I was introduced to Cincinnati Chili while my brother was going through his residency in Cincinnati (we were living just outside Fort Knox, KY at the time, so it was a do-able day trip, even with Princess an infant).
Photo by Jeff Cushner Note: I never use this much cheese-as delicous as it looks.
This regional specialty is different from your “typical” chili in three ways.
#1-The recipes are characterized by including unusual ingredients such as cinnamon, cloves and chocolate. . . and frequently NOT including chilies or chili powder.
#2-The ground meat is not browned, it is boiled-which gives it a much finer texture in the finished dish.
#3-It is ordered or made “by the numbers” depending on what you layer.
Photo by Jeff Cushner
One way-just the Chili
Two Way-Spaghetti, Chili
Three Way-Spaghetti, Chili, Shredded Cheese
Four Way-Spaghetti, Chili, Shredded Cheese, Onions em>OR Beans
Five Way-Spaghetti, Chili, Shredded Cheese, Onions AND Beans
Even though it’s a favorite “fast food” item in the Cincinnati region (Skyline Chili is the most famous restaraunt to serve it) it is easy to create a homemade version. Don’t let the long list of ingredients (or their weirdness) scare you–it really is pretty fast and easy to put together.
And it tastes great! The last time I made Cincinnati Chili Princess declared it “Magnificent”, Yankee Bill said it was delicious and even Buddy (who dislikes beans but was able to eat his without) said it was good.
Cincinnati Chili
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 LBS of Ground Beef Venison or Turkey
- 2 beef bullion cubes
- 1 quart water
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 16 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 onions diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 1/2 TBS vinegar
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 cloves garlic diced
- 2 TBS chili powder
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 TBS brown sugar
- salt & pepper
Optional ingredients for serving:
- spaghetti
- shredded cheddar cheese
- diced onions
- canned kidney beans drained
Instructions
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In a large pot boil together: beef, onions, celery, water and bullion cubes. (I like to actually reach my hand into the pot before I turn on the heat and sort of squish the ground meat into the water so it turns into a sort of slurry)
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Reduce heat and add all other ingredients.
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Simmer for 2 hours.
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Remove bay leaves and add salt & pepper to taste before serving.
To adjust this recipe for a crockpot:
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Reduce water to 2C
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Combine all ingredients in a crockpot.
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Use your hands to completely break up and distribute the ground meat throughout the dish.
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Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Variations:
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This is a very flexible dish, but if you have never had Cincinnati Chili I recommend that you make it with all the ingredients, including the "weird" ones like chocolate, before you decide to leave anything out.
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Obviously you can leave out or increase any ingredients to taste-add more onion, leave out the celery, double the cinnamon. . . whatever makes you happy.
Have you ever eaten or made Cincinnati Chili? What is your favorite way to eat it? (I’m an “All the way-5 way” gal myself!)
Oh, what happy memories of our time in the Dayton area. We loved to visit Skyline Chili and have a York Peppermint Patty for desert. Thanks for the recipe.
My nephew got married in Cincinnati a couple years ago and we tried Skyline Chili for the first time and really enjoyed it. Now we make it a point to stop there when we go through the area on our way to MI to visit relatives. Don’t forget the oyster crackers. 🙂
That looks really delicious. I’ve never tried it that way. Thanks for sharing! Now I’m hungry!
I’m a four-way bean girl, myself. I grew up on Skyline and now my husband, sons and daughter love it as well! Columbus is just close enough to have some restaurant franchises and we eat it at home almost every Saturday!
I have had it at my sister-in-law’s in Lexington, KY. She made it I guess you would call it two way over spaghetti and then made pimento cheese to go with it, that was a first for me too! The chili was pretty good and I never tried to make it, I am from the Southwest, completely different style! I like my cowboy chili my Mom’s recipe she made for cowboys while working on a ranch up in Montana, with a few tweaks of my own. I will try this recipe though and see if it is something my family might like for change every now and then:)
I just had chili tonight for supper…..but this recipie sounds great – can’t wait to try it!
Glad that this recipe has brought up such great memories for many of you-it’s so fun to hear about how each of you were introduced to Cincinnati Chili!
For those of you who haven’t tried it yet-I look forward to hearing what you think once you do 🙂
I love Cincinnati chili. I discovered it about a year ago when one of my Facebook friends, an Ohio native, mentioned she was craving some. I found a recipe on the Allrecipes site and went to town. Delicious! One thing I do is use a potato masher on the boiling beef every 15 minutes during the first hour. It gives the beef that really fine texture you’re looking for. I eat mine five way, after sauteeing the onions a bit. Can’t do raw. And as Becka said, don’t forget the oyster crackers.
Syd-Thanks for the potato masher tip! That’s a great idea for folks who don’t want to dive in and squish meat & water together with their bare hands 🙂
If you’re making this in the crockpot, do you brown the ground beef first??
Kat-no you do not. In this particular recipe you want the meat to be very very fine-not in big browned chunks. By sort of “mushing” the raw beef into the water before you boil it you get the right consistency. Trust me-this is the authentic method 🙂
There isn’t as much cheese as it appears, actually. What you’re looking at is mostly air. I used a rotary shredder that produces single thin strands of cheese. As soon as it’s dug into, the cheese settles down quickly. After seeing my photo again, I’m getting hungry to make it SOON!
Thanks for explaining Jeff-and thanks as well for being so awesome and sharing your photo!
I’m actually making it again right now. This time, I took the ground beef and gave it another spin in the food processor to get an even finer texture. It’s been in the oven, inside the dutch oven, for about 3.5 hours of its allotted 6 hour time on 275 deg. Can’t wait!