Cincinnati-Style Chili
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All you need is 5 ingredients to make my Southern version of easy Cincinnati-style chili recipe. It’s the perfect blend of spicy and savory flavors, served traditionally on a bed of spaghetti.
This is my Southern take on a traditional Cincinnati chili recipe (hence the word “style” in the title). I may have tweaked the flavors just a bit (the authentic version uses a lot of spices), but I’m serving it the traditional way on spaghetti, so that gets bonus points, right? Authentic Cincinnati chili has a very unique flavor and is unlike anything I have ever tasted before. I can fully see how, if you were raised on this stuff, you’d be left with a craving that only Cincinnati chili would fill.
But today we’re making a Cincinnati-style chili recipe with an Alabama flair. This recipe is ridiculously easy to make. All you need is 5 ingredients: cooked ground beef, tomato sauce, ground cumin, chili powder, and water. The instructions are as simple as mixing the ingredients together and letting them simmer and thicken on the stove for about an hour.
Then we serve a big scoop of the meat sauce on a bed of freshly made spaghetti. Personally, I love how the spaghetti noodles seem to take to the chili sauce perfectly and they are great for balancing out the chili spices. The finishing touch is the toppings of your choice. As you can see, I opted for shredded cheese, but there are other options below.
You’ll also want to keep scrolling to learn more about Cincinnati chili and how to make this recipe work for you. Now I can’t wait until fall gets here so I can have a big chili dinner with friends. Let’s get cooking!
And if you need other Chili ideas try making some of these: White Bean Chili With Chicken, Easy Skillet Chili Bake, Buffalo Chicken Chili, or Crock Pot Chili Recipe.
Recipe Ingredients
- Tomato sauce
- Ground cumin
- Chili powder
- Cooked ground beef
- Cooked spaghetti for serving
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Cincinnati-Style Chili
Place all of your ingredients into a large pot.
Fill up your tomato sauce can with water and add that as well.
16 ounces equals 2 cups.
Now give all of this a good stir.
Bring this to a very light boil before reducing the heat and cooking, stirring every now and then, for about an hour.
You also want to cook it uncovered like so.
It will look deliciously thick like this when done.
Now add some cooked spaghetti noodles to your plate…
And add a heaping spoonful of the meat sauce on top.
Like this.
Finish your Cincinnati spaghetti with the toppings of your choice like shredded cheddar cheese.
But there are more options below.
Enjoy your chili. Comfort food at its finest!
Storage
- Store leftover chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop on low until heated through.
- Freeze leftovers in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat them as above.
Recipe Notes
- This will make enough for two large servings or four smaller ones, so you might want to double it if feeding a whole family. Luckily it’s super easy to double, you just need a big pot!
- Feel free to substitute the ground beef for ground turkey.
- For extra tomato flavor, use 1 can of tomato sauce and 1 can of tomato paste.
- If you want it to taste like traditional Cincinnati chili, you’re going to need to raid your spice cabinet. Along with the chili powder and cumin, you can add:
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice
- A pinch of ground cloves and/or ground nutmeg.
- 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you want to add more heat.
- Other seasonings you can add for flavor include 2 minced garlic cloves, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
- Another way to add flavor is to substitute the water for beef broth.
Recipe FAQs
What are the ingredients in Cincinnati chili?
The main ingredients in Cincinnati chili are ground beef, tomato paste, and spices.
Why do you put chocolate in chili?
Adding a tablespoon of unsweetened chocolate (chopped) or cocoa powder to any chili recipe adds so much richness and depth to the flavor. Feel free to give it a go.
What is different about Cincinnati chili?
There are a few differences when it comes to Cincinnati chili:
- It’s served on spaghetti rather than rice.
- You don’t cook beans in the chili, you add them as a topping.
- The seasonings are different and usually include a combination of ground cumin, chili powder, ground cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ground nutmeg, paprika, and/or dried oregano.
What are the three ways of Cincinnati chili?
So, there are three different ways to serve Cincinnati chili (yeah, they do things differently in the Midwest):
- Three-way: spaghetti, chili, and shredded cheddar cheese.
- Four-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheddar cheese, and minced raw onion OR warmed canned kidney beans.
- Five-way: spaghetti, chili, shredded cheddar cheese, minced raw onion, AND kidney beans.
What do you eat with Cincinnati chili?
Traditionally you eat Cincinnati-style chili over hot dogs or with spaghetti. If you opt for the hot dog idea, it’s called a Coney Dog. Grab your steamed bun and beef hot dog and top it with chili, diced onion, cheese, and yellow mustard.
You also add the toppings of your choice: shredded cheese, diced onion, kidney beans, and/or oyster crackers.
Can you make Cincinnati-style chili in the slow cooker?
Absolutely! Instead of placing all of the ingredients in a large pot, put them in the crock pot instead. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. I recommend cooking with the lid on and then removing it halfway through the cooking time. This will allow it to thicken beautifully, as there’s a lotta liquid!
How do you make vegan Cincinnati-style chili?
You have a couple of options for a vegan Cincinnati chili recipe. First, substitute the ground beef for your favorite plant-based ground meat alternative. Second, use a combination (about 2 cups) of cooked lentils and sliced mushrooms.
Check out these other chili recipes:
Ingredients
- 1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
- 16 ounces water (just fill up the empty tomato sauce can)
- 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons chili powder or to taste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a pot and give it a good stir.1 16-ounce can tomato sauce, 16 ounces water, 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 2 tablespoons chili powder or to taste
- Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer (uncovered and stirring often) for about an hour.
- Serve over freshly-made spaghetti noodles with the toppings of your choice. Delicious!
“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.”
– Francesca Reigler, artist
Submitted by Jenny
I LOVE Cincinnati Chili as I was raised in Northern Kentucky. When I moved away for grad school I always missed it b/c there was nothing like it in the New Jersey area I was living, so when I’d go home I’d get tons of cans and bring them back with me.
That was UNTIL my new boyfriend found a recipe online and read through 300 comments to get it perfectly right! The recipe is VERY similar to the first one posted above but includes 2 tablespoons coco powder. To get the right consistency which is very fine what you do is you use a potato masher and mash the meet in the beef broth while its cooking which creates the fine texture. Cincinnati chili is not chunky at all and this is the best way we’ve found to get teh consistancy right.
Now 4 years later I’ve kept the boyfriend and he always tells me its only for this chili, which could be true 🙂
Thanks for sharing all the tips Carla! I am glad to hear you kept the boyfriend!!
I’ve been doing this since I was a kid! Yum yum. Good with canned chili or homemade chili (made from your recipe, got a lot in the freezer because it’s so good!). I do intend to make Cincinnati chili sometime soon.
Here’s another recipe for Cincinnati Chili. Sweet Carol126 is correct in that it can be served by the terms, 2 way, 3 way,4 way or 5 way.
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 8oz. cans tomato sauce
4 cups beef stock
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tspn Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 and 3/4 tbsp cocoa
1 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn ground cumin
1/4 tspn ground allspice
1/4 tspn ground cloves
1/2 tspn kosher salt
1/2 tspn cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
Condiments / Toppings:
spaghetti noodles
shredded cheddar cheese
white onion, diced
kidney beans
oyster crackers
your favorite hot sauce
Preparation:
In a large pot, brown the ground beef and onions over medium heat.
Add the beef stock and bay leaf to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 3 hours with pot almost completely covered.
Remove the bay leaf.
Serve chili over hot spaghetti with your choice of toppings
2-way: bed of spaghetti topped with chili
3-way: bed of spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheddar cheese
4-way: bed of spaghetti topped with chili, shredded cheddar cheese, and diced onions or beans
5-way: bed of spaghetti topped with chili, shredded cheddar cheese, diced onions and beans
Someday, I would like to visit Cincinnati and try their homemade chili firsthand.
This is not Cincinnati chili oe likat all. Cincinnati Chili is a greek chili and it is served as 2 way, 3 way, 4 way or 5 way. It comes with oyster crackers. The chili is on top of spaghetti but you can add beans, you can add onions (oh yes), you can add cheese as well as the spaghetti under the meat chili. The chili in Cincinnati chile has cinnamon in it as well as the chili powder and other spices including garlic. It is a treat that one does get used to and the spaghetti is thin spaghetti not thick as in the photo, more like vermicelli. My daughter has a recipe for Cincinnati chili. While any chili can be put on top of Spaghetti or vermicelli. My sister orders the packages of spices to add to the sauce and skips the recipe. There is a place near me in FL where i get my Cincinnati chili. The hot dogs with cheese and onion does not appeal to me as much as the Cincinnati chili. For chili cheese dogs, I prefer the Beach Buns in Deerfield Beach, FL.
PS Robert – Steak n Shake’s 5 way is amazing! Hands down the best around in Ohio. Mmmmmmm.
Ruby, both my and my husband’s family eats PB sandwiches with chili. I have several friends who do, too! I’m not sure where it started, but it’s good!
Gotta agree with you, Christy. I love the method of serving chili over spaghetti, but I do the same and make my own recipe. Cinci-style chili just doesn’t make sense to me. Blech!
You know…I’ve never thought of getting a couple orders of Wendy’s chili but that’s a fabulous idea! Especially with it being so inexpensive. Never thought of it but you can bet I’m going to try it! Thanks!!!
FYI – the TRUE Cincinnati Chili recipe (at least the Skyline one) is a closely guarded secret! All the chili is prepared at their main commissary and shipped to the restaurants. Only a very few are privy to the exact ingredients and proportions. So any recipe you find online is only attempting to duplicate the taste. Oh – and very important when eating Cincinnati Chili – NEVER TWIRL like you would with spaghetti! You must cut and use the forklift method to keep the layers intact. I can always spot a first timer at the restaurants because they are twirling it! =D Used to be posters in the restaurants with the precise eating instructions on it!
Thanks for sharing Haley!