Topped with a mound of shredded Cheddar, Cincinnati chili looks like spaghetti with meat sauce, though more brown in hue than red. You'd expect to eat it in a bowl with a spoon, but it's served on a plate with a fork. And unless you hail from Ohio, you probably wouldn't recognize it as chili. So, is Cincinnati chili even chili?
What Makes Cincinnati Chili Different?
Cincinnati chili and traditional red chili (chili con carne) both consist of a tomato base, ground meat, and chili powder. Traditional red chili often includes cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder, though it's not limited to these spices. Cincinnati chili, on the other hand, has a sweeter edge with spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Some recipes also use cocoa powder.
Another key difference: Cincinnati chili has a thinner consistency that makes it more like a sauce than classic chili. Indeed, it's served as a sauce over spaghetti and hot dogs. Hot dogs topped with Cincinnati chili (plus mustard and chopped onions) became known as coneys or cheese coneys, as Coney Island vendors inspired the combination. You can find coneys throughout the Midwest.
The Origins of Cincinnati Chili
As its name suggests, this chili originated in Cincinnati, Ohio. In The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili, Dann Woellert traces the original recipe to two brothers, Tom and John Kiradjieff, who immigrated from Macedonia in northern Greece in the early 1920s.
The Kiradjieffs opened a restaurant called Empress Chili Parlor in 1922, invoking the name "chili" because Americans were familiar with the dish, Woellert says. Indeed, chili parlors began cropping up all over the United States after the 1893 Chicago world's fair introduced many to the Texas-born dish.
The Kiradjieff brothers, however, didn't base their chili on the Texas staple. Instead, their recipe drew on the Mediterranean and Slavic influences of their native Macedonia. Their creation resembles moussaka, a casserole-like dish that layers eggplant or potatoes with tomato sauce and ground meat, which is popular in Greece, the Balkans (bordering Macedonia), and the Middle East. It's also similar to Greek pastit*io, baked pasta with ground meat.
The spices in Cincinnati chili (like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice) are also a testament to the dish's Macedonian roots. But Cincinnati chili's use of chili powder sets it apart from moussaka, pastit*io, and other dishes from the region.
What Is Skyline Chili?
You may also hear Cincinnati chili called Skyline chili. This moniker actually comes from a Cincinnati restaurant, Skyline Chili, that got its name for its spectacular view of the city's skyline. In 1949, Nicholas Lambrinides, an immigrant from Greek Macedonia who worked at Empress, opened his own chili parlor to sell his take on the dish.
Eventually, franchises opened throughout Ohio and the neighboring states of Indiana and Kentucky. And to accommodate Ohioans who move south to retire, a handful of Skyline Chili locations have opened in Florida. Skyline Chili's main competitor, Gold Star, has also branched out as a large chain with locations in Indiana, Kentucky, and Florida.
How to Order Cincinnati Chili
Order like a Cincinnati local by knowing your lingo. You can get your chili one of five ways.
- Two-way: spaghetti and chili
- Three-way: spaghetti, chili, and cheese
- Four-way onion: spaghetti, chili, cheese, and onions
- Four-way bean: spaghetti, chili, cheese, and beans
- Five-way: spaghetti, chili, cheese, beans, and onions
How to Make Cincinnati Chili
If you don't live near a chili parlor, you can easily make Cincinnati chili yourself with our Authentic Cincinnati Chili. The recipe comes from home cook Melissa Hamilton's mother, a Cincinnati native. Chef John's Cincinnati-Style Chili will also walk you through making the dish at home.
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