| Total: | 1 hr 5 min |
| Active: | 1 hr 5 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
- Kosher salt
- 1 6-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons chopped unsweetened chocolate
- 1 tablespoon cider or red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- Freshly ground pepper
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- 1 19-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 pound grated cheddar cheese
- Oyster crackers, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add half the chopped onions and the garlic and cook until soft, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, paprika, cumin, allspice, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne and cloves. Cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add the beef and cook the mixture, stirring, until the beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon salt.
- Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, bay leaf and 1 1/2 cups water; simmer the mixture, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thicker. Add the chocolate, vinegar and Worcestershire and cook until the mixture is thickened but still soupy, about 15 more minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain well.
- Discard the bay leaf and season the chili with the freshly ground pepper. Divide the spaghetti among bowls and top with the chili, beans, remaining onion and cheddar. Serve with the oyster crackers if desired.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 652 |
| Total Fat | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Carbohydrates | 54 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Sugar | 6 g |
| Protein | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 111 mg |
| Sodium | 891 mg |
Reviews
Some of these reviews are pulling from later recipes made by different creators. This review is for the original which appeared in the og food network magazine in 2008…the first issue.
I am cooking through the magazine and these are my thoughts.
1. DO NOT use bakers chocolate, it was all I had and idk whyy…seemed reasonable. It was not.
2. This is not a regular chili! It reminded me of some kind of curry…
3.it is delicous when eaten on top of noodles and an intense amount of sharp cheddar or colby jack cheese
While I can’t speak to whether or not this recipe is authentic “Cincinnati Chili” or if it resembles Skyline, I can say that it lived up to my expectations. I knew what to expect from having a canned Skyline chili. Based on suggestions here, I made a few small adjustments. I had 2 lbs beef, so I did a 14 oz can diced tomatoes and an 8 oz can tomato sauce. I used 2 cups beef stock instead of 1 1/2 cups water. I went off book and added a little nutmeg and oregano. I read oregano in another recipe and it just made sense to me with the Greek influence. I wanted it to feel like a pasta sauce and it totally worked. Neither flavors were discernible individually in the end as in it didn’t “taste like” oregano or nutmeg. The chocolate I used was an admittedly old bar of 85% dark that I bought at Trader Joe’s a while back and I think it worked well. I used about half of the salt, because a tablespoon seemed like too much, especially with the beef stock vs. water. I chopped the onion fine and cooked them a little low and slower until they were pretty soft. When I added the spices, it almost made a kind of paste-y texture. Not quite a paste as the onions were still intact. It was a perfect base for the ground beef and it combined nicely. I followed the steps according to the recipe aside from taking things slower. I wasn’t in a hurry and I really wanted to develop a nice flavor, so I took my time, about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. I even added some water as it was simmering when it got too thick. The onions completely disappeared and the tomatoes were just a bit noticeable, but mostly totally cooked down. At first taste, I understood why one reviewer here said it was grainy. The texture was absolutely fine served over spaghetti with cheddar cheese, onions, kidney beans, hot sauce, and oyster crackers. I resisted the urge to just add the beans to the chili and use them as a topping like I’m supposed to. I’m having my second serving now and it’s even better than yesterday. I hope this very long winded review helps someone and I’m interested to hear any feedback you may have!
Good but needs beer
This was really good, not sweet at all. I followed the recipe exactly except my ground beef was 85:15 so I did add a little beef tallow to up the fat content/flavor. Typically chilies have so much tomato and other items that have a slightly sweet flavor but this is not that. It’s not spicy heat wise either, more so spiced in a warm way. I enjoyed it the Cincinnati 5 way with spaghetti, cheddar, red kidney beans, and onions. I would make it again.
Lots of flavor! Loved mine with spaghetti, then chili, red beans, cheese and onions. So delicious.
I will need to tweak this recipe a bit, as our family cannot have anything too spicy or too salty. Any suggestions? Thank you.
If you know and like Cincinnati chili, then you’ll like this
Followed a lot of the suggestions and turned out very nice. Friends enjoyed it over spaghetti and on top of hotdogs. It’s the closest we have to fresh made Cincy chili. We’ll definitely be making it again.
My go to fall chilli meal. This recipe is delicious. It will never be Skyline, or Empress but it’s mine!
Yeah, sure, brown the meat in the pan lol.
I’m old enough to have enjoyed Empress chili (my grandparents were chili purists and Empress was the original) so I recommend a couple of small changes. No cooked onions at all. Add spices, plus 2x bay leaf, unsweetened cocoa POWDER, 6oz tomato PASTE for 2lbs meat and 6C water in a cold pot. Break up meat with a fork until fine, stir everything together and then boil for hours. Pro-tip? It tastes better the next day!