Cincinnati chili is a beloved regional favorite, filled with a beguiling mix of unique spices and served over hot spaghetti, a chili unlike any other. Make it tonight with this authentic recipe. The big question is… Is this actually CHILI??
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Cincinnati Chili
0:32 Get Cooking!
1:18 Bit of History
4:28 Important Step + Simmer
5:26 After Simmering
6:05 Serving – The Ways
8:33 Taste
9:13 More Recipes
THINGS YOU’LL NEED:
2 pounds ground chuck
4 cups water (or use tomato juice)
1 can tomato sauce canned (15 ounces)
4 ounces tomato paste
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup chili powder more or less as desired
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground all spice
1 teaspoon milled black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
5 whole bay leaves
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
1.5 teaspoons vinegar I used red wine vinegar
2 large dashes Worcestershire sauce
FOR SERVING
Cooked spaghetti noodles, shredded cheddar cheese, kidney beans, chopped onions, oyster crackers.
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I had so much fun making this! What other videos would you like to see?
-Mike
#spicyfood #recipevideo #cooking #cookingshow #cookingrecipes
45 Comments
To answer if it is a chili: I saw the following video and it changed the way I see chili
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba8R6-zQ6FI
Basically, Chili is a curry. You have a onion tomato base; most of the spices you added can be found in an indian curry; in most curry, you will add meat, chick peas or beans; and curry is often served on top of something else, like rice, or with bread (tortillas are twice baked bread).
So yeah, to me, if it can be identified as a curry and it originates from North America, it is a chili.
This is definately a chili. 🤓
More chli on top of cheese n hapanero sauce.🔥👍🇨🇱
Cincinnatian here as well. I appreciate you, Mike, for making my hometown dish. My favorite is a more traditional Texas red, with beans. And I know, I know, all my Texas friends will say it's not chill if there's beans in it. I respect your opinion. But you can't deny that putting a really good chili on pasta with fresh onions and loads of cheese will be good. We also have a version with habanero cheese, which is next level.
Ever hear of the fast food restaurant chain GD Ritzy's? They offer a 7-way chili that adds diced green peppers and diced tomatoes.
Just finished Skyline 5 ways for dinner. Being local, we eat Skyline all the time and I cook a fair amount of my own.
A couple comments: You mostly nailed the spices, a little more than I would use, but you got the important ones. We don't brown the meat. Cincinnati chili meat is boiled, not browned. Don't forget chilitos. Yet another one of the ways to eat the chili.
Great video. Thanks for spreading our cultural cuisine.
As a Texan, this reminds me of Mole with the spices and chocolate. I have never had anything like that ever. EVER. For sure that is the total opposite of what our chili is! Interesting video.
seems like more of a sauce than actual chili …but i'm no expert …..probably makes killer chili / cheese dogs !!!
I had a can of Skyline over spaghetti with cheddar and really liked…i wonder how different it is from this recipe?
NIce to see you make a whole dish.
You've made this Cincinnatian proud :')
Looks amazing! And I appreciate the emphasis on the absurd amount of cheese needed on this dish. You can get regular cheddar or habanero cheddar at Skyline! (The habanero cheddar is supreme, just sayin'.)
5 way for me
With hot sauce or pickled jalapeños
My boyfriend calls it trash spaghetti. He is not a fan but I absolutely love it. I make it just for me and freeze the leftover sauce. This recipe is very similar to mine but I will try it. Cincinnati Chili is one of those recipes that has a lot of variety in the ratio of ingredients.
Thanks for your recipe. I wonder if the original version of this chili was an attempt to simplify the Greek dish 'Pastitsio' with various changes for ease of preparation and American tastes. I purchased some 'Garam Masala' spice mix for another recipe and was surprised how similar it smelled to Cincinnati Chili. I'd love to do a tour of the numerous chili parlors in Cincinnati at some point.
Awesome! My Mom's family is from Northern KY so I'm very familiar with the 2 famous Cincy chili brands. We usually had at least one (Skyli**) at family picnics along side KFC lol! Texas does not own chilli which I know they think different but whatever ✋🙄🤣 IYKYK!
I love the skyline chili! I am from Maryland a year or two ago I happened to find myself in the Kentucky area right on the border of Ohio and knew I HAD to go to a Skyline Chili and it was delicious.I have thought about but never got around to it, the local walmarts here carry cans of skyline chili and wanted to get that but now I will definitly have to try it first making it myself!
Another Texan here. 😢 That’s not chili, according to Texas, but let’s just branch out and try something new! 😊
Huh?
That’s not how “divisive” is pronounced
Been there, done that. Had a coworker who was from Cincinnati – Meh!
Best CHILI wishes, from Houston. 🧡😋🧡
Unless some independent shop is adding it, there is no chocolate in Cincinnati chili. I've lived in the Cincy area for decades and that myth has been around forever. It's just that people were/are unfamiliar with this peculiar blend of flavors so they fill in the gaps with whatever might make sense in their mind and that gets passed around and so on. The flavor profile is very close to Jamaican jerk. I don't think the natives would be offended by adding hot chiles because (you've already added chocolate, lol jk 🙂 it's better with added heat just like jerk.
I always get a 4 way with onions and a couple of cheese coneys. For the unfamiliar, a coney is a small steamed hot dog with hot sauce, mustard, chili and cheese and the liquid from the chili soaks into the bun….. and so I'll relay how my buddy once put it, It's Bomb Diggity!
Looks great! Keep it up my friend. Greetings from Greece
I will try it..I kept writing for so long that I forgot what I was writing about .meat meat glourious chilli flavoured nmeat. I pity the vegans
You nailed the consistency! And I appreciate you got the allspice-cinnamon-clove spices correct
Made it a bunch of times. I love it. Yours is a tasty version as well. Thanks
I now use a 50/50 blend of ground beef and chorizo for my chili recipes. It add just a little different taste. 😊
My biggest issue with Cincinnati chili that I've had in the past was that it was always way way way too sweet and tasted unbalanced and strange, especially on spaghetti. I think leaving out the sugar and adding the red pepper flakes like your recipe would help a lot.
chili…with beans and other stuff
Sup Mike, I make Cincinnati chili often, also great on burgers and hot dogs.. mine is close you yours, I'm going to try browning first. I have won chili competitions in 90's- early 2000's, yes I've added pinch allspice and or pinch clove.. only enough to think what is that..I've added pinch allspice to chili Colorado few times.. I like to mix it up so eat more chili lol. My Cincinnati chili i just use crockpot, but browning first would add flavor 👍🏼, tyvm tc 🌶️
Another former Cincinnatian here. I love all kinds of chili – no need to argue which is the best, it's all good! Wanted to suggest to you and the folks to try the spice mix you have here, or a pre-packaged "Cincinnati" chili mix and add it to Texas style chili also – the melding of the two flavors/styles is simple amazing as a variant to either one. Not something I do every time, but a nice treat to have the taste of both. Season to taste, of course. I don't use a whole packet of the Cincinnati Chili seasoning, just about a quarter of one for a large pot of chili.
Mike, Mike – Haven't you heard about the 6-Way Chili? I started hearing about it maybe 10 years ago. A dollop of Sour Cream as the 6th ingredient. I like Chili Spaghetti. I've had Skyline Chili in cans. Very unique flavor for sure. What has baffled me is using Allspice, Cinnamon and Cloves. An Allspice substitute is Cinnamon, Cloves and Nutmeg. I forget the makeup but it's 2 parts of 2 of the ingredients and 1 part of the 3rd ingredient. Use Allspice and call it a day.
They used to have it on the menu at Steak & Shake. I love it! You can get small cans of it with the Skyline restaurant name on it. It's good but ridiculously expensive. I made it once and it turned out good. Even having all of the spices on hand, it felt like a lot of work. Cheese and onions really are mandatory. I'll pass on the beans, though.
It looks yummy. The out of the box ingredient for me would be the allspice, though, it obviously must work given the century + of cook. Our chili always had the kidney beans [I love them too] and the lucky duck would 'discover' one of the several whole cloves by way of an innocent chomp, no biggy. 😅
My favorite optic is the finely shredded cheddar cheese.. That texture combined with the other ingredients [everything for me please] fabulous.
Cheers🍻
I normally make mine with the spaghetti broken into 1" or so pieces. Most in Cincinnati use a knife and fork….no twirling.
I've had it served as a casserole as well with everything baked at the end like a lasagna.
Very nice. Thank you. (Your delivery, production, and "acting" is superb! You are quite the YouTube video presence…)
Chili work is a critical human endeavor… people need to understand the importance of the chili on the human experience of their overall existence within the known universe…
Live in central Ky, Sky line and gold star are both in this area and I love them both. We go about once a month.
Love this chili and I love making it. But no chocolate in mine
MEGA! You are MEGA🔥🔥🔥
I have an uncle who has 3 ribbons hung on his shed with newspaper articles stating that he won a chili cookoff back in the early 80s in colorado, funny part, he didnt make chili. He submitted gumbo, but they had never heard of / had gumbo, so it won all 3 times.
I’m hoping for a quick answer here cause I’m about to make it. It appeared you simmered uncovered for 2 hours. I just want to make sure you didn’t cover it. Thanks!
I'm originally from Ohio. This is 100% the real deal. Though we do have plenty of arguments about chocolate. It's literally 50/50 split across the state.
My folks were from there, Though I no longer eat "like that" , I have a lot of fond memories of the nights Mom would prepare that, and I would eat like a "glutinous Teen ager"! ( while everyone else looked on with envy )
Love your channel.
Can i ask what type of tabletop burner you use. Looks really nice