This is a hearty chili, made even better when served over spaghetti. The original recipe is from my dear neighbor, Leah, and we’ve been making it for years! It’s very flavorful with lots of different spices. My family loves to eat Cincinnati Chili with a big green salad for dinner – and my teenagers routinely eat up every bit of the leftovers.
Darya loves to make up a big batch of the spices so she always has the mix on hand. Tips to make your own bulk mix are in the notes. You can use more or less of it, depending on how spicy you like it.
Cincinnati Chili
4-6
servings45
minutesIngredients
1 lb ground beef
2 medium onions, divided
1 cup thick BBQ sauce
1/2 c water
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate, grated
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1 – 16 oz can kidney beans
1 – 15 oz can diced tomatoes or tomato sauce
9 oz spaghetti
1 Tbsp butter
1 lb shredded cheddar cheese
Directions
- Brown the ground beef with the garlic and 1/2 the chopped onion. Drain.
- Add BBQ sauce, water and spices and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the beans, then the diced tomatoes or tomato sauce to thin the chili and simmer on low while the pasta cooks.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti. Cook for 8-12 minutes until spaghetti is al dente. Drain, transfer to a bowl and mix in 1 Tbsp butter.
- To serve, layer the spaghetti with chili, reserved onions and cheese.
Notes
- For milder chili, use more tomatoes and BBQ sauce, and less spices. For hotter chili, add more spices, hot sauce or some sliced jalapenos.
- To make a quadruple batch of the Cincinnati chili spices, combine 1/4 cup chili powder, 4 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cardamom and 2 tsp salt. Use about 2 Tbsp of the spice mix for every recipe.
Had it for dinner tonight and it was delish! I have to admit I was a little skeptical about the chocolate when I made it the first time. But it’s very tasty!
Thanks! I love the spices in this dish!
This dish was amazing! I’ve never used cardamom or chocolate (other than for baking) before, so I was excited for the flavor. This did not disappoint! The flavor was rich and exciting. We will definitely have this again!
This is one of Darya’s favorites. I’m glad you like it!
Made it for dinner and loved it. I like a bit more pasta in the ratio of sauce to pasta, so I cooked 12 oz of spaghetti noodles for the recipe. Also only had black beans and really liked it. Chocolate in spaghetti sauce just sounds a bit too weird so I left that out – it doesn’t call for much, so I don’t imagine it would change the overall flavor profile much.
Glad you liked it! The chocolate adds a bit of a deeper flavor – try it sometime!