Hot honey is a quick and easy condiment for those that love all things spicy. All you need is some of your favorite chilies and you have a perfect condiment for glazes, baking, and even charcuterie. The best part is you can make it as spicy as you want.
One of the things that I like about hot honey that is very
easy to make. Another is all the things that you can do with it. Whenever I am
making something with a glaze and a want a bit of heat, I will use this. While
normally for me I would make just enough for whatever I was about to make, I
started using it as a condiment for many other things. A couple of them are
charcuterie, on chicken, and with ice cream. I know the ice cream one is weird
but don’t knock it until you try it.
In this recipe
There are only 3 ingredients for this recipe, however you are welcome to get creative and mix and match your peppers.
Honey: this is the star of the show. I tend to go for local honey as is best for seasonal allergens and the like.
Pepper flakes: or other dried chilies will add a lot of spice to the honey and can actually be left in the honey after it is ready.
Fresh peppers: I like serranoes for this recipe because they have a good amount of heat and flavor but feel free to go as crazy as you want. For those that are really adventurous add some ghost peppers to the honey.
Heating the honey
Honey is a great sweetener since it can last for quite a while due to its low moisture content, acidity and antibacterial properties. However, when you heat honey, you can lose some of those properties. This will cause it to spoil much more quickly than your regular honey. I advise that you do not make huge batches of this at a time, so you don’t end up wasting honey. In this recipe we only get it hot for a quick second in order to preserve as much of the flavor and benefits that honey has.
Letting the peppers steep
Once the honey is hot you are going to quickly remove it from the heat, stir, and let it cool. This gives the peppers time to infuse the honey with capsaicin, the stuff that makes peppers spicy. The longer you let it steep the more intense the heat will become. If you don’t want it to be as spicy then you can strain the peppers out early. I like to leave them in the honey for at least 45 minutes. With dried chili peppers and flakes you can leave them in the honey as long as you want since they do not add any water to it. However, if you use any fresh peppers then you will need to strain everything out. This will help keep the honey from becoming rancid.
What can I use hot honey on?
There are quite a few uses for this easy to make condiment. Here are a few uses for hot honey that I have found taste amazing.
- As a sweetener for hot chocolate
- On a charcuterie board
- On my Prosciutto and Brie Crostini or Burrata and Grilled Peach Crostini
- With fried chicken or chicken and waffles
- On pizza
- On ice cream (yes, it is tasty)
- Drizzled over fresh fruit, especially melons.
- Pastries like my Pear and Plum Tart
- Hot Honey Glazed Ham
Looking for other sauce recipes?
Hot Honey
Equipment
- Sauté pan
- Mason jar
- Strainer
Ingredients
- 1 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
- 2 serrano peppers sliced
Instructions
- In a sauté pan add the honey, serrano peppers, and red pepper flakes. On medium-high heat cook until the honey starts to bubble and remove from the heat. Stir and allow it to steep until the honey has cooled to room temperature, at least 45 minutes.
- Strain the honey into a mason jar.
- Use in salad dressings, glazes, baked goods, as a dipping sauce, over hot wings, and even charcuterie.
Notes
Feel free to use any combination of peppers that you want and get creative.
Nutrition
