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Hot Honey Recipe

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This delicious homemade hot honey recipe is a tangy and lightly spicy condiment.

It's a fantastic topping for fried chicken, biscuits, roasted vegetables, chicken wings, or added to salad dressing. It's also a great accompaniment to a charcuterie board!

It's really easy to make your own hot honey. There are a few simple steps, but it's important not to let the honey boil so be sure to read the instructions carefully before making this recipe.

Hot honey in a jar with a spoon above it.

Why You Should Make Hot Honey

This delicious spicy honey is a great condiment to have on hand. You can use it in all sorts of ways and it adds a delightful bite to any dish.

If it's your first time trying hot honey I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how great it tastes! If you've tried Mike's Hot Honey, this will be similar but I think a bit tangier.

Regular Honey is an amazing natural sweetener and pairs well with a huge variety of flavors. Once you make your own hot honey you'll find lots of uses for it.

One of my favorite ways to serve hot honey is on a toasted baguette with ricotta and prosciutto. Lately, I've also added it to salads, salsa, and on top of roasted Brussels sprouts.

This recipe makes for a great gift as well - gift it in a small mason jar with a few recipes for using it.

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Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make an easy homemade hot honey sauce.

Honey, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, salt, and apple cider vinegar.
  • Clover honey
  • Crushed red pepper flakes
  • Hot sauce (like Frank's Red Hot, Tabasco, or Cholula)
  • Salt
  • Apple cider vinegar

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Add the honey to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. 

Honey in a small pot.

Once the honey is warming up, add in the chili flakes, hot sauce, and salt. Stir to combine. 

Honey with red pepper flakes, salt, and a few drops of hot sauce in a pot.
Hot honey being made in a small pot on the stove.

Allow the honey to get warmer until it is covered in small foamy bubbles. Immediately remove the honey from the heat. 

Hot honey with foamy bubbles in a pot on the stove.

Allow the honey to cool for 2 minutes and then stir in the apple cider vinegar. 

Hot honey in a pot with a spoon cooling it down.

Pour the honey into a glass jar or glass Tupperware and allow it to come to room temperature before storing. 

How to Use Hot Honey

Hot honey is a great condiment and spicy sauce. It can be used as a topping, dipping sauce, or an ingredient in a sauce or dressing. Here are some creative ways to use it.

A glass jar full of hot honey.

Storage

You can store homemade hot honey for a long time at room temperature. It will keep longer, but for the freshest and best taste, I'd recommend using it within 3 to 6 months of making it.

You can freeze honey, but you really don't need to. Just store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Tips for Making this Recipe

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Cooking Tips - It's imperative to keep an eye on the heat level of the honey - you don't want the honey to boil or scald. Boiling will break down all the nutritional benefits of honey.

Heat it at low or medium-low and as soon as the honey froths turn off the heat and move the pot to a cool burner. If the honey won't froth, turn your heating element up to medium heat, but as soon as it froths, turn off the heat.

Specialty Ingredients - Use mild honey (clover honey or another local honey) for this recipe. You don't want to use wildflower honey or other flavored honey blends because you are adding so much extra flavor to the honey.

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Yield: 1 cup

Hot Honey Recipe

A glass mason jar of homemade hot honey.

This delicious and tangy homemade hot honey is great for drizzling on chicken, toast, biscuits, and vegetables.

Prep Time 8 minutes
Cook Time 2 minutes
Additional Time 2 minutes
Total Time 12 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup honey*
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • ¼ teaspoon hot sauce*
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

  1. Add the honey to a small pot over medium-low heat. 
  2. Once the honey is warming up, add in the red pepper flakes, hot sauce, and salt. Stir to combine. 
  3. Allow the honey to get warmer until it is covered in small foamy bubbles. Immediately remove the honey from the heat. 
  4. Allow the honey to cool for 2 minutes and then stir in the apple cider vinegar. 
  5. Pour the honey into a glass jar or glass tupperware and allow it to come to room temperature before storing. 

Notes

*Use a mild honey like clover honey. Don't use a special blend or wildflower honey.

*I used Frank's hot sauce but you can use Tabasco or Cholula as well.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 65Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 34mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 0gSugar: 17gProtein: 0g

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