Hot Honey Recipe (Homemade with Dried Chiles)

Hot honey is raw honey infused with dried chiles over low heat, done in about 10 minutes on the stovetop. Three ingredients, one small saucepan, and you end up with something far better than anything on the store shelf. Plus, you save yourself from spending $10-12 per jar. The chile you use is up to you — I’ll walk you through the options below.

I’ve tested a lot of variations for this recipe, from fresh chiles to a dozen different dried options, and the biggest mistake I see in most recipes is the same every time. Dried chile flakes that have been sitting in a cabinet for months have almost no heat left. Whole dried chiles, still slightly flexible when you bend them, are what make this actually spicy.

Choose Your Chile

This is where the recipe actually starts, and honestly it’s the most fun part. I’ve landed on four chiles I keep coming back to, but I’d encourage you to experiment. Each one produces a completely different hot honey with the same process.

Chiles de Arbol: Fruity and Hot
This is the standard. Medium-high heat, slightly fruity, slightly smoky. Easy to find at most grocery stores and Mexican markets. Use 12-16 chiles per cup of honey depending on how hot you want it. Flexible, slightly glossy chiles are fresher and hotter than brittle, dusty ones. Pick up dried chile de arbol here.

Guajillo: Smoky and Mild
Guajillo runs lower on the heat scale but adds a distinct smokiness and a deep red color to the honey. Good choice if you’re using hot honey as a glaze where subtlety matters: smoked ham, pork ribs, roasted vegetables. Use 4-6 guajillo chiles per cup since they’re larger. Remove the stem and seeds, tear into pieces. Pick up dried guajillo chiles here.

Chipotle Morita: Smoky and Spicy
Chipotle morita is a smoked, dried jalapeño with serious depth. The smoke flavor comes through strongly in the honey, which makes it the best option for BBQ applications. Use 4-6 chiles per cup. It pairs especially well brushed on pork ribs or chicken before the last few minutes on the grill. Pick up dried chipotle chiles here.

Chiltepin: Fruity and Very Hot
Chiltepin is a wild chile native to the Sonoran desert. Small, round, and punishing. The heat is intense and comes fast. The flavor is bright and almost citrusy before the burn sets in. Use 1-2 teaspoons of whole chiltepins per cup. They’re small but they mean it. This version is not for the timid. Pick up dried chiltepin peppers here.

How to Make Hot Honey

Step 1: Prep the Chiles

Wash the chiles under cold water and pat them dry. This removes dust and any surface residue. Remove the stems. For chiles de arbol and chiltepin, slice or chop into small rings. Seeds and all for more heat, or discard the seeds for less. For guajillo, tear into rough pieces after removing the stem and seeds.

Don’t skip the wash. You’re infusing this directly into honey you’ll eat, so start clean.

Step 2: Warm the Honey

Add the chiles and honey to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. If you have a thermometer, aim for 140-150°F. Watch it. Honey goes from a gentle simmer to a boil fast, and boiling scorches it. Once you see the first bubbles forming at the edges, drop the heat. Hold it there for 1-2 minutes.

Do not walk away during this step.

Step 3: Add the Vinegar and Rest

Pull the pan off the heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar. Let the honey sit for at least 15 minutes. This is when the infusion really happens as everything cools together.

Step 4: Transfer and Store

Pour into a glass jar once the honey has cooled slightly. Straining out the chiles gives you consistent heat every time, but leaving them in means the honey keeps getting spicier as it sits. Both are good options depending on how you like to use it.

Seal the jar once it’s fully cooled and store at room temperature. Refrigeration adds moisture and speeds up crystallization, so keep it in the pantry.

How to Use Hot Honey

• Drizzle on grilled or smoked chicken: Use it exactly as you would use honey on the Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich. Swap regular honey for hot honey and the whole sandwich shifts.
• Toss on wings: It’s the backbone of the Hot Honey Lemon Pepper Wings. The beurre monté technique in that recipe works especially well with chiles de arbol hot honey.
• Glaze smoked ham: The Smoked Spiral Ham uses hot honey as the base of the bourbon glaze. Use guajillo hot honey here for a more complex, smoky result.
• Dress a slaw: The Fennel Apple Slaw uses hot honey in the dressing. The fruity heat from chiles de arbol plays well against Granny Smith apple.
• Kick up a BBQ sauce: Swap regular honey for hot honey in the Sweet Honey Bourbon BBQ Sauce for a version with actual heat behind the sweetness.
• Add to pork ribs before the wrap: Brush it on right before you foil. It caramelizes into the bark during the rest of the cook.
• Stir into cocktails: Works in a whiskey sour or a mezcal old fashioned anywhere you’d use simple syrup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Equipment

• Small saucepan
• Instant-read thermometer (not required but makes it easier to stay under 180°F)
• Glass jar with lid for storage. Wide-mouth mason jars work well.
• Fine mesh strainer if you want to strain the chiles out

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