Go Back
Homemade hot honey sauce drizzled over crispy fried chicken thigh on a cream plate.

Homemade Hot Honey Sauce

A 5-minute chili-infused honey with a slow, late-arriving heat. Ready for fried chicken, hot pizza, biscuits, roasted vegetables, and sharp cheeses.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Resting 8 minutes
Total Time 13 minutes
Servings: 8 servings (1 tablespoon each)
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup mild honey clover, wildflower, or orange blossom
  • 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes or Aleppo or gochugaru
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 pinch flaky sea salt

Equipment

  • Small saucepan
  • Fine mesh strainer, optional for smoother honey
  • 8-ounce glass jar with tight-fitting lid

Method
 

  1. Pour 1/2 cup honey into a small saucepan. Warm over the lowest heat until it moves easily off the back of a spoon, about 90 seconds. Do not let it simmer or boil.
  2. Add 2 teaspoons chili flakes and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Stir once. Within about 30 seconds, the honey will shift to a warmer orange as the capsaicin transfers.
  3. Turn off the heat. Let the honey sit in the pan with the flakes still submerged for 5 to 10 minutes. Longer rest gives more heat.
  4. Stir in 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar off the heat. Pour into a clean 8-ounce glass jar. Strain out the flakes for smooth honey, or leave them in for heat that builds over the following days.

Notes

For a mild batch, use 1 teaspoon chili flakes and strain immediately after a 5-minute rest.
For a hotter batch, add more fully dried chili flakes or leave them in the jar, but keep the finished honey refrigerated and make a small batch.
Use only fully dried chili flakes in this recipe. Dried flakes do not make a homemade infusion shelf-stable. Do not add fresh chilies, fresh garlic, or fresh herbs unless you are following a separately tested preservation method.
Transfer to a clean, dry glass jar, cover, and refrigerate. This recipe has not been tested for room-temperature shelf stability. Always use a clean, dry utensil and discard the batch if you notice mold, bubbling, pressure, an off odor, or any other sign of spoilage.
Refrigeration may cause crystallization. If the honey hardens, warm the closed jar gently in a bowl of warm—not hot—water until it becomes fluid again.
Apply to hot foods — chicken straight from the fryer or roasting rack, pizza right out of the oven — so the residual heat helps the honey grab on instead of pooling.