This fiery, homemade hot honey recipe with fresh jalapeños is a sweet-and-spicy condiment you’ll love drizzled on just about everything. Ready in less than 15 minutes, making your own hot honey sauce is super easy and so worth the effort!
Why You’ll Love This Hot Honey Recipe
This homemade hot honey is the perfect way to level-up your favorite comfort foods!
- Quick and Easy: Simmer the honey and peppers together, then strain the honey and it’s ready to go in under 15 minutes!
- Sweet and Spicy: Honey adds all the sweetness, while red pepper flakes and jalapeños bring the heat.
- Customizable: There’s no excess salt, added sugar, or strange ingredients… Plus, you can easily adjust the level of heat to your liking!
- Versatile: Drizzle it on fried chicken and waffles, bacon fried cabbage, use it on our hot honey chicken wings or dip some cornbread into it.
What You’ll Need
The vinegar adds just enough tang to cut through the honey’s sweetness. Scroll down to the recipe card for exact amounts.
- Honey: It must be raw honey, or you can also use agave nectar if you prefer.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: Aleppo pepper is a fruity, spicy swap. You can also blend dried guajillo chilis (seeds removed) until very fine.
- Jalapeños: Fresh jalapeños will add the most flavor. Remove the seeds for milder heat.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: You can also use rice wine vinegar or red wine vinegar.
- Salt: Kosher salt is best.
How To Make Hot Honey Sauce
Heat, stir, strain and serve. It really is that simple to make at home! Scroll to the recipe card at bottom of the post for full detailed instructions.
- Heat: Add the honey, jalapeños and crushed red pepper flakes to a small saucepan. Place it over very medium low heat, stirring continuously, bring it to a gentle simmer.
- Season: Remove it from the heat and mix in the vinegar and salt.
- Strain: Pour the honey through a strainer, we used a fine mesh sieve, to remove the peppers. Serve and enjoy!
Cook’s Tips & Variations
You’ll love the tender, spicy candied jalapeños just as much as the honey!
- Extra Spicy: Using serrano or habanero peppers, instead of jalapeños, will increase the heat. You can also use a Thai red chili pepper. Leaving the seeds in the peppers will also add more heat!
- Less Heat: If you want to reduce the level of heat, remove the seeds from the jalapeño and only use a half of a jalapeño max.
- Save the Jalapeños: The jalapeño slices will become darker in color and softer in texture over time. Scoop them out and use them as a sweet-and-spicy garnish for all your Southern or Tex-Mex recipes.
- Honey Hot Sauce: For even more tang and heat, stir in a couple of tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce, like Tabasco or Frank’s.
- Crystalized: If the honey crystallizes or becomes stuck to the bottom, getting it out can be tricky. If it’s in a glass container, place it in a small pot. Fill the pot with water until it’s level with the honey in the jar. Heat it over very low heat for 10-15 minutes, until runny again.
Ways To Use Hot Honey Sauce
Hot honey is a great condiment for adding a sweet heat to your favorite comfort foods and fast food-like meals. Drizzle it over our pizza bowls, pepperoni cast iron pizza or on our crispy chicken sandwich. It’s also delicious served over our cornbread waffles for an amazing chicken and waffles. We also love adding it to our charcuterie boards as it pairs wonderfully with many cheeses!
Proper Storage
Allow the hot honey to cool completely to room temperature before storing. If needed, microwave in 5 second increments to thin it out and dissolve any crystals.
- Store With Peppers: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
- Store Without Peppers: Store in an airtight container, in a cool dry place, for up to 1 month. You can also refrigerate it, if preferred.
Yield: 1 cup
Hot Honey
This jalapeño-packed hot honey recipe with spicy red pepper flakes is a quick, sweet-and-spicy condiment for all your favorite meals.
Ingredients
- 1 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2-1 jalapeño pepper, sliced
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over very low heat, add the honey, red pepper flakes and sliced jalapeño. Let the mixture come to a soft simmer. You do not want the honey to get too hot, it will become very thick and lose the desired consistency.
- Continue cooking over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes to allow the peppers to infuse with the honey.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and salt.
- Optional: Pour the honey through a fine mesh sieve to remove the jalapeños and crushed red pepper.
Notes
Store With Peppers: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Store Without Peppers: Store in an airtight container, in a cool dry place, for up to 1 month. You can also refrigerate it, if preferred.
Extra Spicy: Using serrano or habanero peppers, instead of jalapeños, will increase the heat. You can also use a Thai red chili pepper. Leaving the seeds in the peppers will also add more heat!
Less Heat: If you want to reduce the level of heat, remove the seeds from the jalapeño and only use a half of a jalapeño max.
Save the Jalapeños: The jalapeño slices will become darker in color and softer in texture over time. Scoop them out and use them as a sweet-and-spicy garnish for all your Southern or Tex-Mex recipes.
Honey Hot Sauce: For even more tang and heat, stir in a couple of tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce, like Tabasco or Frank’s.
Crystalized: If the honey crystallizes or becomes stuck to the bottom, getting it out can be tricky. If it’s in a glass container, place it in a small pot. Fill the pot with water until it’s level with the honey in the jar. Heat it over very low heat for 10-15 minutes, until runny again.
Nutrition
Serving: 2 tablespoons, Calories: 130kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 0.2g, Fat: 0.04g, Saturated Fat: 0.01g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.02g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g, Sodium: 42mg, Potassium: 30mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 35g, Vitamin A: 84IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 4mg, Iron: 0.2mg
