Why it’s so good!
Hot honey is a simple combination of 3 ingredients – honey, chilli flakes and hot sauce – and results in a flavourful, sweet and sticky sauce perfect for using with so many savoury dishes. Even better, it only takes 10 minutes to make at home, is more affordable than store-bought varieties and tastes amazing!
This sweet and spicy sauce works with a vast array of meals too. Try it over fried chicken, schnitzel, baked cheese like this feta saganaki, drizzled over a dip, as a sweetener for salad dressing, oven-baked salmon, pizza and even roasted veggies. There is nearly nothing that won’t benefit from a little drizzle of this spicy honey goodness.
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Ingredients in hot honey
All you need are 3 simple ingredients and this hot honey is just minutes away.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Honey: First of all you need a good honey. As they vary in flavour depending on where they were harvested, it’s a fun experiment to try different varieties but start off with your favourite.
- Dried chilli flakes / red pepper flakes: You want hot dried chili flakes for this and lots of them to really infuse the heat into the honey.
- Sriracha: Many hot honey recipes will include a little vinegar for tang like apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar. I go for sriracha since it adds both tang and even more flavour. Plus, there’s the added bonus of it giving the honey a red tinge. You can add any hot sauce you like.
How to make hot honey
You’re going to love how easy it is to make this spicy honey. All you need is your ingredients, a pan, strainer, jar and 10 minutes.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Heat ingredients in a pan
First add all the ingredients to a pan over medium heat.
Bring it to a simmer. As soon as you see some bubbles appear, set it aside for 10 minutes to steep. This will allow the chilli flakes to infuse their flavour and heat into the honey.
2. Strain the honey
Now, pour the honey through a strainer into a clean jar to remove the chilli flakes. The reason we remove the chili flakes is firstly because there are so many in there and secondly because they continue to increase the spicy heat of the honey over time. Once strained, I like to just add a pinch to the honey but it’s not absolutely necessary if you’d rather keep it clear.
Ways to use hot honey
- Chicken wings, roast chicken or fried chicken
- On a charcuterie board – it’s amazing with meats and strong cheeses
- Over cornbread or biscuits
- Drizzled over baked brie or baked feta
- With french fries or wedges
- Over cheese toast
- Over roasted vegetables and onions
- Over roasted pork belly
- Over tofu – especially fried
Why make it from scratch
While you can buy hot honey from the grocery store (mike’s hot honey seems to be a favourite), homemade hot honey is not only more affordable, it also means you can adjust the heat level to your liking.
You can change it up too by adding fresh chilis like jalapenos or habanero peppers. Or go wild and use some scotch bonnet if you love really hot peppers.
It’s also a wonderful way to try out some local honey brands since the flavour of honey is dependent on the area it comes from the nectar and pollen the bees have been feeding on.
Storage
Store your hot honey in the pantry and it will keep really well. Always check the top for mould before using as, if your jar wasn’t properly sterilised, it may not last quite so well.
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons hot dried chilli flakes (notes 1)
- 1 tablespoon sriracha or other hot sauce
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Fine mesh strainer/sieve
- Clean preserving jar
Instructions
- Add the honey, chilli flakes and sriracha to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat just until you start to see bubbles appear.
- Remove from heat and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes then taste. If you want it hotter, you can just let it sit longer. The longer it sits, the more the heat from the chilli flakes will infuse into the honey and the more spicy it will become.
- If the honey has become thick again, just heat it in the microwave for 15 seconds or back in the pan until runny again. Strain the honey into a clean glass jar to remove the chilli flakes and stop the infusion process.
- I like to add just a pinch of chilli flakes back to the honey and stir it in.
- Store in the pantry.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Yield: One batch of hot honey = ¾ cup
- You can warm the hot honey slightly to make it easier to drizzle over your dishes.
- If your hot honey crystallises over time, which is common, you can just reheat it slightly to get it fluid again. Either pour it into a saucepan and gently heat it or sit the uncapped jar in a pot of simmering water.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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