May 29, 2012

Cincinnati Chili

Growing up my father was a huge red meat fan. My mother tried for years to integrate more vegetarian dishes and to eliminate red meat from our family diet. She would make great peanut noodles, which my dad decided were too spicy and complained had no meat. Then she tried stir-fry, which my dad thought was great, after he added ground beef. After a couple of years my mom thought she had succeeded in getting my father to stop eating red meat, I knew better. He would sneak out to McDonald's and buy their cheap hamburgers and eat two on the way home. My mother was successful in turning one person into a vegetarian, me. I was a vegetarian starting my freshman year of high-school until my junior year of college. Then I slowly added back fish and chicken. Then I met my husband. My husband and two boys have been known to eat an entire pack of bacon in one sitting. The men in my family are definitely big red meat fans. Since I am more a once a week at most red meat eater, I have slowly been able to convince the rest of my family to follow my lead. One dish that my husband absolutely loves though is Cincinnati chili. He can go on a twenty minute tangent on the various difference and qualities between the various Cincinnati chili brands. I have made Cincinnati chili at home a number of times, but never in the crockpot so I was interested when I saw a recipe in the February issue of Family Circle for Cincinnati Chili done completely in the slow-cooker.
This recipe has 16 ingredients (plus 3 optional). It takes 15 minutes of prep and 8 hours on low in the crock-pot and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Like I almost always do I ground my own Angus beef. I find that when I grind my own meat the texture and flavor is much better. Plus the attachment for the KitchenAid is inexpensive and very easy to use. I would normally make my own beef stock, but my normal grocery store was out of beef bones, so I bought 100% natural beef stock instead. For the toppings I added cheddar cheese on the plate. Normally my husband also likes chopped onions and occasionally beans (a five-way), but chose to play it simple with just cheese (a three-way). I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.
For people unfamiliar with Cincinnati chili this is a very accessible recipe. The chili is on the mild side similar to Dixie chili, a smaller chain in Northern Kentucky. My kids really liked this recipe, they even had seconds. Make sure to taste and salt this recipe before serving. I had to add a couple of teaspoons of salt to make the flavor right before serving. I love that this recipe uses the crockpot and the flavor is still the same. Most Cincinnati chili recipes use garlic and onion powder so I was skeptical when the recipe used fresh ingredients. However, the finished result was perfect, so my assumption was misplaced. Overall, a very easy way to make Cincinnati style chili recipe.

For the recipe go to Cincinnati Chili.

22 comments:

  1. Great Post!Newest follower via blog hop! Glad I found you! Please follow back!?

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    1. Thanks, it was great that it uses the crockpot! Followed you back :)

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  2. I'm always looking for new chili recipes!

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    1. This one goes over spaghetti, but is also great on hot dogs or I have even made pizza with Cincinnati chili and it was delicious!

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  3. I need to try this recipe, I have yet to make Cincinnati Chili. Sounds great. Using the slow cooker helps also, still looking for more recipes for that. Thanks.

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    1. The slow cooker makes it a lot easier! On the stove it takes at least two hours, which is a lot of time for most people. The slow cooker is much faster!

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  4. I've never heard of Cincinnati Chili before, but any type of chili is always welcome in our house!

    I was actually a strict vegetarian for many years, also and only recently added red meat back into my diet. I can relate too, because my husband loves meat, so whenever I can get him to try a vegetarian dish it's a major accomplishment. Thanks, Frugal! :)

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    1. My husband is slowly getting better, he loved the tofu I made last night, so that's definitely progress :) We are big chili fans in our house too!

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  5. Hi! I found you via the SITS girls. I grew up in WV, so it's fun visiting someone who is living in my native state. Doesn't most Cincinnati chili also have spaghetti?

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    1. It's over spaghetti, it's just hard to see in the photo. You can also put in over hotdogs or with pizza. Or nachos, which is yummy also! I love finding new people with ties to WV :)

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  6. Just wanted to stop by and say hello from the hop. I can really learn a lot from you :) I'm a new follower and if you'd like please follow me back at www.nerdymomfitmom.blogspot.com Thanks!

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    1. I hope you find some recipes to try! I followed you back :)

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  7. Sounds delicious! I love chili, and making it in the crockpot is a bonus!!!

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    1. The crockpot does make this recipe very easy, and I agree chili is delicious!

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  8. can't view this recipe w/o registering on the Family Circle site.

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    1. Family Circle now requires users to register to view any of their recipes. A lot of sites are moving to this method since their recipes are being re-printed without permission. I agree with them 100% on this, I normally put that registration is required, but it was late when I posted this :) I'll go add it to the post.

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  9. It sounds - as always - delcious. I have to ask whar makes a chili Cincinnati style?

    I also used to be a vegetarian for a long time....

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    1. It is thinner than traditional chili and has cinnamon. The spices are similar to those you would find in Lebanese cooking, it's really different, but delicious. Plus you would eat it over spaghetti or on a coney, not by itself. It's yummy :)

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  10. This sounds delicous! Love your pictures too!

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    1. Thanks, best part was that it was very easy :)

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  11. I showed this post to my hubby - and I swear I saw him drooling... so I made this for dinner yesterday and it was amazing!! Thanks for sharing this recipe... I think it will become a new fave in our house ;)

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    1. I'm glad that it turned out so well! My husband loves Cincinnati style chili :) I like that this recipe uses the crockpot!

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