Cincinnati Chili (Three-Way to Five-Way)
A thin, cinnamon-and-allspice-scented meat sauce ladled over buttered spaghetti and built up in "ways" with beans, onion and a mound of finely shredded cheddar.
Cincinnati chili traces back to 1922, when brothers Tom and John Kiradjieff, immigrants from the Balkans, opened Empress Chili next to the Empress Theatre on Vine Street (WVXU). Wikipedia says they first sold a "stew with traditional Mediterranean spices" on hot dogs called coneys, that Tom turned it into "chili spaghetti", and that the brothers invented the "way" system to speed up ordering. Former Empress workers spread the style: Nicholas Lambrinides, who had cooked at Empress, opened Skyline Chili in 1949, and in 1965 the four Daoud brothers bought a restaurant that they later renamed Gold Star Chili (Wikipedia). In 2000 the James Beard Foundation named Camp Washington Chili an America's Classic (Wikipedia).
🇺🇸 This one is American
A thin, cinnamon-and-allspice-scented meat sauce ladled over buttered spaghetti and built up in "ways" with beans, onion and a mound of finely shredded cheddar.
🇺🇸 The original
The Texas bowl of red is chunks of beef simmered with dried chiles and spices until tender. No beans, and in the strict version no tomatoes. See the Texas Bowl of Red (San Antonio Chili con Carne) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Boil, don't brown
Stirring raw beef into hot water breaks it into fine strands and sends fat and scum to the top, giving the soft, smooth texture of parlor chili instead of crumbles (ATK; Wikipedia).
A sauce, not a stew
The chili simmers uncovered only until slightly thickened, so it soaks into the spaghetti like a pasta sauce.
Step by step
- Step 1
Bring 6 cups water and 1/2 tsp of the salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the beef and stir hard to break it into fine strands. As soon as foam rises to the top, about 30 seconds, and before the water returns to a boil, drain the beef in a strainer.
- Step 2
Rinse and dry the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat and cook the onion 8 minutes, until soft and browned at the edges. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Step 3
Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cocoa if using, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, black pepper and the remaining 1 tsp salt and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant. Stir in the broth, water, vinegar, brown sugar and tomato sauce, scraping up the browned bits.
- Step 4
Add the blanched beef and turn the heat to high. When it boils, lower to medium-low and simmer uncovered 1 hour, stirring now and then, until deep red and slightly thickened. (The beef is far past 160°F.) Season with salt and hot sauce.
- Step 5
In the last 15 minutes, cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water according to the package, about 10 minutes, drain and toss with the butter.
- Step 6
Build the ways in wide bowls or oval plates: spaghetti plus chili is a two-way, add cheese for a three-way, add onions or beans under the cheese for a four-way, and both for a five-way. Pile the cheese high and serve right away with oyster crackers.
Cincinnati Chili (Three-Way to Five-Way)
Serves 4 (one five-way each) · about 4 cups chili · 1 hr 40 min total
Chili
- 1 1/2 tsp table salt, divided
- 1 lb ground beef chuck (80% lean)
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, chopped fine (about 1 1/3 cups)
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 4 tsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa (optional; see Rules)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 4 tsp cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp dark brown sugar
- 1 1/3 cups canned tomato sauce
- Hot sauce, to taste
The ways
- 12 oz spaghetti, cooked and tossed with 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 8 oz sharp cheddar, finely shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup canned red kidney beans, drained, rinsed and warmed
- 2/3 cup finely chopped white onion
- Oyster crackers, to serve (optional)
Method
- Bring 6 cups water and 1/2 tsp of the salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the beef and stir hard to break it into fine strands. As soon as foam rises to the top, about 30 seconds, and before the water returns to a boil, drain the beef in a strainer.
- Rinse and dry the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat and cook the onion 8 minutes, until soft and browned at the edges. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cocoa if using, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, black pepper and the remaining 1 tsp salt and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant. Stir in the broth, water, vinegar, brown sugar and tomato sauce, scraping up the browned bits.
- Add the blanched beef and turn the heat to high. When it boils, lower to medium-low and simmer uncovered 1 hour, stirring now and then, until deep red and slightly thickened. (The beef is far past 160°F.) Season with salt and hot sauce.
- In the last 15 minutes, cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water according to the package, about 10 minutes, drain and toss with the butter.
- Build the ways in wide bowls or oval plates: spaghetti plus chili is a two-way, add cheese for a three-way, add onions or beans under the cheese for a four-way, and both for a five-way. Pile the cheese high and serve right away with oyster crackers.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Cincinnati Chili with Spaghetti" (2011), scaled to two thirds (from 6 to 8 servings to 4 five-ways). ATK's blanch-then-simmer method matches Wikipedia's description of parlor chili made by crumbling raw beef into liquid. The cocoa is ATK's; we made it optional because Cincinnati's chili historians say parlors don't use chocolate (see Rules). The "ways" follow Wikipedia. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Wikipedia notes many recipes chill the chili overnight so the fat sets on top and can be lifted off.
- Shred the cheddar as fine as you can; parlor cheese is fluffy and almost hair-thin.
- The same chili goes on hot dogs as Cincinnati coneys (see the hot dog hub).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The ways: three-way adds cheese, four-way adds onions or beans, five-way adds both. Documented (Wikipedia).
- Eaten by the bowl. Folklore that it never is: Wikipedia says it is "almost never" served by the bowl.
- Chocolate is the secret ingredient. Disputed: Dann Woellert's 2013 history says no Cincinnati parlor uses chocolate, and Wikipedia says The Cincinnati Enquirer (2021) and Bon Appétit (2024) agree; many home recipes, ATK's included, add cocoa. Optional here.
- Who created it. Disputed: Wikipedia credits Tom Kiradjieff; WVXU credits both brothers.
- The brothers' background. Disputed: WVXU calls them Macedonian immigrants; Wikipedia names their home village as Hrupishta, now Argos Orestiko in Greece, and the article is under Balkans editing restrictions.
- Which came first, coneys or spaghetti. Disputed: Wikipedia says hot dogs first; some accounts start with the spaghetti.
- It isn't "real" chili. Disputed: Wikipedia says it differs from chili con carne in consistency, flavor and serving; Cincinnati calls it chili all the same.
Every other chili
Texas Bowl of Red (San Antonio Chili con Carne)
Big cubes of beef chuck braised for three hours in a purée of toasted whole dried chiles, with no beans and no tomatoes.
Chile Colorado (Northern Mexican Red Chile Beef)
Beef and potatoes stewed in a smooth guajillo chile sauce thickened with a little flour, the Chihuahua way, and spooned into warm flour tortillas.
Chili con Carne with Beans
The American home classic: ground beef, kidney beans and tomatoes simmered two hours with chili powder, cumin and a little heat.
New Mexico Green Chile Stew
Pork, potatoes and plenty of roasted New Mexico green chile simmered in broth, the comfort-food bowl behind New Mexico's official question, "Red or green?".
Chile Verde with Pork
Pork shoulder braised for hours in a chunky purée of charred poblanos, tomatillos, garlic and jalapeño until it falls apart.
White Chicken Chili
Shredded chicken and creamy white beans in a light, green-chile broth of poblano, Anaheim and jalapeño, finished with lime, cilantro and scallions.
Frito Pie
Homemade beef chili ladled straight into a split-open bag of corn chips and topped with cheddar and chopped onion; eat it with a fork, right out of the bag.
Three-Bean Vegetarian Chili
Pinto, black and kidney beans simmered with crushed tomatoes, toasted cumin seeds, red pepper and corn, finished with lime and cilantro.
30-Minute Weeknight Beef and Bean Chili
Ground beef, kidney beans and lightly blitzed tomatoes with chili powder, cumin and a little chipotle, on the table in about 30 minutes.
Fast-Food Style Chili, Inspired by Wendy's
A mild, beefy, tomato-heavy chili with kidney and pinto beans, onion, celery and green pepper, simmered low and slow like the drive-thru favorite. Inspired by, not official.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.