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Made famous by Skyline Chili in Ohio, Cincinnati Chili is full of secret ingredients and served on spaghetti with lots of toppings, depending on which “way” you like it.
Ever been to the Skyline Chili in Ohio?
If that’s a no, leave everything you thought you knew about traditional chili behind, because this recipe will turn it all upside down, but only in the most delicious way.
The (secret) recipe calls for a combination of spices and ingredients that you might find a bit odd, especially for a savory meat stew. Allspice? Cloves? Unsweetened chocolate?
Stick with me (and our friends from the Buckeye state) because this recipe is perfect for the slow cooker and freezes beautifully, so you can have Cincinnati-style chili any time, any place.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Unsweetened chocolate: Just one ounce is all you need, but the super fans swear it makes all the difference.
- Ground beef: You won’t have a chance to drain the fat from the beef in this recipe. I think 85/15 is ideal for maximum flavor without too much grease, but you can choose something leaner if you want to.
- Toppings: Build your bowl with spaghetti, chili, and cheese, then top it off with onions, kidney beans, or even oyster crackers if you want to. Here’s the official guide to the “ways” Skyline serves their chili:
- 2-Way: Spaghetti, Chili
- 3-Way: Spaghetti, Chili, Cheddar Cheese
- 4-Way: Spaghetti, Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Onions OR Beans
- 5-Way aka “the works”: Spaghetti, Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Onions AND Beans
Step-by-step instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Cook onions until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in chocolate, garlic, chili powder, oregano, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth, tomato sauce, vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Stir in beef and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper).
- Serve over cooked spaghetti with desired toppings such as cheese, beans, onions, and crackers.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 10 generous servings of Cincinnati Chili.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Cool and portion into freezer-safe containers, label and date. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Slow cooker: Sauté the onions in olive oil over medium-high heat until softened. Add the unsweetened chocolate, garlic, oregano, chili powder, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Add to a slow cooker with the chicken broth, tomato sauce, vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire, salt and pepper, and beef. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
- Coney Dog: If you’re thinking a hot dog smothered with chili might be just the thing, you’re not alone. Eat it in the bun, or topped with cheese, mustard, onion, beans, you name it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cincinnati Chili is made with several non-traditional ingredients including chocolate, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. It’s also a thinner chili overall, and it’s served over spaghetti noodles with a mountain of cheese on top.
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This easy Peanut Butter Buckeyes recipe is popular in Ohio, the Buckeye State. But no matter where you’re from, anyone can get excited about peanut butter balls dipped in melted chocolate.
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Cincinnati Chili
Equipment
- Dutch oven (I always use my heirloom on from Le Creuset!)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 onions finely chopped (plus more for topping)
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate (see note 1)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds ground beef (preferably 85/15, see note 2)
- cooked spaghetti for serving
- shredded cheese dark red kidney beans, finely chopped onions, and oyster crackers, for serving (see note 3)
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Cook onions until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in chocolate, garlic, chili powder, oregano, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth, tomato sauce, vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Stir in beef and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper).
- Serve over cooked spaghetti with desired toppings such as cheese, beans, onions, and crackers.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Unsweetened chocolate: Just one ounce is all you need, but the super fans swear it makes all the differences.
- Ground beef: You won’t have a chance to drain the fat from the beef in this recipe. I think 85/15 is ideal for maximum flavor without too much grease, but you can choose something leaner if you want to.
- Toppings: Build your bowl with spaghetti, chili, and cheese, then top it off with onions, kidney beans, or even oyster crackers if you want to. Here’s the official guide to the “ways” Skyline serves their chili:
- 2-Way: Spaghetti, Chili
- 3-Way: Spaghetti, Chili, Cheddar Cheese
- 4-Way: Spaghetti, Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Onions OR Beans
- 5-Way aka “the works”: Spaghetti, Chili, Cheddar Cheese, Onions AND Beans
- Yield: This recipe makes 10 generous servings of Cincinnati Chili.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Cool and portion into freezer-safe containers, label and date. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I make this once or twice a week for friends and family. This recipe is a little bit thicker, more pungent (with the extra cinnamon and cloves) and less spicy compared to most Cincinnati chili I’ve tried but I prefer it this way. Though I do brown the meat a little with the spices and onions before adding any liquids.
Thank you so much for sharing, Jeffrey! I am happy it’s become a favorite go-to recipe! Take care! – Meggan
This was the closest tasting recipe I have found to Skyline chili. My son gave it 9.5 out of 10 rating. It is the most aromatic chili recipe out there! Delicious!
I’m from Cincinnati and have eaten Skyline all my life. I wanted to be able to make a great Cincinnati chili recipe because Skyline at the restaurant or even purchased in a can is EXPENSIVE!
Great recipe, but to make it perfect and authentic, I made the following changes:
-add 2 teaspoons cumin
-I about halved halved the “sweet” spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves). These should be noticeable, but subtle. I will also experiment with adding bay leaf and paprika in the future.
-THIS IS IMPORTANT: In order to get the consistency of real Skyline chili, I sent the cooked mixture in batches through the blender at “mix” setting until a fine and even consistency. Real Skyline isn’t chunky like traditional chili recipes. It is more soupy.
My husband loved this. He grew up eating Cincinnati chili and he loves cloves and allspice. I’m not a huge fan of those two spices so it was a bit overwhelming for my taste. I won’t say it was bad, my husband loved it, but this type of chili really can take some getting use to if you’re more of a fan of traditional Tex-Mex style. Maybe next time I won’t put so much clove and allspice.
Fantastic recipe. I did make one mistake and had to do one substitution. The mistake was I browned the ground beef separately. The substitution happened as I realized late in the process I was out of Apple cider vinegar. I had 5-6 other vinegars (white, red wine, rose, champagne, and a cranberry pear). I settled on the only other one I had, balsamic. I’ve got to say it worked very well. I probably went a little heavy on the allspice and cloves as I just has whole ground them with the mortar and pestle. That fresh they were a bit strong. I’ll be interested to see how it changes when I get to the leftovers. Thank you Meggan!
You’re so welcome, BobB! I hope the leftovers are amazing! – Meggan
Very good chili, probably the closest to skyline out of all the chili recipes I’ve tried! I do have one question if you don’t mind, why did you choose chicken broth over beef broth?
Hi Joe, the reason why I use chicken broth instead of beef broth is something I’ve read in The Food Lab and “because Kenji says so.” However, the reason HE says so is because, and I’m paraphrasing his book The Food Lab: “There is very little beef in canned beef broth. Food manufacturers are lazy and concerned about their bottom line… instead of simmering veal and beef bones, they use natural and artificial flavorings. According to the USDA’s guidelines, beef or pork broth only has to have 0.007 ounces beef protein present for every ounce of water. So beef broth doesn’t taste much like beef. Their flavor, if any, is enhanced with yeast and vegetable extracts. Chicken broth will have more/better flavor overall because it is cheaper to make.” I hope this is helpful! Here’s another article I found online which discusses this and also reference’s Kenji’s info on the subject. https://lifehacker.com/use-store-bought-chicken-broth-instead-of-beef-broth-fo-1755022375. I’m so happy you loved the chili! – Meggan
Hi! Prepping to make this, sounds delicious. Can you please clarify if the chocolate was left out intentionally on the slow cooker instructions. If it should be added, at what step? Thank you!
Andrea
Hi Andrea, thank you for writing. I’m sorry for the confusion. Error on my part! It goes into the pan along with the garlic and oregano, chili powder, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon, before the mixture is added to the slow cooker. I’m correcting it now. So sorry again! I hope you love it! – Meggan
I just made this chili and it is AMAZING. I think the steps in your recipe are just as important as the ingredients themselves. I think adding the chocolate/spices directly to the pot and letting them simmer for about 30 seconds really helped bring out the flavors. Also, letting the ground meat cook IN the sauce made a huge difference, too! I’ve always browned my meat beforehand, but cooking it in the sauce really seemed to help it soak up the flavor. This is definitely my new go-to chili recipe!
Thank you for the lovely comment, Amy! I’m so happy you loved it! – Meggan
I saw this recipe about an hour ago, and decided I had to make this right now for dinner tomorrow. This was one of the rare times I actually had every ingredient (except unsweetened chocolate, which I subbed with a couple tbsp of cocoa powder.)
My only experience with Cincy chili is from Skyline, which I love. Right now at 10:35 PM, my whole house smells of Skyline Chili, and I want so bad to go eat a bowl, but I’m gonna wait until dinner time tomorrow. I’ve only had a taste of it, and it is spot-on. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
You’re so welcome, Bob! I’m so happy you love it, I hope it’s even tastier tonight. Take care! – Meggan
Not very good. Did not taste like cincinnati chili
Hi Amanda, I’m sorry this recipe didn’t meet your expectations. Hopefully you find another that does. – Meggan