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”. 

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. 

This post is sponsored by Sprouts Farmers Market. Thanks for supporting brands that make Zen and Spice possible! 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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: 

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.

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. 

6 Comments

  1. I am planning to have a chili party soon and this is totally giving me inspiration!! Gosh I love this time of year :) Pinning!!

  2. You know, I don’t think I ever really knew the difference between Cincinnati chili and “regular” chili. I would feel funny not adding beans and lots of veggies to my chili, but now I’m totally craving this! It sounds delicious and I’m going to make it soon.

  3. YUM! This is the chili I grew up with. I’m guessing my mom picked up the recipe when we lived in Iowa. We always top ours kidney beans & cheddar cheese. Love love this type of chili

  4. […] Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili […]

  5. I went to school in Cincinnati! I haven’t had Cinicinnati Chilii in a loooong time. I’ll have to try this!

  6. […] Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili via Zen & Spice […]

Comments are closed.