The Complete Guide to Hot Honey: What It Is, How to Make It

Introduction

Hot honey is the condiment that has quietly taken over every corner of the food world — appearing on restaurant menus from fast-casual pizza chains to Michelin-starred tasting menus, on grocery store shelves from specialty food shops to mainstream supermarkets, and in the kitchens of home cooks who have discovered that a single jar of this sweet, spicy, deeply aromatic condiment can transform an ordinary meal into something genuinely extraordinary.

The concept is beautifully simple: honey infused with chili — typically dried red chilies, chili flakes, or a combination — creating a condiment that delivers the deep, floral sweetness of honey alongside a warm, building, aromatic heat that amplifies the flavor of everything it touches. It is simultaneously sweet and spicy, complex and simple, familiar and exciting — a flavor combination that has proven so universally compelling that it has become one of the most discussed, most shared, and most widely adopted food trends of recent years.

Hot honey works on pizza — its sweetness amplifying the savory, slightly acidic tomato sauce while the heat cuts through the richness of the cheese. It works on fried chicken — creating the sweet-heat glaze that has become one of the defining flavor profiles of modern American comfort food. It works on cheese boards — its complexity elevating aged cheddar, creamy brie, and tangy blue cheese with equal facility. It works on roasted vegetables, on charcuterie, on ice cream, on cocktails, on toast with ricotta, on grilled salmon, on roasted carrots — on virtually anything that benefits from the interplay of sweetness, heat, and aromatic depth.

In this complete guide, we cover everything you need to know about hot honey — what it is, where it comes from, how to make your own at home in under 15 minutes, and 12 genuinely excellent ways to use it that will make you wonder how you ever cooked without it.

What Is Hot Honey?

Hot honey is exactly what its name describes: honey that has been infused with chili peppers to create a condiment with the sweetness of honey and the heat of chili. The infusion process — gently heating honey with dried chilies until the chili’s heat compounds (primarily capsaicin) and aromatic compounds are fully extracted into the honey — creates a product with significantly more complexity than either ingredient alone.

The Hot Honey Origin Story

While honey and chili have been combined in various forms across many culinary traditions for centuries — in Mexican cooking, Indian chutneys, and Middle Eastern preparations — the modern hot honey condiment as a standalone product is most closely associated with Mike’s Hot Honey, founded by Mike Kurtz in Brooklyn, New York, around 2010. Kurtz developed his hot honey recipe after encountering a similar Brazilian condiment called mel de pimenta during his travels, and his product helped catalyze the mainstream hot honey movement that has since spread globally.

According to Food & Wine magazine, hot honey has become one of the most significant condiment trends of the past decade, with sales growth consistently outpacing the broader honey market as consumers discover its extraordinary versatility.

What Makes Hot Honey Different From Regular Honey

Regular honey provides sweetness, floral complexity, and viscosity. Hot honey provides all of these qualities plus:

Heat: The capsaicin from the chili creates a warming, building heat that intensifies the eating experience.

Aromatic complexity: Dried chilies contain hundreds of volatile aromatic compounds beyond capsaicin — the earthy, smoky, slightly fruity notes of dried red chilies add a dimension of flavor that transforms the honey’s character.

Flavor amplification: The combination of sweetness and heat is one of the most effective flavor amplifiers in cooking — sweetness makes savory flavors more vibrant, and heat makes sweet flavors more complex.

How to Make Hot Honey at Home

Making hot honey at home is one of the most rewarding, most effortlessly excellent kitchen projects available — the entire process takes under 15 minutes of active time, requires only two primary ingredients, and produces a result that is fully customizable to your heat preference and flavor profile.

The Basic Hot Honey Recipe

Ingredients:

• Raw or quality honey (300ml — choose a honey with character, such as wildflower, orange blossom, or clover)
• Dried red chilies (6–8 whole dried árbol or Calabrian chilies) OR red chili flakes (1–2 tbsp depending on heat preference)
• Apple cider vinegar (½ tsp — optional but adds brightness and helps preserve)
• Sea salt (a small pinch — enhances flavor)

Optional additions for flavor complexity:

• Fresh thyme (2–3 sprigs)
• Garlic (1 clove, lightly crushed)
• Black peppercorns (½ tsp)
• Smoked paprika (¼ tsp — for smoky depth)
• Lemon zest (from ½ lemon)

Equipment:

• Small saucepan
• Fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth
• Clean a glass jar with a lid

Method:

Step 1 — Gentle warming: Combine honey, dried chilies (or chili flakes), and any optional additions in a small saucepan. Heat over the lowest possible heat — the honey should reach approximately 70°C (160°F). Never boil honey — boiling destroys its delicate aromatic compounds and creates an unpleasant, slightly bitter result.

Step 2 — The infusion: Maintain the honey at this gentle warmth for 5–10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The honey will take on a slightly reddish tint as the chili compounds dissolve into it. Taste after 5 minutes — if you want more heat, continue infusing for another 3–5 minutes.

Step 3 — Straining: Remove from heat. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean glass jar, pressing gently on the chili solids to extract maximum flavor. For a more rustic version with visible chili flakes, strain loosely or leave the flakes in entirely.

Step 4 — Finishing: Stir in the apple cider vinegar and salt if using. Allow to cool completely before sealing. The hot honey will thicken slightly as it cools.

Step 5 — Storage: Store at room temperature for up to 3 months. Hot honey does not need refrigeration.

Heat Level Guide

Chili Variety Guide

Calabrian chilies: Fruity, medium heat, deeply aromatic. The classic choice for hot honey — used by Mike’s Hot Honey and most commercial producers. Creates a honey with complex, slightly fruity heat.

Árbol chilies: Bright, clean, sharp heat. Creates a hot honey with more straightforward, assertive spice.

Red pepper flakes: The most accessible option. Creates a reliably hot, slightly earthy honey. Available everywhere.

Chipotle: Smoky, complex, moderate heat. Creates a deeply smoky hot honey excellent for meat preparations.

Ghost pepper or Carolina Reaper: For extreme heat enthusiasts. Use sparingly — one small piece per 300ml is more than sufficient.

12 Delicious Ways to Use Hot Honey

On Food: Savory Applications

1. Hot Honey Pizza

Hot honey on pizza is the application that most significantly drove the hot honey trend into mainstream awareness — the combination of the savory, slightly acidic tomato sauce, the rich, stretchy mozzarella, and the sweet-heat of the hot honey creates a flavor balance of extraordinary interest.

How to use it: Apply hot honey after baking — drizzled over the hot pizza immediately before serving. Never bake hot honey on pizza as the sustained heat can make the honey bitter. The heat of the fresh-from-the-oven pizza warms the honey to perfect, slightly runny consistency.

Best pizza pairings: Pepperoni or spicy soppressata (the classic), margherita (its simplicity amplified beautifully), white pizza with ricotta (the hot honey’s complexity against the creamy ricotta is extraordinary), prosciutto and arugula (the hot honey tying the sweet, salty, and peppery together).

Pro tip: A sprinkle of flaky sea salt alongside the hot honey drizzle amplifies both the honey’s sweetness and the chili’s heat simultaneously.

For homemade pizza inspiration, our collection of 22 Homemade Pizza Recipes covers the full range of styles and toppings that work beautifully with hot honey.

2. Hot Honey Fried Chicken

Hot honey on fried chicken is one of the great flavor revelations of contemporary American comfort food — the combination of the shattering, savory crust, the juicy chicken interior, and the sweet-heat honey glaze creates a preparation that is genuinely among the most exciting eating experiences in modern comfort cooking.

How to use it: Drizzle generously over freshly fried chicken while it is still hot. The heat of the chicken warms the honey to perfect consistency. For a glaze effect, brush hot honey onto the chicken in the final 2 minutes of frying — it caramelizes slightly for a more integrated, lacquered result.

What makes it work: The fried chicken’s crust — slightly salty, deeply savory, with the characteristic slight bitterness of well-fried food — creates the perfect canvas for hot honey’s sweetness and heat. Each element amplifies the others in a way that makes the combination significantly more exciting than any single component.

For perfecting the fried chicken itself, our Ultimate Guide to Perfectly Seared Meat: Professional Techniques and Tips covers the heat management techniques essential for perfectly cooked protein.

3. Hot Honey on Cheese Boards

Hot honey on a cheese board is the entertaining upgrade that requires zero additional effort — a jar of hot honey alongside a well-assembled board transforms a good cheese selection into a genuinely great one, providing a complex condiment that pairs excellently with every cheese style.

Best cheese pairings:

Aged cheddar: Hot honey’s sweetness and heat create a dramatic contrast with cheddar’s sharp, savory intensity. One of the great natural flavor pairings.

Creamy brie or camembert: The hot honey drizzled over the brie and allowed to pool creates a combination of extraordinary indulgence — the creamy, slightly funky cheese with the sweet-spicy honey is genuinely remarkable.

Blue cheese: Hot honey and blue cheese is the classic sweet-salty contrast elevated — the honey’s sweetness tames the blue’s pungency while the heat amplifies its complexity.

Fresh ricotta or burrata: The creamy neutrality of ricotta or burrata provides the perfect canvas for hot honey to be the primary flavor statement.

Pecorino: The aged sheep’s milk character of pecorino with hot honey is one of the most specifically Italian combinations — a pairing with genuine culinary tradition behind it.

4. Hot Honey Roasted Vegetables

Hot honey as a roasting glaze for vegetables creates one of the most impactful flavor upgrades in vegetable cooking — the honey caramelizes against the high oven heat, creating a glossy, sweet-spicy coating of concentrated flavor that makes roasted vegetables genuinely exciting rather than merely adequate.

Best vegetables for hot honey roasting: Carrots (the classic pairing — their natural sweetness amplified by the honey and contrasted by the heat), parsnips, beets, sweet potato, Brussels sprouts (the slight bitterness of Brussels sprouts and the sweet heat of hot honey is an extraordinary combination), cauliflower, and butternut squash.

How to use it: Drizzle hot honey over the vegetables in the last 5–8 minutes of roasting — not at the beginning. Earlier addition causes the honey to burn before the vegetables are properly caramelized. The late addition creates a glossy glaze rather than a burnt, bitter coating.

The finishing drizzle: An additional drizzle of hot honey applied immediately as the vegetables come out of the oven — onto the hot surface of the finished vegetables — provides a fresh honey layer on top of the caramelized one, creating complexity of depth.

5. Hot Honey Salmon

Hot honey-glazed salmon is the weeknight dinner upgrade that requires 30 seconds of additional effort and produces a genuinely spectacular result — the salmon’s rich, slightly sweet flesh paired with the hot honey glaze creates a combination of extraordinary natural harmony.

How to use it: Brush the salmon fillets with hot honey in the final 2–3 minutes of baking or pan-searing. The brief, high-heat contact caramelizes the honey into a glossy, intensely flavored glaze without overcooking the fish.

Flavor additions: Mix the hot honey with a small amount of soy sauce, sesame oil, and fresh ginger for an Asian-inspired glaze of remarkable depth.

For more salmon preparation ideas, our 20 Easy Salmon Recipes (Quick & Delicious) covers the full range of preparations that work beautifully with hot honey.

6. Hot Honey Butter for Cornbread and Biscuits

Hot honey butter — softened butter combined with hot honey into a compound butter — is one of the most immediately compelling hot honey preparations. Melted over warm cornbread, biscuits, or toast, it creates a condiment of extraordinary warmth and richness.

Recipe: Beat 120g softened unsalted butter with 3 tablespoons of hot honey and a generous pinch of flaky sea salt until completely combined. Shape into a log using plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, or serve immediately as a soft spread.

What makes it special: The butter carries the honey’s flavor compounds across the entire surface of whatever it melts on — creating a more even, more integrated distribution of sweet-heat flavor than honey drizzled directly. Every bite carries the flavor equally.

On Dessert and Breakfast

7. Hot Honey on Toast with Ricotta

Hot honey on ricotta toast is the five-minute breakfast or snack that genuinely impresses — the combination of the creamy, slightly grainy ricotta, the complex sweet-heat of the hot honey, and the crunch of good sourdough creates a preparation of remarkable sophistication.

The combination: Toast the good sourdough until golden. Spread generously with full-fat ricotta. Drizzle hot honey liberally. Finish with fresh thyme, lemon zest, and flaky sea salt.

Variations: With fresh figs and toasted walnuts (autumn version), with sliced strawberries and black pepper (spring version), with roasted peaches and toasted almonds (summer version).

8. Hot Honey Ice Cream

Hot honey drizzled over vanilla ice cream is one of the most surprising, most immediately compelling hot honey applications — the sweet-spicy honey against the cold, creamy vanilla ice cream creates a temperature and flavor contrast of extraordinary pleasure.

The contrast: Cold ice cream numbs the heat of the chili initially, then the capsaicin’s warming effect builds as the ice cream melts — creating a progressively interesting eating experience that makes this dessert significantly more complex than it appears.

Serving tip: Apply the hot honey drizzle immediately before serving and eat quickly — hot honey on ice cream is best experienced in the first few minutes when the temperature contrast is most dramatic.

On Drinks and Cocktails

9. Hot Honey Cocktails

Hot honey in cocktails has become one of the most creative bartending trends — its combination of sweetness, heat, and aromatic complexity adds a dimension that simple syrup, regular honey, or agave cannot provide.

Hot Honey Bourbon Sour: Bourbon (60ml), fresh lemon juice (30ml), hot honey (1 tbsp), egg white (optional — for foam), ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a coupe glass.

Hot Honey Margarita: Tequila (50ml), fresh lime juice (25ml), hot honey (1½ tbsp), a splash of orange liqueur, ice. Shake and serve over ice with a chili-salt rim.

Hot Honey Bee’s Knees: Gin (50ml), fresh lemon juice (25ml), hot honey (1½ tbsp). Shake with ice and strain.

According to Imbibe magazine, hot honey has become one of the most widely requested cocktail sweeteners in contemporary bartending, its complexity and heat profile making it particularly well-suited to whisky, tequila, and gin-based preparations.

10. Hot Honey Salad Dressing

Hot honey vinaigrette is one of the most versatile, most flavor-forward salad dressings available — the combination of hot honey’s sweetness and heat with acid (apple cider vinegar or lemon juice) and olive oil creates a dressing of extraordinary complexity.

Hot Honey Vinaigrette Recipe: Hot honey (2 tbsp), apple cider vinegar (2 tbsp), Dijon mustard (½ tsp), garlic (½ clove, minced), extra virgin olive oil (5 tbsp), sea salt, cracked black pepper. Shake vigorously to emulsify.

Best salad pairings: Arugula with roasted beets, goat cheese, and walnuts. Spinach with strawberries, feta, and toasted almonds. A simple bitter green salad where the hot honey’s sweetness provides the essential counterpoint.

11. Hot Honey Charcuterie and Charcuterie Boards

Hot honey on charcuterie is the pairing that most immediately demonstrates the condiment’s range — the sweet heat amplifies cured meat’s savory, slightly salty character in the same way that fig jam and honey have traditionally accompanied charcuterie, but with the additional dimension of heat that makes the combination more dynamic.

Best meat pairings: Prosciutto (the delicate, slightly sweet cured ham is transformed by hot honey), salami (the fennel and fat of Italian salami amplified by the heat), bresaola (the lean, intensely beefy air-dried beef with sweet-spicy honey creates a remarkable contrast), and any aged, dry-cured sausage.

The drizzle application: Drizzle hot honey directly over the folded or rolled meat pieces on the board — not over everything, but in targeted applications that allow guests to combine as desired.

12. Hot Honey Marinade and Sauce

Hot honey as a base for marinades and cooking sauces is one of its most practically useful applications — the combination of sweetness, heat, and the honey’s natural tenderizing enzymes creates marinades of remarkable effectiveness and flavor.

Basic Hot Honey Marinade: Hot honey (3 tbsp), soy sauce (2 tbsp), apple cider vinegar (1 tbsp), garlic (2 cloves, minced), fresh ginger (1 tsp), Dijon mustard (1 tsp), olive oil (2 tbsp). Combine and use to marinate chicken, salmon, or pork for a minimum of 2 hours.

Hot Honey Dipping Sauce: Hot honey (3 tbsp), soy sauce (1 tbsp), rice vinegar (1 tbsp), sesame oil (1 tsp), garlic (1 clove, minced). Combine for an instant dipping sauce for dumplings, spring rolls, or chicken tenders.

For more sauce-making techniques and applications, our Master the Art of Sauce Making: Basic Techniques covers the foundations of building complex sauces from simple ingredient combinations.

Hot Honey Buying Guide: Best Brands

For those who prefer to purchase rather than make hot honey, several excellent commercial options are widely available:

Mike’s Hot Honey: The original and most widely distributed commercial hot honey. Made with Calabrian chilies and apple cider vinegar. Medium heat with good fruity complexity. Available at most specialty food retailers and online.

Bees Knees Spicy Honey: A well-regarded alternative with a slightly different chili profile. Good heat level and excellent flavor.

Bushwick Kitchen Bees Knees: Another highly regarded option with a clean, assertive heat.

Homemade: The most customizable option and genuinely competitive in quality with any commercial brand. The recipe above produces a hot honey of excellent quality that is fully adjustable to personal heat preference and chili variety.

Hot Honey Storage and Shelf Life

Storage: Store hot honey at room temperature in a sealed glass jar away from direct sunlight. Do not refrigerate — cold temperatures cause honey to crystallize rapidly and become difficult to use.

Shelf life: Properly stored hot honey keeps for up to 3 months at room temperature. The honey’s natural antimicrobial properties preserve it effectively at room temperature.

Crystallization: If your hot honey crystallizes (a natural process particularly common in raw honey), gently warm the jar in a bowl of warm water for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the crystals dissolve. Never microwave honey in a glass jar.

Signs of spoilage: Properly made and stored hot honey does not spoil in the conventional sense, though its flavor quality diminishes over time. Discard if you notice unusual odors, visible mold, or fermentation.

For comprehensive guidance on storing condiments and homemade preparations safely, our Food Safety 101: Storage, Handling, and Temperature Guide covers all relevant food safety principles.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hot Honey

What does hot honey taste like?

Hot honey tastes like honey — with all its characteristic floral sweetness, viscosity, and complexity — with an added layer of warmth and aromatic spice from the infused chilies. The heat builds gradually rather than hitting immediately, creating a pleasant, warming experience rather than a sharp, aggressive one. The quality of both the honey and the chili significantly impacts the final flavor.

How spicy is hot honey?

The heat level of hot honey varies widely depending on the chili variety and quantity used. Most commercial hot honeys are mild to medium — warm and pleasant rather than intensely spicy. Homemade versions can be calibrated precisely to personal preference. A mild hot honey is suitable for serving on a cheese board for guests with low spice tolerance; a fiery version is genuinely spicy.

Can I make hot honey without cooking it?

Yes — a cold-infusion method involves combining honey with chili flakes in a jar and allowing the infusion to occur at room temperature over 24–48 hours. The result is slightly different in character (less heat extraction, slightly more raw chili flavor) but entirely acceptable for most applications. The gentle warming method produces more consistent, more thoroughly extracted results.

What is the best honey to use for hot honey?

Raw wildflower honey or orange blossom honey produce the most flavorful hot honey — their complexity and aromatic character shine through the chili infusion. Plain, heavily processed commercial honey works but produces a blander result. Avoid very strongly flavored honeys (buckwheat, manuka) as they can overpower the chili character.

Is hot honey the same as chili honey?

Yes — hot honey, chili honey, spicy honey, and pepper honey all refer to essentially the same product: honey infused with chili peppers. Regional and brand naming conventions vary, but the product is fundamentally identical.

Does hot honey need to be refrigerated?

No — honey’s natural antimicrobial properties (low water activity, high sugar concentration, and hydrogen peroxide production) mean it is shelf-stable at room temperature. Refrigerating hot honey will cause it to crystallize rapidly and become difficult to use.

What is hot honey good on?

Hot honey is good on an extraordinary range of foods — pizza, fried chicken, cheese boards, roasted vegetables, salmon, ice cream, toast, cornbread, biscuits, charcuterie, salads, and cocktails. The complete list of 12 applications in this guide represents only the most popular uses — creative cooks continue to discover new applications regularly.

According to the National Honey Board, honey is one of the most versatile cooking ingredients available, with documented culinary use spanning thousands of years across virtually every culture. The recent hot honey trend represents the latest chapter in honey’s extraordinarily long culinary history.

Conclusion

Hot honey is not merely a food trend — it is a genuinely excellent condiment of remarkable versatility that deserves a permanent place in every well-stocked kitchen. From the pizza applications that launched it into mainstream popularity to the cheese board pairings that have made it an entertaining essential, from the fried chicken glazes of American comfort cooking to the sophisticated cocktail applications of contemporary bartending, hot honey’s extraordinary range proves that the simplest ideas — honey plus chili — are often the most enduring ones.

Making your own hot honey at home in under 15 minutes produces a result fully competitive with the best commercial brands, fully customizable to personal heat preference, and substantially more economical than purchasing premium commercial products. Once you have a jar of homemade hot honey in your kitchen, the opportunities to use it are limited only by your imagination and your willingness to drizzle freely.

Start with pizza. Move to fried chicken. Then try the cheese board. Then the roasted carrots. Then the ice cream. By the time you reach the cocktails and the salad dressings, you will understand why this condiment has taken over every corner of the food world — and why it is not going anywhere.

For more recipe ideas, condiment guides, and cooking inspiration across every cuisine and skill level, explore our full collection at skillsinthekitchen.com.