Cincinnati Chili: American Comfort Food
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Cincinnati chili is the ultimate comfort food for people who love spaghetti, cheese and chili. Follow this easy Cincinnati chili recipe and make the decadently delicious dish at home this weekend.
We ate Cincinnati chili for the first time while traveling. Though we’d heard of the dish before, we’d never had the occasion to taste it until our travels took us to Cincinnati.
This situation is not unique for us. Culinary curiosity has catapulted us to dozens of states in America as well as to more than 40 countries. It’s also the reason we added Cincinnati to our epic US road trip route in 2016.
Neither of us had ever been to Cincinnati; however, we were itching to try the Queen City’s two iconic foods. Yes, the midsize dOhio city has not one but two iconic foods: Cincinnati chili and Graeter’s Ice Cream.
Learn about Graeter’s Ice Cream, Cincinnati’s other iconic food.
After scheduling a tour at Graeter’s Ice Cream factory on the outskirts of the city, we focused our efforts on one thing and one thing only. Our mission was to eat as much Cincinnati chili as physically possible in just 24 hours.
Mission accomplished.
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What Is Cincinnati Chili?
Cincinnati chili lives up to its name inasmuch as it’s from Cincinnati and its main ingredient is chili. Sort of. The chili in this dish is nothing like chili eaten in Texas or sold in cans across America. Instead, it’s more like a Greek meat sauce with flavors of cinnamon, clove and bay leaf. It’s kind of like pastitsio meets spagbol meets a burrito.
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In Cincinnati, cooks start by topping oval plates with spaghetti and then smother the simple pasta strands with highly seasoned meat sauce. Based on how the ‘chili’ is ordered, they finish by adding the following:
You may be wondering about Cincinnati one-way chili. Wonder no more. One-way chili isn’t a thing. Without the fixings, it’s just plain spaghetti.
Pro Tip
Don’t count out Cincinnati chili if its combination of disparate ingredients sounds weird to you. In our opinion, and, more importantly, the opinion of millions of hungry midwesterners, Cincinnati chili is dee-licious.
The History of Cincinnati Chili
In many ways, Cincinnati chili is a quintessential American dish with its all-American cheddar cheese, Mediterranean flavors and Italian pasta. But how and when did it begin?
No flash in the pan (or should we say Dutch oven?), Cincinnati chili has been a thing in Cincinnati since two Macedonian brothers concocted the flavorful gravy in 1922. A century later, the city has more than 100 chili parlors serving versions of the city’s most popular comfort food.
While Tom and John Kiradjieff get credit for inventing Cincinnati chiliat their Empress chili parlor during the 1920s, Greek immigrant Nicholas Lambrinides took Cincinnati chili to the next level two decades later when he opened Skyline Chili and modified the recipe in 1949.
Lambrinides clearly did something right – Skyline Chili and Cincinnati chili are now practically synonymous. The chain now has over 150 locations in four states ,including Indiana, Kentucky, Florida and, of course, Ohio.
Where Is the Best Cincinnati Chili?
Cincinnati is the obvious answer to the question of where the best Cincinnati chili is located. The better question is where to find the best Cincinnati-style chili in Cincinnati. Unlike the specific ways to order Cincinnati chili, that answer isn’t so easy.
Some people will quickly respond with Skyline Chili, the city’s 800-pound chili gorilla. Not only does Skyline have a secret recipe and numerous locations, but eating at Skyline is an absolute must for its slice of midwestern culture.
Others will respond with Camp Washington Chili, a local institution with just one location and prestigious accolades that include a James Beard award. As a bonus, this Cincinnati chili parlor has a dinner menu and hours that extend through the night.
As noted above, Cincinnati has more than 100 chili parlors. Other top Cincinnati chili restaurants include Blue Ash Chili, Chili Time, Dixie Chili, Empress Chili (the original), Gold Star Chili (a chain), Pleasant Ridge Chili and Price Hill Chili.
Pro Tip
Don’t twirl your spaghetti when you eat Cincinnati chili in its home city. Locals are choppers instead of twirlers and will know right away that you’re not a native Ohioan.
However, it’s not just possible to eat Cincinnati chili at home. It’s also delicious to do.
Ingredients
We’re not going to lie. The number of ingredients required to make Cincinnati chili is daunting at first glance. However, a deeper look reveals that almost every ingredient is a pantry staple in kitchens around the world.
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
We mentioned before that Cincinnati chili has Mediterranean roots and the dish’s ingredients validate this assertion. We’re talking about spices like cloves and cinnamon as well as unsweetened chocolate.
However, make no mistake – this recipe also has some kick. Ingredients like red pepper flakes and chili powder add a punch that justifies drinking a refreshing beer or two with the dish.
We went the extra mile and made our chili powder from scratch by grinding and blending ancho, guajillo and chilie de árbol peppers and then adding a blend of spices like garlic powder and oregano. However, chili powder sold in American grocery stores and on Amazon should suffice.
True Confession
We only made the chili powder from scratch once. We typically use store-bought chili powder with great success.
How to Make Cincinnati Chili
Call us crazy, but we think it’s fun to make Cincinnati chili at home. The hardest part is measuring all of the ingredients before dumping them into a Dutch oven with two pounds of ground beef. See below for an Instant Pot cooking option.
While you can use a pot with a heavy bottom, a Dutch oven works best and will let you do a low and slow simmer without burning the bottom. We recommend that you stir your chili frequently either way.
After we added all the ingredients, we were amazed by the number of empty prep bowls that surrounded the pot. They numbered more than a dozen!
By preparing the mise en place in advance, making the actual recipe was a breeze.
To be honest, we’re not sure which step was more fun – dumping everything into the pot or mashing it all together with a large potato masher. Yes, we use a potato masher to make our Cincinnati chili recipe.
While not as fun as dumping or mashing, pouring six cups of water into the pot is the last step before letting the chili simmer. You can do other things in the kitchen or on your computer while the Dutch oven does its magic over the next couple of hours.
You’ll start to smell the blending of tantalizing flavors right away. In fact, our kitchen smelled like a Mediterranean spice market once we assembled all the ingredients. The aromas only improved as the dish cooked.
Expect the chili to cook for at least two hours. You’ll know it’s ready when its consistency resembles a thick Italian meat sauce as opposed to a super-thick Texas chili.
It’s time to make spaghetti around the two-hour mark. A lot of recipes are flexible about the type of pasta you use. This is not one of those recipes.
For this recipe, you need to use the kind of simple spaghetti you may have eaten with meatballs as a kid. You’ll want to cook the pasta a few minutes past al dente.
Plating Cincinnati chili recipe is easy-peasy as the dish is intended to be messy. Use tongs to plate the pasta and a ladle to cover the pasta with the chili.
If you haven’t done so already, this is the time to decide if you want to make three-way, four-way or five-way chili. Since we decided to make four-way chili, we added chopped raw onions in addition to shredded cheddar cheese.
We had kidney beans on hand but decided not to use them. If we had decided otherwise, we would have made five-way chili. Maybe next time.
The final step is to smother the entire dish with shredded cheddar cheese. Don’t be shy. You’ll want to add a lot of cheese. This is not a dish where less is more. You’ll understand as soon as you take a bite.
Pro Tip
Grate the cheddar cheese with a box grater into long strands while the chili is cooking and then put the shredded cheese into the freezer to chill for a maximum of 20 minutes. You do not want the cheese to melt.
Instant Pot Option
You may be wondering if you can cook Cincinnati chili in an Instant Pot. The answer is YES.
While we don’t have an Instant Pot ourselves, a reader has advised that this recipe cooked like a dream in her Instant Pot. She followed all of the steps and measurements as outlined in this recipe. However, she cooked the chili for 25 minutes in the Instant Pot instead of 2 hours in a Dutch oven.
If you have an Instant Pot, we say go for it!
What Goes with Cincinnati Chili?
To be honest, you don’t NEED to add anything to our Cincinnati chili recipe, but you may WANT to add some hot sauce for extra zip. We added a few dashes of Louisiana hot sauce and the smoky flavor worked well.
The fine folks in Cincinnati often add crushed oyster crackers to their Cincinnati chili spaghetti dishes. Since we’re not from Cincinnati, that’s overkill for us. The dish isn’t exactly dainty – not that we’re complaining.
While we’re on the same page about not adding oyster crackers, we agree to disagree when it comes to dessert. It’s a local tradition to eat a York Peppermint Patty after eating a plate of chili spaghetti in Cincinnati. Unlike Daryl, Mindi loves the candy classic.
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Variations
We save the best for last. It turns out that our Cincinnati chili recipe tastes even better the next day. In other words, don’t throw away the leftovers!
You can always cook some more spaghetti to whip up another round of three, four or five-way chili or you can make one of the following with the savory meat sauce:
Better yet, maybe you’ll create your own recipe. As we always say… Your Kitchen, Your Rules.
While we can’t guarantee that you’ll love our easy Cincinnati chili recipe, we’ll be surprised if you don’t. Cincinnati chili is as easy to make as it is to eat. It will likely be the best Mediterranean meat sauce you’ve ever served over spaghetti.
Cincinnati chili is a hot American plate of yum. You know you want to try it and we say go for it.
Cincinnati Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef (lean)
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- ¼ cup chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
- 1½ teaspoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ ounce unsweetened chocolate
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 ounces tomato paste (can or tube)
- 6 cups water
- 2 pounds spaghetti (If serving all at once)
- 6 cups bright orange cheddar cheese (grated)
Optional Toppings
- 1 raw onion (chopped)
- 1 can kidney beans
Equipment
Instructions
- Throw all the ingredients in a 5-6 quart pot (preferably a Dutch oven).
- Pour water over all of the ingredients.
- Mash all the ingredients together using a large potato masher.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook 2 – 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
- Chili is done when it reaches a saucy consistency. Don’t let it get too thick. The goal is a saucy consistency that ladles easily over the spaghetti.
- Boil spaghetti until it’s soft. We recommend that you follow the directions on the spaghetti package and add 3 to 5 minutes.
- Drain spaghetti into a colander and then transfer back to the pot. After you make sure that your pasta pot is off the heat, pour one large spoonful of the chili into the pasta pot and mix. (This step prevents the pasta from sticking together.)
- Use tongs to serve spaghetti on large plates.
- Ladle a large amount of chili on top of each plate of spaghetti.
- Optional: Place chopped raw onions and/or kidney beans on top of the chili.
- Use your hands to smother everything with a mountain of grated cheddar cheese. You should only see the bare edge of the chili and spaghetti.
Notes
- Cut the ingredients in half if you want to prepare this dish for four people.
- Don’t hesitate to make extra chili. It tastes even better the next day.
- If you add the cheese when the chili is piping hot, the cheese will melt. To avoid this situation, wait five minutes after you ladle the chili over the spaghetti before adding the cheese. Another option is to chill the cheddar cheese in the freezer for about 15 minutes before you smother it over the chili. Don’t stress too much. The dish should taste great even if the cheese gets melty.
Nutrition
💡 Frequently Asked Questions
Cincinnati chili is chili that’s flavored with Mediterranean spices like cinnamon, clove and bay leaves. It’s typically served over spaghetti but can also be a hot dog topper.
Not surprisingly based on its name, Cincinnati chili was invented in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Cincinnati chili is different from typical chili. It’s a Greek meat sauce with flavors of cinnamon, clove and bay leaf. It’s kind of like pastitsio meets spagbol meets a burrito.
Located in Cincinnati, Skyline Chili is a popular restaurant chain that serves a variety of Cincinnati chili options including two-way, three-way, four-way, five way and cheese coneys.
Two-way Cincinnati chili is spaghetti topped with chili.
Three-way Cincinnati chili is spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheddar cheese.
Four-way Cincinnati chili is spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheddar cheese plus either chopped onions or kidney beans.
Five-way Cincinnati chili is spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onions and kidney beans.
A cheese coney is a hot dog topped with Cincinnati chili and cheddar cheese.
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