Cincinnati Chili
intro
A uniquely spiced, fine-textured meat sauce served over spaghetti, customizable with classic cheese, onion, and bean toppings, hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ingredients
Steps
Mix beef and cold broth
Place 450g 80/20 ground beef in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, pour in 960ml cold low-sodium beef broth. Use clean hands or a wooden spoon to break the beef apart completely into fine, tiny crumbs with no large clumps, until the mixture forms a uniform, thin meat slurry. Set stovetop heat to medium-high, bringing the mixture to a gentle rolling boil over 8-10 minutes, skimming any small amounts of gray foam that rise to the surface as it heats.
Add aromatics and tomato
Once the beef mixture reaches a rolling boil, stir in 60g tomato paste, 75g finely diced yellow onion (reserve the remaining 75g for topping), 12g minced garlic, 30ml Worcestershire sauce, and 15ml apple cider vinegar. Stir continuously for 2 minutes over medium-high heat until the tomato paste is fully incorporated with no dark red clumps remaining, then reduce heat slightly to maintain a steady simmer rather than a hard, roiling boil.
Blend in spice mix
Add 14g chili powder, 2.6g ground cinnamon, 2.8g Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder, 1g ground allspice, 2g ground cumin, 3g kosher salt, and 1 whole bay leaf to the simmering pot. Stir thoroughly for 1 minute to evenly distribute all spices, scraping the pot bottom to prevent dry spice from burning. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a low, gentle simmer, partially covering the pot with a lid and leaving a 1-inch gap for steam to escape.
Slow simmer the chili
Let the chili simmer for 70 minutes, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes to prevent sticking and burning on the pot bottom. The finished chili will have a thin, sauce-like consistency (not thick like chunky traditional chili) with fully tender fine beef crumbs, and a deep, balanced savory-sweet spiced flavor. Remove and discard the bay leaf once simmering is complete.
Cook spaghetti al dente
During the final 12 minutes of chili simmer time, fill a large stockpot with 4 liters of water, add 20g kosher salt, and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add 340g dried spaghetti, cooking for 9-10 minutes until al dente (tender with a slight firm bite at the center of each strand). Drain the spaghetti fully—do not rinse with water, as the surface starch helps the chili cling to the noodles—and divide evenly between 4 warm serving bowls.
Assemble and top servings
Ladle 180ml (3/4 cup) of finished chili over each mound of spaghetti. Top according to classic Cincinnati "way" preferences: add warm rinsed kidney beans first for 4-way or 5-way servings, then the reserved 75g diced raw onion, then mound 56g (1/2 cup) finely shredded sharp cheddar per bowl so the cheese melts slightly from the chili’s heat. Serve immediately.
Tips
2.Shred cheddar fresh from a block instead of using pre-shredded bagged cheese: pre-shredded cheese is coated in anti-caking starch that prevents it from melting smoothly and clinging to the hot chili and spaghetti.
3.Resist the urge to thicken the chili: unlike hearty, chunky chilis, Cincinnati chili is intentionally thin to act as a sauce that coats every strand of spaghetti, so no flour, cornstarch, or extra tomato paste is needed to thicken it.
OMG I grew up eating Skyline Chili and was so skeptical a home recipe could hit the same, but this is PERFECT. The spice blend is spot on, no weird random ingredients, and it was so easy to throw together even on a weeknight. My whole family went back for seconds over spaghetti with extra cheese, obviously 5-way style. Will be making this for our next football watch party!
I have three super picky kids who turn their nose up at basically any chili that isn’t the canned stuff, so I went into this fully expecting complaints. GAME CHANGER. They loved the sweet, savory spice profile, no chunky weird bits (I did simmer it the full 90 minutes like the recipe said, super tender!), and they begged me to put it on cheese coneys for our next cookout. So easy to make too, I didn’t even have to run to the store for special spices!
Super easy recipe for a broke college kid! I made a big batch on Sunday, ate it over spaghetti for dinners all week, and even brought a container to my dorm floor potluck. People kept asking for the recipe, it’s way better than the takeout chili place near campus. Only thing I added was a little extra cinnamon because I love that warm note, 10/10.
Wait, hold on, is this supposed to be thinner than regular chili? I made it last night and it’s not the thick, bean-heavy chili I usually make, my husband thought I messed up at first! But once we put it over spaghetti with a mountain of cheese it was SO good, just had to get used to the texture difference from our usual chili night recipe.
I’ve tried probably a dozen copycat Cincinnati chili recipes online and this one is by far the closest to the real deal I’ve had. The unsweetened chocolate? Genius, I never thought to add that before but it adds that perfect depth I was always missing. Cook time was exactly 90 minutes, super straightforward, no fancy skills needed even for a beginner cook like me.
Meal prep win! I doubled the recipe on Sunday, portioned it out into freezer containers, and now I’ve got quick meals for busy work nights. Tossed it over spaghetti, over baked potatoes, even used it as a nacho topping once, it works for everything. Way better than spending $12 a plate at the local chili parlor, will be a staple in my rotation.
I’ve been making Cincinnati chili for my family since the 1970s when we lived just outside Cincinnati, and this recipe is almost identical to the one I’ve used for years! Love that it’s easy enough for new cooks to nail, the spice measurements are exactly right, no overdoing it on the allspice like a lot of modern recipes do. Served it to my bridge club last week and everyone raved.
Brought this to my office potluck yesterday in a slow cooker to keep it warm, set out a toppings station with spaghetti, hot dogs, cheese, onions, crackers, the whole nine yards. People went ABSOLUTELY wild for it, I left with an empty crockpot and like 8 people texting me for the recipe. 10/10, easiest potluck win I’ve ever had, zero effort for how big of a hit it was.
Finally got around to making this after seeing it recommended in the mom group I’m in! Cooked it while I was helping my kids with homework last night, the 90 minute simmer time was perfect because I didn’t have to babysit the stove, just gave it a stir every once in a while. Served it 3-way for dinner (spaghetti, chili, cheese) and my husband said it’s better than the Skyline we got on our trip to Cincinnati last summer. Obsessed!
I was worried the cook time would be too long for a weeknight, but it’s totally hands off once you brown the meat! Most of the 90 minutes is just simmering, so I was able to unload the dishwasher, pack school lunches, and fold laundry while it cooked. The flavor is unreal, that warm cinnamon and cocoa note is such a nice change from our usual taco Tuesday rotation. My kids asked for seconds, which never happens with new recipes. SO good!