• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Grits and Gouda
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers and Snacks
    • Meats and Mains
    • Breakfast Brunch Brinner
    • Veggies and Sides
    • Desserts and Cakes
    • Cookies and Candy
    • Shortcut Cooking
    • Lighten Up
    • Canning and Condiments
    • Wild Game
    • Salads & Slaws
  • About
    • About
    • Community
    • Apron Stories
  • Work With Me
  • Cooking Classes
  • Shop
    • AMAZON
    • Cookbook
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Cooking Classes & Holiday Cooking Show
  • Shop
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home > Canning and Condiments > Shortcut Homemade Hot Honey

    Shortcut Homemade Hot Honey

    December 10, 2021 by gritsandgouda Leave a Comment

    Share
    Pin
    Tweet
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See full disclosure.
    Jump to Recipe

    One of the "hottest" food trends right now is hot honey. This 2-ingredient, Shortcut Homemade Hot Honey recipe will have you drizzling this spicy condiment in less than 20 minutes, not hours. It dresses up biscuits, chicken, pizza and adds a kick to hot tea, ice cream and cheese trays. I've even got a shortcut to the shortcut!

    If you find yourself reaching for a bottle of hot sauce or Sriracha at almost every meal, this hot honey is for you!

    I prefer to use the microwave to heat the honey in the same cup I measure it in but it can also be warmed in a saucepan on the stovetop.

    A jar of this sweet heat drizzle is perfect for gift giving for holiday hostesses, gift exchange, new neighbor or even teacher gifts. If you want to gild the lily, bake a batch of my 2 Ingredient Biscuits to give along with the hot honey.

    What is hot honey?

    The short answer is it is honey infused with dried or fresh chiles by warming the ingredients first. This spicy honey is trending as a pizza crust dipping sauce and often drizzled over everything from biscuits to fried chicken.

    Shortcuts

    • The microwave heats up the honey at least twice as fast as a pan on the stovetop.
    • Heating the honey in the same measuring cup it is measured in saves a dish to wash.
    • Using crushed red chile pepper flakes allows the capsaicin to work its magic faster than trying to penetrate through the dried pepper skins.
    • The shortcut to the shortcut is to just stir hot sauce straight into the warm honey and serve.

    Ingredients

    Scroll down to printable recipe for ingredient quantities.

    • Honey
    • Crushed red chile pepper flakes or dried chile peppers (Thai, red Fresno)
    • (Faster option: hot sauce)

    How to make homemade hot honey

    Depending on the heat level you prefer, it only takes minutes to infuse a small amount of heat into honey. See notes in the printable recipe for heat levels.

    Warming up the honey in the microwave or on stovetop not only helps the dried chile peppers infuse their flavor, but it also helps thin out the honey to stir them together more easily.

    Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe with detailed instructions.

    • Metal sieve, bottle of honey, chile pepper flakes and peppers on marble surface
    • Hand pouring honey and chile pepper flakes from measuring cup into metal sieve.
    1. Combine honey and crushed peppers or flakes in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup. 
    2. Microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or just until the honey is warm and thins out.
    3. Let stand 15 minutes or up to 8 hours, depending on heat level desired.  
    4. Strain the chile pepper flakes through a fine metal sieve or strainer.

    See printable recipe notes below for heat time table.

    Hint: You may have to microwave it about 10 seconds again after infusing chile pepper flakes into the honey to flow through the sieve.

    Hand pouring honey from glass pitcher onto chicken nuggets and mini waffles.

    Substitutions & Variations

    • Shortcut to the shortcut - To make Hot Honey in less than 1 minute, simply stir in 1 teaspoon hot sauce to every 1/2 cup of honey.
    • Fresh peppers such as jalapeno and serrano can also be used. Make sure you use a pepper that matches the level of heat you can tolerate. Chopped fresh habanero peppers will produce a much hotter level than dried chile flakes. BE CAUTIOUS: If using fresh ingredients to infuse honey, it must be stored in the refrigerator. Read more about infusing honey with fresh ingredients.
    • Don't throw away the strained peppers! Save it to stir into soups and chili.

    Pro tips

    • Use local honey for its antimicrobial benefits. Read more about the health benefits of local honey from this article from the Farmers Almanac.
    • Pour the honey with a funnel into a plastic squirt bottle for easy drizzling.

    Can I heat the honey in a saucepan instead of microwave?

    Absolutely. Keep the heat to low and watch carefully. You are just warming it up, not boiling it.

    What can I serve hot honey on?

    • Biscuits
    • Chicken and Waffles
    • Pizza
    • Cornbread
    • Fried ice cream or ice cream
    • Burgers like my Grilled Venison Burger
    • Chicken fingers
    • BBQ Chicken Wings
    • French fries or Onion Rings
    • Candied Bacon
    • Hot tea or cocktails
    • Add to salad dressings and dips
    Drizzling hot honey on pizza on wooden cutting board

    Homemade hot honey makes great food gifts

    Pour the infused honey into small, clean decorative jars and tie a ribbon around it. Place in a basket with cheese and crackers. Better yet, make my Caramelized Onion Cornbread and place it in a basket with my Homemade Butter!

    Equipment

    How long does hot honey keep?

    Three to four months in an air tight container at room temperature.

    Does hot honey have to be stored in the refrigerator.

    If hot honey is infused with dry ingredients such as chile pepper flakes, it can sit on the counter in an air tight container. If it is infused with fresh peppers like chopped jalapenos, then water is introduced and needs to be stored in the refrigerator

    Although the refrigerator is not the ideal place to store honey, the microbial problems introduced by the fresh peppers requires it. You can always warm the honey back up before serving. It drizzles better warmer than cooler.

    What to serve with hot honey

    Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Be social and share, y'all! Don't forget to sign up with your email so you don’t miss a single post on my Southern shortcut recipes!

    If you make this recipe I'd love to see it! Tag me on social media with #gritsandgouda or @gritsandgouda. Leave a comment below the printable recipe if you have questions or tell me how you liked the recipe. Don't forget to rate it 5 stars if you love it!

    Other shortcut sauce and condiment recipes you will love

    If you love sweet heat, you'll also love my Shortcut Sweet Heat Pickles. They start with store-bought dill pickles but end up a whole 'nother pickle chock full of garlicky sweet heat flavor.

    • Halfway Homemade Blackberry Vinaigrette
    • Freezer Red and Green Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
    • Slow Cooker Fig Jam
    Honey in tiny pitcher with white honey dripper dripping honey in pitcher. Dried chile peppers on a blue surface
    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Shortcut Homemade Hot Honey

    This 2-ingredient, Shortcut Homemade Hot Honey recipe will have you drizzling this spicy condiment in minutes, not hours. It dresses up biscuits, chicken, pizza and adds a kick to hot tea, ice cream and cheese trays. I've even got a shortcut to the shortcut!
    Prep Time1 min
    Cook Time1 min
    Standing time15 mins
    Total Time17 mins
    Course: Appetizer, condiment, sauce
    Servings: 8 servings
    Calories: 64kcal
    Author: Kathleen Phillips | GritsAndGouda.com
    Cost: 4
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup honey
    • 1 teaspoon crushed red chile pepper flakes

    Instructions

    • Combine honey and pepper flakes in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup.
    • Microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or just until the honey is warm and thins out. Let stand 15 minutes.
    • Strain the chile pepper flakes through a fine metal sieve or strainer. Store in an air tight container. See note for storing infused honey with fresh ingredients.

    Notes

    Tip: Before straining pepper flakes from honey, you may need to heat it up 10 seconds in the microwave to thin it out again.
    Storing infused honey using fresh peppers-Although the refrigerator is not the ideal place to store honey, the microbial problems introduced by the fresh peppers requires it. You can always warm the honey back up before serving. It drizzles better warmer than cooler. Infused honey made with dried peppers can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container.
    Heat levels per 1/2 cup honey: 
    • Mild- 1 teaspoon chile pepper flakes or 1 dried, crushed red Fresno pepper, 15 minutes
    • Medium- 1 1/2 teaspoons chile pepper flakes or 2 dried, crushed red Fresno peppers, 30 minutes
    • Hot-1 1/2 teaspoons chile pepper flakes or 2 dried, crushed red Fresno peppers, 2 hours or up to overnight

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 64kcal
    Did you make this recipe?If you love it, share it! Tag me on Instagram @gritsandgouda using #gritsandgouda Comment below before you go!

    Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.

    « Purple Sweet Potato Magic Cake
    Shortcut Mini Chicken Waffles (with Hot Honey) »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    WELCOME, Y’ALL!

    Hi y'all! I’m Kathleen. I love sharing my Southern shortcut recipes with you! I’m a food stylist, cookbook author, and former test kitchen director living in a charming small town in Alabama. I take traditional Southern recipes you know and love (and a few new ones) and make them with shortcuts so you can enjoy them faster.

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    Popular Recipes

    Slices of turkey breast with skin on overlapping each other on a white plate and garnished with fresh sage and gravy poured over the turkey slices

    Instant Pot Bone-In Turkey Breast and Gravy (Foolproof) Give yourself more time for family and your oven more room for side dishes and pie by cooking your holiday turkey in the Instant Pot this year.

    Best Ever One-Bowl Banana Bread Stirs together in one bowl; no mixer. Super moist. Freezes well.

    linguine past bacon on a fork in white bowl

    Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Alfredo No need to drain the pasta! Cook it all in one pot and no Ranch dressing packet needed!

    Fried Yellow Squash close up

    How to Make Southern Fried Yellow Squash No messy batter

    Cookies n Cream White Chocolate Fudge cut into squares revealing the yummy crushed Oreo cookies

    Cookies 'n Cream White Chocolate Fudge Nothing difficult about this easy shortcut fudge. No candy thermometer needed!

    More Popular Recipes

    Footer

    Hi y'all! I’m Kathleen. I love sharing my Southern shortcut recipes with you! I’m a food stylist, cookbook author, and former test kitchen director living in a charming small town in Alabama. I take traditional Southern recipes you know and love (and a few new ones) and make them with shortcuts so you can enjoy them faster.

    Copyright © 2022 Grits and Gouda · Privacy Policy