Name: Sous Vide Hot Honey
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup honey; 2 roughly chopped habanero peppers OR 1 tsp red pepper flakes

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Hot honey is everyone’s new favorite condiment for pizza, fried chicken, and more. Did you know you can make this sous vide hot honey recipe in just two hours with your immersion circulator? I teach you how to do it two ways: one with habanero, one with chili flakes!

Hand stirring jar of honey on pink and orange background

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Have you had hot honey yet? It’s definitely my new favorite condiment. It’s delicious on all things fatty: pizza, fried chicken, cheese! In fact, my favorite way to use it lately has been on my cheese plates.

For this hot honey recipe we’re using sous vide to speed up the process and intensify the heat. (Wondering, “What is sous vide?” Head there, then come back! You can also check out all of my sous vide recipes.)

I wanted to test making hot honey two ways: with fresh habanero peppers and dried chili flakes. I went into the project intending to “pick a winner” and post that recipe, but both were great in different ways, so you’re getting both!

I also tested different quantities of honey vs. spice to get just the right balance, and today I present you with two delicious hot honey recipes.

4 jars filled with different amounts of honey and either habanero peppers or red pepper flakes

What You Need to Make Sous Vide Hot Honey

In terms of equipment, you don’t need much! Here’s what you gotta have on hand:

An immersion circulator. The Vesta Precision Imersa Elite is my favorite.
A large, heat proof container to cook in. You can just use a stockpot, or Everie containers are my favorite.
Pint sized canning jars

For ingredients, you’ll need:

Honey. You can be fancy about it if you want, or just get some regular ol’ honey!
Red pepper flakes OR habanero peppers. Red pepper flakes will give the honey a “cleaner” flavor – just a hint of spice. Habanero peppers add a pepper flavor and the heat is a little stronger. My husband liked the red pepper flake version, and I liked the habanero peppers!

Honey and red pepper flakes on the left, cutting board with habanero peppers and honey on the right

How to Make Hot Honey

Start by preheating a water bath with your immersion circulator to 155 degrees F. Tip: Fill your water bath with the hottest tap water you can to make the preheat go faster!

Add 1 cup of honey to a pint sized canning jar, then stir in either 1 tsp red pepper flakes OR 2 roughly chopped habanero peppers.

Cook for 2 hours in the preheated water bath, and that’s it! You have hot honey. If you use habanero peppers, you can strain them off if you want or leave them in for extra spicy bites.

Why bother sous viding the honey and peppers? Heat makes the infusion faster, and you don’t evaporate off any of the good stuff.

Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator.

What foods should I put hot honey on?

Hot honey is good on so many things – get creative! Put a little on a bite, give it a taste, and see what you think.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Homemade pizza or a homemade calzone
Brie Pizza for something a little different
Pretzel Bites
On a cheese plate with sweet pickled beets
Chicken with Cornbread Waffles
Add it to a grilled cheese