Lauren's Cincinnati Chili

One of the best 'cincy-substitute" chili recipes I've seen. I know skyline uses a mild cheddar, but I've found if I use a bar of Kraft medium cheddar very finely shredded it somehow taste more like the real thing. Oyster crackers are a must, and I used a bit less chocolate. I like my chili 5-way so I used a lot of onions and kidney beans too. Yummy! I wish people would understand that it is meant to taste the way it does- it is based on a greek recipe. It is delicious, and to me I can't even make regular spicy chili without at least a dash of cinammon- it is not chili w/ out it. Skyline does serve hot sauce on the side so if you are into really hot chili, just add some tobasco and it is still counted as authentic. Also, true Cincy chili is meant to be served in your choice of 3,4 or 5-way. A basic 5-way is this: make the recipe. Heat some Kidney beans. Cook some spaghetti. Put spaghetti on plate and top with kidney beans, add "sauce" (this chili recipe), top with finely shredded mild or medium cheddar, and finely diced onions. Subtract toppings to arrive at a 3 or 4 way chili. Serve with oyster crackers and tobasco. That is how this recipe is meant to be used, and it is great as is. I guess you have to be a Cincy native or frequent visitor to get it... You can take the girl from the City but the cravings are always with you. So thanks for this recipe it will keep them at bay until my next visit :).

You should not brown the meat. Place raw ground meat directly into cold water. Use a whisk and blend the meat into the water so it's like soup. The chili is supposed to be watery, that's why it served with oyster crackers. So don't boil it down too much. Also the spaghetti is over cooked on purpose. Cook a good 20 minutes and do not rinse. Do not add oil or butter to the noodles. I know this seems wrong, but that's the way it's served.

I made this chili for a chili cookoff at work; thinking if I made something "different" I might actually win or place well. Boy, the only thing I was is sorry. This chili is terrible; the spices over power anything else. I was very disappointed as it smelled so good when it was cooking. The longer the chili cooks the more powerful all the spices become. I will not make this again.

The spices in this recipe over power the chili to the point that you can't enjoy it.

As a Cincinnatian, I serve this chili over spaghetti, with chopped onion, and kidney beans! Yum!!!!

Definitely a tasty recipe! To those who complained about the spices, you have clearly never tried Cincinnatti style chili! It is delicious and original, and has become my favorite "style" of chili. The recipe is meant to taste different than your average chili, and if you are expecting the "same ole, same ole" chili, try a more common recipe. Cincinnatti chili can't be beat :)

My husband is from Cincy, I lived there for a couple of years before we moved away. I had to cut the recipe in half to fit my ingredients and messed up slightly in execution. This recipe is very close to what I remember as Skyline's taste. Gold Star is somehow sweeter. My husband says 'there's still something missing' but it was really good and the smell drove me nuts all day while it was cooking. Will definitely do this again when I have the right ingredients! Note: This is not tex-mex chili. If you expect to find beans and green peppers or habaneros, look elsewhere. This is much more like a sauce you'd find in a Greek dish. If you're not from Cincy it's an acquired taste for sure. When I first tried it, I called it 'dessert chili'.

I grew up in Cincinnati, eating Skyline Chili EVERY Friday night. Since then, I've become a vegetarian, but still longed for my Cincy Chili fix every now and then. I used this recipe, without altering it aside from using Morningstar Farms "crumbles" in place of the ground beef. It came out great, and definitely what I remembered from all those years ago. Thanks, Lauren, for sharing your recipe. I'm going to go pig out on a bit of nostalgia <3

This was very good stuff! I think I made a version of this a few years ago and don't remember being all that impressed. But this time, with this recipe, I enjoyed it a lot, over four days. I think I'll still always prefer the Tex-Mex, blazing hot kind of chili, but this really grew on me. I used 96% lean ground beef, and a little over 2 lbs. of it (2.13 to be exact). I used two medium-sized yellow onions, and cut a 1-oz. baking chocolate square in half. I put it all in a slow cooker, and since it only has high and low settings (no medium-low), I cooked it on low for the full 5 hours. I served the results over spaghetti. The chili was pretty spicy, and watery, but that's the idea, I gather. The sheer variety of spices might have been lost on my particular palate, but it all tasted good. I'm going to make another batch tomorrow!

This was one terrific chili, Lauren. Native Ohioans can argue about the best "copy cat" recipes, but this one is truly delicious and easy. I just browned the beef, and mixed all of the ingredients the night before. I placed this in the crockpot on low for twelve hours the next day (yup, really busy day!) and it was delicious over pasta. I added a tad more salt to taste, only tweak. Excellent recipe!

We loved it! I accidentally ised 1 Teaspoon of Worshestershire sauche instead of 1 Tablespoon, but it was great. It is spicy, but that's what chili is all about! I will definately make this again, probably with shredded beef instead of ground beef. It was wonderful. Great with cornchips too. A bit of sour cream on top (or cheese) helps cool the spiciness some. Enjoy!

I've tried several Cincinnati Chili recipes and this is the best! My friend said it was better than Skyline's, which is greasier. This is probably because I used a leaner beef and put the beef in a pot of cold water, brought to almost a boil, skimmed the foam and drained.

This chili was THE BOMB! It was really simple to make, and it is not time consuming if you make it in a slow cooker, which is what I did. Whole family loved it and everyone had seconds. I was guilty of eating at least three bowls in one sitting myself! :) Fun tip: Play "Guess the Secret Ingredient" with your family. No one except my mom and I could tell that chocolate was the secret ingredient in this rich, suculent chili. Thx for sharing Lauren!

Awesome recipe for chili dogs (coneys) the kids love it

Very good! exactly like it should be. The taste may be somewhat of an acquired one however. We love it! 8/1/11 made it again and it was great. I used sweet chocolate(didnt have anything else), diced tomatoes instead of sauce. Still super delicious!

Very easy recipe and exceptional taste. Another one of those recipes that tastes better a day or two later. It has a bit of a kick to it so you may want to cut back the cayenne pepper to a 1/4 tsp.

Lauren, I have got to say this is the best-tasting, most authentic home-cooked Cincinnati Chili recipe I have encountered so far. It gets really close to Skyline, Gold Star and the other parlors around Cincy that I have tried. The only things I do differently is to boil the ground sirloin instead of browning it, and I usually add a can or two of tomato paste at the end to thicken it, depending on how soupy it is. The flavor is always on-point, though. For Cincinnati Chili virgins, just remember that this dish is in a class all of its own. If you're not from the Midwest or have not tried Skyline, Gold Star, or even Chili Mac from Tony Packo's (Toledo) and Steak n Shake, you're probably in for a shock. The use of vinegar, cinnamon, allspice and Baker's Chocolate and its use as more of a meat sauce than a soup/stew really sets Cincinnati Chili apart from other styles.

Excellent! This recipe was the best I have made in dozens of attempts! Very close to Skyline. No more buying Skyline in cans for me here in Texas! ONE HUGE TIP - The texture of Cinci chile should be very smooth. Use an immersion blender in the pot to wiz it to that consistency. No visible pieces of meat, onion, etc. When you put it on your dog (not the one with the fur) most of the liquid should seep through into the bun leaving the solids sitting on top. Same if putting over spaghetti. The oystercrackers are there to soak up the juices.

This was a hit with my hubs! My 2 kids ages 5 and 7 didn't care for it, but heck they won't even eat chicken noodle soup. The spice blend is amazing and will rock your taste buds. For the person who made this for a chili cook-off and only gave one star, this is not something that is suited for a chili cook-off event, unless it is a Cincinatti Chili cook-off, which you would surely win with this recipe! This is a taste and tradition born in this midwest region, and now for everyone to try with this recipe! Make sure to serve it with shredded cheddar cheese, red kidney beans, and diced sweet raw onions! I added one tsp. of chili powder also. Thanks Laruren!

We really, truly wanted to like this. It smelled really good, and I understand and definitely appreciate the love of regional food. Have always wanted to try Cincinnati Chili. Cooked exactly as directed; same proportions, etc. I guess you have to be from Cincinnati, but we just thought this was not so great. I guess we have ruined our palate w/Texas chili, but we couldn't get our taste buds around all those extra spices. They seemed to cover up the taste of whatever it was supposed to be. I'm sorry, and I do want to thank the author for posting. I feel I always learn from cooking different things, and maybe I just don't have the Cincinnati Chili knack. LOL

A couple of minor variations: didn't have cumin,s o I skipped it. Used beef broth instead of water, and not as much. Used 8-oz can of tomato sauce and 15-oz can of petite diced tomatoes, undrained. Served at a church lunch with the traditional spaghetti, beans, onions and cheese separate. Rave reviews! Will be making again, I'm sure.

Even with all the spices in this chili, it came out very, very bland.

We moved from Cincinnati to Michigan - an area without a Skyline Chili chain! But this satisfies my family when we have a craving. I recommend making it a day in advance in a crockpot. Put it in the fridge overnight and allow the spices to enfuse the meat and the grease to come to the top. Scrape off the fat, and put the crockpot back on when you're ready to eat. Top with huge amount of shredded cheddar or it's not Skyline.

The allspice is over powering. If I made this recipe again, I wouldn't add it. It turned out with a bitter after taste. We kind of saved it and made it edible, by adding more tomato sauce, lemon juice, sugar and salt to dull the bitterness.

I think the cloves were too much. It was just too far from a traditional chill for me.

This was good. We tried as a Tony Packo's style hotdog sauce. It was good but not like Packo's! ;)

I made it almost to the letter of the recipe. But it's still missing a little something. But darn good just the way it is. maybe a tad more chocolate would help??