If used in moderation, beer can enhance the flavors in your chili, tenderize the meat, and balance the spicy, savory notes with its malty sweetness without being overpowering.

A bottle of beer (or less) should suffice for one batch of chili. Lagers, which have a lighter, crisp, yet malty flavor, work best, but you can also use your favorite ale or stout.

When you mix a tablespoon or two of brown sugar into your chili, the sugar contrasts with its tangy and spicy notes, making for a complex yet well-balanced flavor.

While a plain mix of spices already lends chili a tasty flavor, toasting the spices before adding them to the dish can make it more spicy, smoky, bold, and aromatic.

To toast your spices, spread some whole spices, like cloves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, and dried chilies, evenly onto a skillet and warm them over medium heat.

If you want to add more heat to your chili, start by stirring a few drops of hot sauce into it and taste. If it still needs more spice, add some more, taste, and so on.

If the people in your family prefer different levels of spice, leave the hot sauce out of the full batch of chili and let everyone add it to their own serving according to taste.

Liquid smoke — which is basically smoke from burning wood concentrated into a liquid — can give your chili that smoked meat flavor without using a wood grill or smoker.

Liquid smoke has a distinct, strong flavor you may instantly like, but it’s best to be light-handed when adding it to your chili and taste as you go, just in case you don’t like it.