Football season is around the corner, and it’s time to tailgate! To acknowledge the stretch of glutinous Sundays on the horizon, I’ve joined a group of bloggers from all over the country — all of whom are big football fans— to bring you 64 tailgating recipes for a terrific football party. You can check out their fantastic creations at the bottom on this post!
When the call went out to join this collaboration, my native Ohioan friends had the Browns represented in the blink of an eye. This Ohio girl’s heart, however, is with the Bengals.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. My heart lies with another Ohio team whose name also begins with a “B”, but that story has been told.
Back to the pros. When Cincinnati and food come together in the same thought, I think of Cincinnati chili. I loathed Cincinnati chili day in the school cafeteria when I was a kid. Chili on spaghetti? That made no sense. I was definitely packing my lunch anytime Cincinnati chili showed up on the menu.
As I matured, I discovered Skyline chili. Suddenly, Cincinnati chili didn’t seem so bad. For those of who are not familiar, Skyline is essentially the pros version of Cincinnati chili.
As the story goes, Nicholas Lambrinides opened a restaurant overlooking the skyline of Cincinnati in 1949. The restaurant served, you guessed-it, the Lambrinides’ family’s chili. What could its secret ingredient (cough…chocolate…cough) be? And yes, Cincinnati chili is actually Greek chili.
Cincinnati chili is not something you want to eat in a bowl all alone. The chili is essentially a saucy beef, so it’s made to serve over spaghetti or a hot dog. Today though, I’m serving it over cream cheese and calling it a dip.
You can enjoy Cincinnati chili three ways (topped with cheddar), four ways (cheddar plus beans or onions), or five ways (cheddar plus beans and onions). I’m a four-ways girl, so this dip includes beans but no extra onion.
The recipe yields more than enough chili for the dip, so plan on extra servings if you bake it in an 8 x 8 dish like I did. As for the extra chili, maybe enjoy it over a baked potato, or since these are tailgating recipes we are talking about, potato skins.
In a twist of irony, I enjoyed my leftovers over spaghetti in a lunch I packed. Enjoy!
Cincinnati Chili Dip
Ingredients
For the chili
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 cup chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 dried bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
2 cups tomato sauce
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
For the dip
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
13 to 15 ounces of Skyline Chili
1, 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
4 cups grated cheddar cheese
Fritos, for serving (the bigger, scoop-size chips work best)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned, about 5–6 minutes.
- Stir in the ground beef and all of the spices (from the chili powder to the pepper), stirring occasionally, until well browned, 6–8 minutes.
- Drain the fat from the meat, then add the tomato sauce, cocoa powder, and 1 of cup water to the skillet.
- Bring the chili to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, partially covered, until thickened, about 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf when the chili is done cooking.
- To turn the chili into chili dip, spread the cream cheese in an even layer in the baking dish (I used an 8 x 8 baking dish).
- Spread as much chili as you like over the cream cheese layer then top with the beans if using.
- Place the baking dish in an oven heated to 375 degrees and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the oven and top with the cheddar cheese.
- Allow the dip to stand for 5 minutes before serving with corn chips.
Notes
If you want to enjoy a five-way chili dip (with onions on top), add a white onion to the ingredient list and top the cheese layer with diced onions.
As written, this recipe yields more chili than needed for an 8 x 8 baking dish. If you want more dip and less leftover chili, spread two, 8-ounce bricks of cream cheese across a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with the extra chili, add more cheese, etc.
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Note: This post is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by the National Football League (NFL) or any of its teams. All opinions and views expressed on our blogs are our own, not that of the NFL and/or any of its 32 teams. Any team names, logos or other symbols referenced are properties of their respective organizations. We are just big fans — and we want to share our love for our teams, the game and the food that brings us all together on game day.
Yay Bengals and Cincinnati-style chili. I like that you gave the history behind it. I’ve lived in Cincinnati for over 16 years now (transplant from Springfield) and just in the last couple of years have finally converted to enjoying our chili. I’d never heard of it growing up or at least had no interest in trying it like you… even when we did visit Kings Island on occasion. Great post!
I might be from Michigan but I would still eat this dip. It looks and sounds delicious!
Love recipes with a story, my husband and I were talking about “the football season” just the other day. Can’t believe summer is almost over. Will have try this chili with spaghetti too!
What exactly is skyline chili?!!
Skyline is the restaurant that first served Cincinnati chili. Or so the story goes. 🙂