Serve chili over spaghetti and top with kidney beans, Tabasco sauce, finely shredded Cheddar cheese, and chopped onion. I used to adore Cincinnati-style Skyline chili. I developed this Skyline lentil chili to give me that Skyline flavor after going vegetarian. Instead of using ground beef as is traditional in Cincinnati cuisine, I substitute green or black lentils. Even when I started eating meat again, this is still my favored method for satisfying my Skyline fix.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 35 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons chili powder, or more to taste
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ (1 ounce) square unsweetened chocolate, grated
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
- 2 cups diced onions
- 2 cups diced green bell pepper
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups dry lentils
- 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup water, or as needed (Optional)
Instructions
- Mix chili powder, garlic powder, unsweetened chocolate, cinnamon, cumin, salt, cayenne pepper, allspice, cloves, and bay leaf together in a bowl until seasoning mix is well combined.
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat; cook and stir onions and green bell pepper until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add vegetable broth and lentils; simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in seasoning mix, tomato sauce, apple cider vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce; simmer for 1 hour more, adding water if chili gets too thick.
- Remove bay leaf from chili. Blend chili using an immersion blender until desired consistency is reached.
- If you want this to be vegan, use vegan Worcestershire sauce cheese.
- Note, if you’re not familiar with Cincinnati-style chili – this is not regular chili. It is a sauce served over spaghetti (or as a dip with crackers or on bread), topped with Cheddar cheese.
Reviews
It’s hard to describe how good this chili is. Once you’ve tried it, you will crave it.
This was amazing! I used yellow bell peppers so that they would go undetected by my kids, I also added a half cup of diced mushrooms. I used a tablespoon of cocoa instead of chocolate. My whole family ate it. I also made a vegan cheese sauce to put on top and used Banza chickpea spaghetti to make it gluten free. So delicious!
This was amazing! I used yellow bell peppers so that they would go undetected by my kids, I also added a half cup of diced mushrooms. I used a tablespoon of cocoa instead of chocolate. My whole family ate it. I also made a vegan cheese sauce to put on top and used Banza chickpea spaghetti to make it gluten free. So delicious!
Easy and delicious
What a great recipe! The seasoning is amazing. The method leaves you with a lovely chili even though mine was pretty thick. I served it as written in the description with onions, kidney beans, and cheese then served it over spaghetti. I should have broken the spaghetti into pieces. Serving over long spaghetti seemed more like a ragù than a chili. Regardless, it was absolutely delicious. Thank you for the recipe.