Homemade Hot Honey (Sweet Heat for Wings, Pizza & More)

Heads up: this post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.

Jump to Recipe

Hot honey is one of those things I kept seeing on menus and in recipes, so I finally made my own. It’s just honey with some heat steeped into it, and it takes about 25 minutes, most of that just letting it sit.

This is only my second time making it, so I’m not going to pretend I’ve got the heat level dialed in. What I can tell you is how I made it, what to watch out for, and how it turned out on the smoked chicken wings I made for the football game.

Why I Love This Recipe

It’s a sweet finish that doesn’t bury your rub. I put Sweet Baby Ray’s on some of my wings and hot honey on the others. With the hot honey you could still taste the rub, just with a little sweet kick on top. I really liked the contrast.

It’s also about as easy as it gets: a few things you probably already have, one small pan, and most of the time is just letting it sit.

Cooking Basics

• Heat: low to medium on the stove. You’re not boiling it, just warming it until it bubbles around the edges.
• Time: about 5 minutes to warm it up, then 10 to 15 minutes to steep.
• Makes: about 1 cup. You’re not adding much, so you get out about what you put in.
• Equipment: a small saucepan, a fine mesh strainer and a short glass jar. Go with a short one. You’re only making about a cup, and it’s a lot easier to get honey out of a short jar than a tall one.

A cup goes a long way. Hot honey is more of a finishing touch than something you pour on, so a little covers a lot of wings.

Gather Your Ingredients

For the heat, you’ve got options. Use about 2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes, 2 fresh peppers, or some combination of the two, and you can always go hotter. Normally I’d probably just go with the 2 tablespoons of flakes, since it’s easy and it can stay out of the fridge. But we had one last red pepper in the garden, a cowhorn, so this time I did one and one: 1 tablespoon of flakes and 1 fresh pepper.

• 1 cup honey. Local if you can get it.
• For the heat, pick one: 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes, 2 fresh red peppers sliced into rings, or a mix. I used 1 tablespoon of flakes and 1 cowhorn pepper from the garden.
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. This goes in at the end.
• A dash of hot sauce (optional). I used Cholula Chipotle for a little color and flavor.

Warm It Up (Don’t Boil It)

Add the honey and your peppers (flakes, rings or both) to a small saucepan and put it on low to medium heat.

You’re not trying to boil this. Just bring it up until it starts to bubble around the edges, then turn the heat off.

Let It Steep

With the heat off, let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes so the pepper can work its way into the honey. Don’t wait too much longer than that. As it cools it gets thicker, and thick honey is a pain to get through a strainer. You want it still warm and runny.

Strain It Into a Jar

I strain mine. I’ve heard that if you leave the flakes in, the honey keeps getting hotter the longer it sits. If you only use flakes you could leave them in if you like that, but with a fresh pepper I’d definitely strain it out.

Learning experience: my strainer was a lot bigger than the jar, and honey ran right over the sides. It only took a couple minutes to clean up, but it was sticky and messy. Pour slowly, empty the strainer partway through, or use a strainer that actually fits the mouth of your jar.

Once it’s strained and has cooled a bit, stir in the apple cider vinegar and a dash of hot sauce. Give it a taste and adjust from there.

How Hot Is It?

Mine came out very mild. Hot honey usually picks up a little more heat after it sits overnight, but when I tried mine the next morning it was still very mild, more sweet than spicy. If you want real kick, go with more than the 1 tablespoon of flakes and 1 pepper I used.

The good news is the heat is easy to adjust:

• Take the seeds out. Most of a pepper’s heat (the capsaicin) is in the seeds and the white ribs inside. If you’re not sure how much heat you like, use a fresh pepper with those removed. You’ll get a milder honey and can work your way up.
• Add more. Mine was 1 tablespoon of flakes and 1 pepper. The full 2 tablespoons or 2 peppers will give you more kick, and you can go past that if you like it hot.
• Pick a different pepper. Different peppers bring very different heat.

Here’s a rough guide to how some common peppers compare. Heat is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), and individual peppers can vary a lot, so treat these as ballpark numbers.

Pepper	Heat (SHU)	How hot
Anaheim	500 – 2,500	Mild
Poblano	1,000 – 2,000	Mild
Cowhorn (what I used)	2,500 – 5,000	Medium, about like a jalapeño
Jalapeño	2,500 – 8,000	Medium
Fresno	2,500 – 10,000	Medium
Serrano	10,000 – 23,000	Hot
Red pepper flakes (usually cayenne)	30,000 – 50,000	Hot
Thai chili	50,000 – 100,000	Very hot
Habanero	100,000 – 350,000	Very hot, go easy

How to Store Hot Honey

This is what I’ve found reading up on it, so take it as a starting point and use your own judgment:

• Made with a fresh pepper: keep it in the fridge and use it within about a week, even if you strained it. Fresh peppers add moisture, and that’s what lets honey spoil.
• Made with flakes only: it should keep in a cool, dry cupboard for a few months, since dried flakes add almost no moisture.
• Let it cool before you put the lid on.
• Cold honey gets thick. If it’s been in the fridge, set the jar in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes before you use it.

That’s the main reason I’d normally just use flakes. I’d rather it keep longer and not have to warm it up every time I want some. That’s just me, though.

Hot Honey on Smoked Wings

I made this the same day I smoked wings for the game, so of course they had to go together. For the wings themselves, check out my Smoked Chicken Wings. These days I just run the smoker at 400°F the whole time and flip them every 15 minutes or so until they’re done. It gets me crispier skin.

One thing I wouldn’t do is treat hot honey like BBQ sauce. When I sauce wings with BBQ sauce, I put it on while they’re on the smoker and let them go another five minutes. Honey is basically all sugar and burns fast, so instead take the wings off, put them in a bowl, add the hot honey and toss.

Yes, I drizzled it on with a spoon for the pictures. For a whole batch, the bowl is the way to go.

Other Ways to Use It

Anywhere you want a little sweet with your heat. It’s the glaze on my Hot Honey Glazed Mexican Street Corn, and a few more ideas from my own recipes: drizzle it over a Smoked Margherita Pizza, toss it with Smoked Chicken Thighs, or brush a little on Spatchcock Chicken right before serving. It’s also good on fried chicken, biscuits or cornbread. I’m already thinking about putting it on smash burgers on the Blackstone.

Hot Honey FAQ

Does homemade hot honey need to be refrigerated?
If you used a fresh pepper, yes. Keep it in the fridge and use it within about a week. If you only used dried flakes, it should be fine in the cupboard.

How long does hot honey last?
About a week in the fridge with a fresh pepper, or a few months in the pantry with flakes only. If it ever looks or smells off, toss it.

Do I have to strain it?
With a fresh pepper, I would. With flakes only it’s up to you, but I’ve heard it keeps getting hotter if you leave them in.

How do I make it hotter (or milder)?
Use more flakes or a second pepper for more heat. For milder, take the seeds and ribs out of the fresh pepper, or pick a milder pepper from the chart above.

Can I glaze wings with hot honey on the smoker?
I wouldn’t. Honey burns fast. Toss the finished wings in it in a bowl instead.

Final Thoughts

For my second time making it, I’m happy with how this turned out. It’s quick, it uses stuff you probably already have, and it’s a nice change from BBQ sauce on wings. A few things to think about before you make your own:

• Give it a day before you judge the heat. It can heat up a little after the first night, so what you taste right off the stove isn’t the final answer. Mine stayed very mild even the next day, so if you like heat, don’t be shy about adding more.
• Start mild and work your way up. Make your first batch on the milder side, then add more flakes or peppers next time. It’s a lot easier to go up than to fix a batch that’s too hot.
• Try different peppers. A jalapeño, a Fresno or something hotter from the chart will each give you something different. You just have to find the heat level that works for you.
• What about smoked hot honey? This is something I want to try. Since you only want low heat anyway, I’m curious what it would be like to warm it on the smoker instead of the stove and pick up some smoke flavor. If I try it, I’ll let you know how it goes.

🔥 So fire up the pit, and let’s grill and chill.