Five Way Chicken Chili

This is the chicken-and-spaghetti riff on Cincinnati chili, the Greek-inspired city specialty that runs sauce over noodles and stacks beans, onions, and cheese on top. The name “five way” refers to the layered service: chili, spaghetti, beans, onions, cheese. Walking into a Skyline counter is how generations of Cincinnati kids learned to count.

The spice mix is the entire personality. Cocoa powder, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves alongside the chili powder is what makes Cincinnati chili distinct from Tex-Mex. The cocoa adds depth without sweetness, the cinnamon brings warmth, and the cloves and allspice give it that almost-mulled-wine background note. Skip any of them and the chili tastes flatter.

Using chicken instead of the traditional ground beef is the modern twist. Pre-cooked, shredded chicken breast finishes briefly in the sauce, which keeps it tender and lets it absorb the spice mix without overcooking.

The sauce is meant to be thin enough to spoon over spaghetti, not thick chili-bowl consistency. The 20-minute simmer concentrates flavor without reducing it to paste.

Don’t drain the kidney beans into the chili. Heat them separately and spoon over the noodles. Mixing them in dilutes the sauce and muddies the layered presentation.

Pro Tips

• Use thin spaghetti, not regular. The thinner strands soak up sauce better and feel more authentic.
• Pile the cheese generously. Skyline-style means the top is buried in cheddar.
• Chop fresh raw onion for the topping. Sweet, raw bite cuts through the rich sauce.

Variations

• For “three way," skip the beans and onion: just chili, spaghetti, and cheese.
• For “four way," add either onions or beans (not both).
• Use ground turkey or lean ground beef for a more traditional protein.