Hot Honey Explained Plus How to Make

As the name implies, hot honey is a perfectly balanced mixture of authentic honey and spicy chili peppers and flakes. It’s the newest condiment to rock the food world, appearing in food trucks, pizzerias and even popular potato chips. The first time I tried it, it reminded me of Trader Joe’s Sweet Chili Sauce.

Where did hot honey originate

Believe it or not, this condiment did not exist in the United States until Mike Kurtz, the founder of Mike’s Hot Honey, brought the idea back from Brazil about 20 years ago. Now his name is synonymous with hot honey, a condiment that I saw all over the place at the recent Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas.

How it’s made

Mike Kurtz will never give away the secret recipe, but enough people have created their recipes to hint at how to make hot honey. The basic idea is to combine honey with either chili peppers or chili-infused oil.

In my recipe printed here, I’ve created a two-ingredient hot honey made with only honey and red pepper flakes. Rather than straining out the red pepper flakes after heating them with the honey, I leave them be. This way this sauce reminds me of that aforementioned Trader Joe’s Sweet Chili Sauce that I love so much. To me that is the perfect combination of sweet from the honey plus heat and savory from the red pepper flakes.

Hot honey varieties

If you’d rather not make your own hot honey, you have lots of options for shopping for it online. In addition to the original Mike’s Hot Honey, the brand now carries Hot Honey Dijon Mustard made in partnership with Maille.

Other food brands have joined the craze and released their own versions, some specific to niche markets. One such niche product is ChocZero, which has a keto hot honey that’s also vegan. How do you make a keto version of honey? Using monkfruit extract.

Some producers may call their products spicy honey instead. Others may use the word chili in the description because that’s the kind of pepper they’re using in their formulation.

How long it lasts

Like regular honey, this condiment doesn’t expire and it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. You’ll want to store it at room temperature and use it until it’s all done. The biggest concern is if it crystalizes. Thankfully, it’s really easy to decrystallize honey. Heating the honey helps it become pourable again. I’ve decrystallized honey using both the microwave as well as a hot water bath on the stovetop.

How to use hot honey

Here are a few ideas on how to use this spicy condiment in your everyday cooking. For example, you can try it on grilled vegetables. That’s what Kristin King from Dizzy Busy and Hungry does. “I drizzle it on the vegetables and it adds a sweet and spicy kick that makes ordinary veggie side dishes like grilled zucchini taste amazing.”

You can use it on a variety of chicken dishes, such as this grilled hot honey chicken recipe. It is perfect for cookouts. Chicken wings are already one of the most popular things to serve at parties and they’re even better with hot honey. So the next time. you make chicken wings in the air fryer, swap out the buffalo sauce or blue cheese dressing for some hot honey. Finally, it might seem like a really weird food combo, but add some to a chicken quesadilla. Add the honey to the chicken before you fry them up. It will create the most incredible flavors.

Light and airy, whipped feta with honey dip is a crowd-pleaser. When you use hot honey with the nutty feta cheese, the chilis bring out the cheese’s natural sweetness. You can also make a baked goat cheese dip and serve it with hot honey. It also works in loaded tater tots.

Final thoughts

The best part about hot honey is that it’s so easy to use. Drizzle it right on top of your food, or learn how to make it yourself. It’s a cost-effective and delicious way to give your food the kick you crave.

Portions of this article originally appeared on Food Drink Life.