Alli
I would cook it on low in the crockpot for 3-4 hours.
Michelle Shilts
I was also wondering if your chili could be cooked in a crockpot?
Michelle Shilts
I was wondering if this chili can be cooked in the crockpot? Thank you for your time, happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Tornadough Alli
There shouldn’t be any problem making this in the crock, but I would cook the beef in the water first then add it all in the crock pot.