No need to buy store-bought hot honey, when it is so easy to make your own! The best part is that you can make this Habanero Hot Honey as hot as you'd like it!
I first made this habanero hot honey back in 2010! Before hot honey was even a thing! You couldn't really find it at the grocery stores, so your only option was to make your own.
Now, hot honey is every where, but I still like to make homemade hot honey. We like things hot here, so when you make your own, you can make it as hot or as mild as you'd like!
The best part, besides how good it is, is that it's super easy to make pepper infused honey. I'll show you first how to dry your habanero peppers, but drying your own is not necessary if you want to use already-dried peppers or red pepper flakes.
How to dry hot peppers.
It's a good idea to use food-handling gloves when handling peppers. Wash and dry your fresh peppers. You can leave them whole, but since I wanted them to dry quicker and expose the seeds to the honey, I cut them in half.
Using a dehydrator.
Place them cut-side down on your dehydrator shelf. My dehydrator has only one temperature, if yours has a setting use 130° to 140° f. Check them every hour or so, they can take anywhere from 4-12 hours.
I turned mine over a couple of times and they took about 5 hours. Store in an airtight container.
Using an oven.
If you don't have a dehydrator, you can dry peppers in an oven. Set your oven to it's lowest temperature and spread the peppers out on a baking sheet. Use a wooden spoon or something else to keep the oven door cracked open a bit to let air circulate.
Check your peppers every 30 minutes or so, turning them. Remove them as they are dried.
You want the peppers to be thoroughly dry and crispy. You don't want them to feel soft or malleable.
How to make hot honey.
Ingredients you'll need:
Apple cider vinegar - this is optional, but I like the little bit of tartness it gives.
Honey - I used a local wildflower honey, which is why it may look darker than yours.
Hot peppers - you can either use dried peppers following the instructions above, store-bought dried peppers, or even easier - red pepper flakes.
Place the honey and peppers in a small pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. You want a few bubbles along the edges of the pan, but you don't want it to come to a boil. Boiling would destroy the extra nutrients in honey.
Simmer for about 5 minutes. If you are using whole dried peppers, this will take longer to infuse. if you are using red pepper flakes, you may need lesser time is needed.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Let cool to room temperature.
Taste the honey and if it is hot enough for you, you can strain out the peppers. We prefer to leave our peppers in the honey to infuse even longer in the pantry and get hotter and hotter!
This is so good and it's so easy to make it as hot as you'd like. We like it very hot, so it is sitting in the pantry with the peppers still in it. If it starts getting too hot, I'll just strain out the peppers.
We love it drizzled on fried chicken, egg sandwiches (try it!) use it in dressings and marinades, and as the sweetener in cocktails for an extra kick!
Some ways to use your hot honey:
Recipe.
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Habanero Hot Honey
Ingredients
- 2 habanero pepper or 2 dried peppers, or 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Dehydrating peppers.
- Wearing gloves, wash the peppers and cut them in half lengthwise.
- Place on dehydrator tray and dry until crisp and brittle - depending on your peppers any where from 3-7 hours.
Preparing hot honey.
- Place the dried peppers and honey in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, where there are small bubbles on the outside edge, but it is not boiling. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Bring to room temperaature.
- Taste and see if it is hot enough for you. If it is, strain out the peppers, if you would like it hotter, leave the peppers in and store in a jar in your pantry. When it is as hot as you'd like, you can strain out the peppers.
Notes
Equipment
Nutrition
This was originally published in 2010 and has been updated for 2023.
Anonymous says
Just made two jars with a variety of roasted habenero,jalapeño, and a cute round hot red pepper. Will take them out in a day or so. Great recipe!
Also made raspberry habenero jelly it looks awesome as is the golden habenero that we made a few weeks ago. Great additions to any kitchen and so easy to make.
Ingrid says
I never thought about it like that but you are so right! I bet this honey would make a great gift. 🙂
~ingrid
girlichef says
ha ha ha ha! This Habañero Honey definitely seems to be making its rounds 😉 Fabulous...and blow your head off hot...isn't it!?
grace says
haHA--a game of tasty telephone. brilliant. i don't use honey very often, but considering my love for all things spicy, i suspect something like this would disappear pretty quickly down my gullet. 🙂
Chris says
This picture reminds me of what I said to Alexis before our date Friday night, "You look hot, honey."
Yeah, I deserve to be hurt for that one 🙂
Julie says
I have a healthy fear of habaneros, but it sounds interesting just the same. I'm sure the spicy and the sweet do wonderful things together.
Mary says
This looks wonderful. I've bookmarked the recipe but it will be a while before I get to it. I still have 5 pints of my standard pepper jelly that must be used :-). Thanks for sharing this with us. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
Barbara says
Yowee! Loving this recipe...and it's so pretty too! A big surprise when you taste it....We all are each other's biggest fans. I copy so many recipes, probably make half of them at least. I have so many on my desktop!
Jenna @ Newlyweds says
How cool. I am so making this, LOL!!! But with Jalapenos from my garden...... Just wait and see the post.But seriously what do you serve this on???
June says
The big guy will do cartwheels for sure. Thanks Pam.
Lea Ann says
I saw this and would love to make it, but I'm afraid...very afraid of Habaneros. I'll be anxious to hear what you think of the heat.
Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe says
Wow! That needs to be slathered on Cornbread with our New Year's peas.Another friday's favorte for sure~~
Ty'sMommy says
Okay okay, its my turn! I'm SOOOOO gonna make this! LOL I have two baggies full of habaneros in my freezer from this year's garden, and this just might be the thing to use them for!
Joanne says
I love to see how recipes evolve as they skip from blogger to blogger. A game of telephone but way tastier. Love the sound of this honey!
Melynda says
I had never confessed (anywhere!) that I bookmark and comment that I can't wait to "make this", and of course I do mean it at that second in time. Then something else happens, like real life and oopps, on to the next task, crisis, need to sleep. I have a few (OK, 100) that fit that statement. I can count on you to say it like it is, and that is such a good thing.