Cincinnati Chili – Ohio

Cathy: It’s not spaghetti, it’s not chili – it’s Cincinnati Chili…

I used to work for a company that was headquartered in Columbus OH and we would often have company meetings in Columbus (in January 😳 ). One time, late at night, we all went out to a fast food restaurant that served Cincinnati Chili – they said I had to try it. Out through the drive up window they handed us steaming and aromatic paper bowls of this unique chili/spaghetti that had a unique flavor – a combination of cinnamon, cumin and other aromas that I couldn’t quite pin down. It’s definitely different.

Cincinnati chili (or Cincinnati-style chili) is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs (“coneys”); both dishes were developed by Macedonian immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. In 2013, Smithsonian named it one of the “20 Most Iconic Foods in America”.

There are no beans in this dish, but, you can order it in different “ways”, as in 2-way, 3-way, 4-way – by the toppings you can add, IE: finely shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onions, kidney beans or, believe it or not, oyster crackers!

Another weird and interesting thing about this dish is that you add ground beef, but you add it into a tomato paste/water mixture and don’t saute the beef – just add it to the pot.

Anyhoo, I made mine in an Instapot because, like many of us, I didn’t check the recipe before hand to see that it needed to simmer on the stove for about 2-3 hours 😬 . It took 30 minutes in the pressure cooker and it was no worse for wear, as far as I could tell. It was a little spicy for me, even though I toned down the spice, but it was an interesting, hearty dish that was perfect on a cool evening.

Makes 8 servings Cook time: 3 hours, 30 minutes (unless you use an Instapot)

• For the chili:
• 2 pounds ground beef (80:20 is good)
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 4 cups water
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 large onion, minced (about 3 cups)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, optional
• Hot cooked spaghetti
• Options for serving:
• Oyster crackers
• Finely shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can small red kidney beans, drained and warmed
• Minced yellow onion

Instructions

1. Cook the tomato paste: Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the tomato paste to the dry pot and cook, constantly scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, until the tomato smells rich and toasty and you start to see browned (not burned) patches in the bottom of the pot. This should take 1 to 3 minutes.

2. Combine the ingredients in a pot: Remove the pot from heat and add the ground beef and water. Mix them together into a sludge. It will not look pretty, but press on. There’s a method to this madness. Return to medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring all the while, so the sludge breaks up into a mealy paste. Add all the remaining ingredients except the vinegar and chocolate.

3. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours: Stir the chili often. You want the volume to reduce a bit. (To be honest, just one hour of cook time is okay, but for optimal chili-ness, go long.)

4. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight: Refrigerate in an air-tight covered container. (Note: you can eat the chili immediately if you want to.)

5. De-fat the chili: The next day, lift or scrape off any solidified fat from the top of the chili and discard.

6. Warm and serve: Bring to a rapid simmer, then add the vinegar and chocolate. (The chocolate won’t make it taste sweet—it adds a hint of sophisticated complexity and acts as a foil for all those spices.)

Serve any “way” (see headnotes). The chili will also keep refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for up to a year.

(Again – I cooked this dish using an Instapot and halved the recipe for two people. We also ate it that evening and didn’t wait until the next day, as recommended above. It was delicious!)

Recipe: by Simply Recipes