I am obsessed with this hot honey recipe right now. It blends two contrasting but complimentary flavors, sweet and spicy, into an amazing and addictive condiment. Golden honey is warmed up and infused with dried chili pepper flakes to give this sweet nectar a fiery kick. Drizzle it over anything you want to add a little sweet heat to – roasted veggies like my Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts and Hot Honey Carrots, pizza, chicken, bacon, Hot Honey Salmon, cheese etc.
Why You Will Love This Hot Honey Recipe
- This recipe is shelf stable and can last a long time in your cupboard.
- It’s quick and easy to make. Heating honey in a saucepan and then straining out the chili peppers is all it takes
- Hot honey has a balanced heat. There’s just enough kick to not overpower the sweetness of the honey. But you can adjust the spiciness if you want more heat.
- The sweetness and spice can add another dimension to your food enhancing the flavor and making it more satisfying.
- Super versatile. Hot honey sauce can be drizzled over meats, biscuits, ice cream, used in marinades, dressings and even cocktails! You will find so many uses for this condiment, comment below on your favorite!
Equipment Needed
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Starting with a batch using 1/2 cup of honey is a good approach. Once you’re hooked, you may want to increase the batch size. For small batches, a small saucepan helps ensure the mixture heats evenly without boiling.
A fine meshed strainer is used to strain out all or most of the chili pepper flakes.
Measuring Spoons and Measuring Cup for Liquids
Ingredients Needed
- Honey – use your favorite brand
- Chili flakes – adds the heat to the honey, but they can also impart flavor, so again you can choose whichever type of dried chili you like. Different chili flakes will also have different levels of spiciness. I just used the everyday chili flakes found at the grocer.
- Rice Vinegar – Gives the the sauce a little tangy zing. If you don’t have rice vinegar you could sub with apple cider vinegar.
How to Make Hot Honey Sauce
Pour your honey into a small saucepan. Add in the chili pepper flakes and heat over a medium/low heat on the stove top with intermittent stirring . You don’t want to bring the honey to a boil, but you do want to warm it up as much as possible, as the heat helps to infuse the flavor and spice out of the chili flakes.
Once you see bubbles starting to form around the edges of the saucepan, turn the heat off. Give it a stir and allow it a moment to cool down and then return to the heat. Continue doing this, watching carefully so you don’t get a full boil going. Heat and stir the honey in this way for 15 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the rice vinegar.
Pour the honey through a fine mesh sieve into a clean storage jar. You can leave as many chili pepper flakes as you like in the final product. The extra flakes will add a little extra spice and they look nice too.
Allow the hot honey to cool, then put a lid on it and store it in your cupboard for as long as you would normally store honey.
Notes
- You need heat and time to infuse the flavor and spice out of the chili flakes. I have tried this without heating and letting the chili flakes sit in the honey for 24 hours, but this does very little. You really need to heat the honey up.
- When straining the honey through the fine mesh sieve, it is easier if the honey is warm as it is less viscous and flows through the strainer quicker.
FAQs
Can I use fresh chili peppers to make hot honey? Yes, you can! If you add fresh chopped up chili peppers it will add a unique flavor depending on the type of chili you use. You can’t store the final hot honey sauce more than a week or so in the cupboard, it’s just not as shelf stable.
What should I drizzle hot honey on? Hot honey tastes great on so many things. Roasted veggies are one of my favorite uses for hot honey – think carrots, brussles sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower…the list goes on. Hot honey with a little added hot sauce, makes great chicken wings. I’ve even tried it on vanilla gelato – strange but good. Use it as a replacement for honey in your salad dressings and marinades. Tell me all the ways you use your hot honey sauce.
How long can I store hot honey? This recipe can be stored in the cupboard as long as you would normally store honey. As mentioned above, if you use fresh chili peppers, I wouldn’t store it longer than a week.
Hot Honey
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 teaspoons chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Instructions
- Pour honey into a small saucepan.
- Add chili flakes to the saucepan and stir together.
- Heat the honey mixture over medium/low heat with intermittent stirring. You don't want the honey to boil, so if it gets too hot, remove from the heat and allow it cool for a moment before bringing it back to a low heat.Continue to heat and stir for 15 minutes.
- Strain the hot honey sauce through a fine mesh sieve into a clean storage jar
- Let the honey cool at room temperature, then place a lid on it and store in your cupboard as long as you would normally store honey.
Notes
- You need heat and time to infuse the flavor and spice out of the chili flakes. I have tried this without heating and letting the chili flakes sit in the honey for 24 hours, but this does very little. You really need to heat the honey up.
- When straining the hot honey through the fine mesh sieve, it is easier if the honey is warm as it is less viscous and flows through the strainer quicker.
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