Bama Chili, served Cincinnati Style :)
First of all, let me say a few things about Cincinnati style chili and I want to apologize to all Cincinnati folks for not making it exactly like yours is, but I needed to adapt it for us non-native peeps so everyone could see how brilliant your serving method is.
True Cincinnati chili (which this isn’t) is a very unique flavor and unlike anything I have ever tasted before. I can fully see how, if you were raised on this stuff, you’d be left with a craving that only Cincinnati chili would fill. If you weren’t raised on it, though, you may need time to acquire a taste for it. This is what I experienced when I first took my family to Mullin’s Drive In in my hometown of Huntsville. I sat there with my hamburger and grits happy as a lark and the three of them forced down their meals while looking at me like I was crazy. Sometimes you just gotta be born there to appreciate it :).
But I guess I’ll start this post with how I ended up getting to try Cincinnati Chili. You see, it all began with my husband and myself agonizing over what to do for a family vacation and my son chiming in with “I know! Why don’t we go to Kentucky?”. We ended up heading out in that general direction with no particular destination in mind and came home having spent four of the most wonderful days together as a family. I am publishing a scrapbook of sorts on our Kentucky trip at the same time I’m publishing this recipe so be sure and click here to go visit that post and check out all of our Kentucky adventures.
Now, lets go back to the chili…
Although I’m gonna stick with the flavors of the chili I grew up with, the manner of serving this chili is absolutely brilliant and I couldn’t wait to make it at home with plain old Bama chili.
You’ll need: Tomato Sauce, Cumin, Chili Powder, and some ground beef, which we’ll see in the next photo.
I brown my beef all at once so it is sitting happily in the freezer just waiting on me whenever I need it.
Place all of your ingredients into a pot.
Fill up your tomato sauce can with water and add that as well.
Now give all of this a good stir and bring to a very light boil before reducing the heat and cooking, stirring every now and then, for about an hour, or until nice and thick.
Like this.
Serve over freshly cooked spaghetti noodles with toppings of your choice. Some suggestions are chopped onions, crackers, or…
A whole lot of cheese!
I LOVE how the noodles seem to take to the chili sauce perfectly and they are great for balancing out the chili spices. I can’t wait until fall gets here so I can have a big chili dinner for some friends!
Okay and to make this even easier…I had an idea of just going and buying a few cartons of 99 cents chili from Wendy’s and then making spaghetti. ~giggle~ Ain’t no shame in my game!
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oh yeah…and ps…you don’t serve this with dry noodles (fully drained)–you scoop the noodles out of the pot (making a little pool of the pasta water on the bottom of your plate or bowl.
just felt bad if someone truly wanted to eat this, you gotta know the facts 🙂
although you have great recipes in this post (from the main one to the comment section) you are all missing the one major ingredient….the bitter….you will need one of the following…hienz 57 sauce OR vinegar….the authentics have a bitter (sour) to it.
The good thing is that this is in no way, shape, or form authentic, lol. This is Bama chili, just Cincinnati style 🙂
I’ve never had bitter chili, will have to put that on my list of things to try before I die!
Okay wait, I did have Cincinnati style chili so maybe that was considered bitter?
My husband fixed this for me when we were first married. I thought he had lost his mind…nobody eats spaghetti with chili! But this is how his Precious Mama always fixed it, she transplanted from Indiana to Florida. 😉 I actually liked it. I think mostly because it came from my Mother In Love’s recipe.
Thanks for bringing another cherished memory home. <3
Now…Don't forget to call me when you are having your chili supper and let me know what to bring. ; )
Cincinatti chili is not really a Kentucky sort of thing, but a Cincinatti thing (and nothern KY only). I like the idea of serving chili 5way with the spaghetti and toppings, but I do not like cinnamon, allspice or cloves in chili! I do, however, put a couple of spoons of brown sugar in my chili as it cooks. It cuts the tartness of the tomato sauce and just adds a nice hint of sweetness. Sweet and spicy is a good combination. A lot of people in KY do add pasta to the pot of chili as it cooks. I do not like to do that either, but offer it as on option when serving it to be added.
Thank you! This is currently on low in my Dutch oven on the stove. I doubled it so I can freeze some (’cause I only had a 29 ounce can of tomatoes and I didn’t want the rest to go to waste!) I added a diced green pepper, a diced Vidalia onion, some salt and sugar and it tastes awesome. It may be over 100 today where I live, but it’s gonna be “chili” tonight!
I have got this one in the crockpot right now. Thanks for these daily emails. Sometimes I am just at loss for what to make and your emails boot me in the right direction! P.S. I tasted this and it is delish!
Pamela, I’m a Florida girl and had never heard of Cincinnati Chili before last year. I found a recipe at allrecipes.com, incorporated many of the reviewer’s suggestions, and ended up with something very similar to yours. One thing I do differently is boil the beef in beef broth for an hour, mashing the beef every 15 minutes with a potato masher. This gives it a great consistency. Now I think I’m going to have to make it this weekend. YUM!