Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili

Famous in the Midwest, Cincinnati Chili is a Mediterranean spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti and garnished with cheddar cheese and white onion. 

Today I’m sharing something unique– at least for me. My husband and his family are from the Midwest and have been raving about “Cincinnati chili” for a long time, in particular, Skyline chili. I’ve never been to Cincinnati, or even Ohio. Heck, before I went to Vermont a couple years ago, the most “east” of Texas I’ve ever been was Louisiana. And that’s not “east”. 

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We had Nick’s parents over for dinner a couple weeks ago to watch the Texas Tech game and decided to surprise them by whipping up some chili. Now I’m from Texas, so this wasn’t anything like our chili. 

Cincinnati chili is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used for topping spaghetti or hot dogs. Ingredients typically include ground beef, stock, tomato paste, cinnamon, and sometimes even cocoa powder. Apparently each year Cincinnatians eat over 2 million pounds of Cincinnati chili topped by nearly a million pounds of cheese. 

Ordering Cincinnati chili is based on specific ingredients: chili, spaghetti, cheddar cheese, diced onion, and kidney beans. The number before “way” determined which ingredients are included: “two-way” is spaghetti and chili, “three-way” is spaghetti, chili and cheese, and “four-way” is spaghetti, chili, onions and cheese. 

As a true Texan I definitely felt weird about adding cocoa powder to my chili and not including tomatoes or beans. It was different, yes, but I liked it! The chili is very flavorful– hints of “sweet” with the cinnamon and cloves, and “savory” with the cumin, chili powder and tomato base. I served it on top of a pile of spaghetti, with diced onion and a handful of cheddar cheese. 

Here’s the recipe for Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili: 

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Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili

Famous in the Midwest, Cincinnati Chili is a Mediterranean spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti and garnished with cheddar cheese and white onion. 

Servings 6

Author Emily Weeks, RDN, LD

Ingredients

• 2 cups low sodium beef broth
• 1 cup tomato sauce no salt added
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• 2 lb ground beef 90/10 or higher
• 1 pound of spaghetti cooked
• finely shredded cheddar cheese
• diced white onion optional

Instructions

1. Whisk together the broth, tomato sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, chili powder, cocoa powder, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, onion powder, salt, pepper and minced garlic in the bowl of your slow cooker. 

2. Lightly brown the beef in a large skillet until halfway done-- when half of it is starting to turn brown. Use a spatula to make sure the beef is in small pieces.
3. Add the beef to the slow cooker along with the liquid and spices. Cook on low for 8 hours.
4. Ladle cooked chili over spaghetti and garnish with cheese and onions.

Emily Weeks, RDN, LD

Hi! I’m Emily, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and self-taught intuitive chef. I firmly believe that cooking is the simplest and most important step we can take to improve our minds and bodies and build healthier communities. Join me and let’s bring food back to the kitchen!