Recipe Overview

Why you’ll love it: Hot honey is very easy to make with only three ingredients. It’s a nearly perfect condiment that can be added to everything from pizza to ice cream. This taste sensation will revolutionize your kitchen!

How long it takes: just a few minutes
Equipment you’ll need: small saucepan
Servings: makes ½ cup

Sweet & Spicy Hot Honey

Take ordinary honey, mix in a little red pepper heat and tangy apple cider vinegar, wave your magic cooking wand, and hey, presto! you have transformed these lowly ingredients into the best sweet and spicy condiment ever.

If you feel like your food needs a little somethin’ somethin’, hot honey is the answer. What’s more familiar than honey? Everyone loves the fruit of the honeybees. With just a couple of simple additions, honey is transformed into something pretty wonderful. You can make it at home and you probably have everything you need right in your pantry.

What is hot honey good on?

If you do a little looking around on the web, you’ll find that hot honey can be drizzled on pizza (or spaghetti squash pizza), roasted vegetables (we’re obsessed with it on roasted or air fried Brussels sprouts), Greek yogurt, or cornbread. Lately we’ve been eating a lot of roasted radishes and hot honey really is great on those, too.

It’s a welcome addition to any charcuterie/cheese selection and it can be stirred into cocktails or added to a hot toddy. It’s good on breakfast sandwiches or avocado toast. I love it on these savory waffles made with ham, cheddar, and green onions. Hot honey goes well with cornbread pancakes, too. Anything crisp and salty is fair game for hot honey, including bacon, pan-fried salmon bites, sausage, or fried chicken bites. Try a little sweet heat on vanilla ice cream or pound cake for a real treat.

About Hot Honey

There are many commercial brands available now, but the original is Mike’s Hot Honey. Michael Kurtz developed the recipe while working in a pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York, after trying spicy honey that had been infused with dried chiles in a small restaurant in Brazil. The rest is history.

It’s not a complicated product. You can easily make your own hot honey and I have two different methods for you to try. Try them both and see which one you like the best!

PS: We tried Mike’s to compare, and we like ours much better! Mike’s hot honey is, as advertised, HOT. The heat level of this homemade version is lower and we feel like the balance between sweet and spicy is better. Sorry, Mike.

Hot honey in a jar with a honey dipper being lifted out.

Selecting the Right Honey To Use

There are so many types of honey available. Honey can be delicately flavored depending on what type of flowers the bees have visited. Some varieties are much more expensive than others. l suggest choosing a generic brand of honey for hot honey since you’ll be adding flavors to it. Raw honey is more nutritious than processed honey which loses some of the beneficial antioxidants and pollen through filtration and pasteurization.

Ingredient Notes

Honey: You’ll need a half cup of honey to start with although this recipe is easy to double if you want. Take a look at the text box above for more information about honey.
Red Pepper Flakes: Start with a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. The heat level can vary quite a bit. You can either leave them in for a hotter honey or strain them out for a more mild flavor.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Adds just a bit of sweet acidity to round out the package.
Hot Sauce, Optional: Using hot sauce instead of red pepper flakes and apple cider vinegar is another option.

How to make Hot Honey

Option #1: Red Pepper Flakes

Let’s get started! You’ll need a small saucepan for this option.

Measure the honey, red pepper flakes, and vinegar into the pan.

Honey with red pepper flakes in a saucepan.

Over medium low heat, bring the mixture to a simmer.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Let the honey infuse for thirty to forty-five minutes before using. This isn’t absolutely necessary but your hot honey will taste better if you do. We especially recommend this if you plan to strain out the red pepper flakes.

Strain out the red pepper flakes if you like a milder heat level or leave them in if you love hot spice.

Option #2: Hot Sauce

There’s another way to make hot honey and it’s even easier! Simply stir a tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce into honey and microwave the mixture for 20 to 30 seconds. Add more hot sauce if you like.

We personally prefer the flavor of the red pepper flakes, but try both and see what you like!

Honey with red pepper flakes on a white surface.

Recipe Variations

Make a double or triple batch. (Highly recommend this choice!)
Make it really hot. Use dried habanero chiles or flakes. Habanero peppers rate 350,000 on the Scoville heat scale, 100 times hotter than jalapeño pepper. Crushed red pepper flakes range from 15,000 to 45,000 on the Scoville heat scale.
If you like hot honey, be sure to try these chipotle honey glazed meatballs. You’ll love them!

Overhead view of hot honey in a jar and on a dipper on white surface.

Make Ahead & Storage Tips

Keep a jar of hot honey ready to use. You’ll find yourself reaching for it time and time again. To store, bring the hot honey to room temperature. Once it’s cool, store it in a covered glass jar or small container. It does not need to be refrigerated. It will keep for up to six months.

Pure honey has qualities that help it last for a very long time. It is slightly acidic and has antimicrobial enzymes which keep bacteria from forming. It may crystallize over time but that doesn’t mean the honey has gone bad.

More Recipes With Honey

Instant Pot Honey Sriracha Chicken

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken – super easy!

Roasted Grape Crostini with Ricotta and Honey

Honey Glazed Carrots with Chili Powder

Recipe