Cincinnati chili is a unique type of chili that's flavored with not just chili powder but lots of other spices, including cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. This recipe was handed down to me by Mom, a Cincinnati native. I like mine 4-way, with spaghetti, raw chopped onions, and grated mild Cheddar. Serve oyster crackers on the side.
Ingredients
- lean ground beef: 2 pound
- quart water, or amount to cover: 1 piece
- onions: 2 piece (chopped)
- tomato sauce: 1 can (15 ounce can)
- vinegar: 2 Tbsp
- garlic: 4 clove (minced)
- Worcestershire sauce: 2 tsp
- square unsweetened chocolate: 0.5 piece (1 ounce)
- chili powder: 0.25 cup
- ½ teaspoons salt: 1 piece
- ground cumin: 1 tsp
- ground cinnamon: 1 tsp
- ground cayenne pepper: 0.5 tsp
- whole cloves: 5 piece
- whole allspice berries: 5 piece
- bay leaf: 1 piece
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Place ground beef in a large pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil, stirring and breaking up beef with a fork to a fine texture. Slowly boil until meat is thoroughly cooked, about 30 minutes.
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Add onions, tomato sauce, vinegar, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and chocolate. Stir in chili powder, salt, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper until well mixed. Add cloves, allspice berries, and bay leaf.
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Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 hours. Add water if necessary to prevent chili from burning.
