MARK DERSE FOR TASTE OF HOME
MARK DERSE FOR TASTE OF HOME
There’s no need to choose between sweet and spicy! These hot honey recipes help you satisfy that swicy craving anytime.
Sure, you can drizzle hot honey over pepperoni pizza (and if you haven’t, consider this a strong recommendation to do so). But why limit that swicy goodness to a once-a-week condiment? These recipes with hot honey put the sweet-and-spicy sauce to work, creating creamy flavored butters, elevated salad dressings and simple vegetable sides with a flavorful twist.
Just as each type of honey has a unique taste, store-bought hot honey can be mild or pack a bold punch. Be sure to taste the honey before you start cooking to make sure it has the right level of heat. If you can’t find a brand you love, making homemade hot honey is a great way to customize it to your liking.
Some of these recipes start with a scratch-made hot honey sauce, but feel free to swap in prepared hot honey instead. They’ll be just as delicious! The amount of hot honey needed also varies. Some recipes call for a light drizzle over roasted Brussels sprouts, while others toss a hefty dose with crispy chicken tenders. So you’ve got options, whether you just opened a fresh bottle or want to use up the last few delicious drips from one that’s been around a while.
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Nashville Hot Honey Chicken Sliders
From the Recipe Creator:
These Nashville hot honey chicken sliders are a perfect blend of sweet and spicy! The cheese and coleslaw help mellow the heat. —Margaret Knoebel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nutrition Facts:
1 slider: 247 calories, 8g fat (3g saturated fat), 47mg cholesterol, 297mg sodium, 30g carbohydrate (17g sugars, 2g fiber), 16g protein.
Hot honey-glazed fried chicken is delicious on its own, but it becomes even better when stuffed between pillowy Hawaiian rolls with melted mozzarella, crisp coleslaw and dill pickle slices. It’s a great Super Bowl snack or party appetizer. There are enough cooling additions in these sliders to keep them from becoming too spicy, but you can always add more heat by tucking a few pickled jalapeno rings inside each bun.
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Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts
From the Recipe Creator:
Roasted Brussels sprouts are already good. But when you toss ’em in a hot honey gremolata, they’ll steal the show. Sweet heat, garlic, lemon zest and herbs cling to every leaf, balancing the bitter char with a bright, fresh finish. —Lindsay Mattison, Beaverton, Oregon
Nutrition Facts:
1 serving: 121 calories, 4g fat (1g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 276mg sodium, 21g carbohydrate (11g sugars, 5g fiber), 4g protein.
To make roasted Brussels sprouts sing, this recipe tosses the lightly charred veggies with a tangy, sweet mixture of garlic, lemon, parsley and hot honey. Using hot honey as a finishing element, rather than roasting the vegetables with it, keeps the flavor bright and fresh. It also eliminates the possibility of the honey burning in the oven.
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Whipped Hot Honey Butter
From the Recipe Creator:
Why settle for regular honey butter when you can turn up the heat? This easy recipe brings sweet, spicy, creamy and rich together into one dangerously delicious spread. Slather it on warm biscuits and cornbread or drizzle it over popcorn. —Lindsay Mattison, Beaverton, Oregon
Nutrition Facts:
1 tablespoon: 123 calories, 12g fat (7g saturated fat), 31mg cholesterol, 92mg sodium, 6g carbohydrate (6g sugars, 0 fiber), 0 protein.
Whipping soft butter with hot honey creates a flavorful spread that’s perfect on warm cornbread. It’s also pretty fantastic when dolloped over a well-seared cast-iron steak or tossed with grilled shrimp. You can use salted or unsalted butter, but add a few pinches of salt to the mix if the flavors taste a little muted.
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Hot Honey Salmon
From the Recipe Creator:
My daughter loves salmon. It’s one of her favorite foods. She also really likes spicy things, so I decided to brush the salmon filets with hot honey one evening when fixing dinner. I usually prefer other types of fish, but the salmon was so delicious that now, I eat it a couple of times a month. —Donna Gribbins, Shelbyville, Kentucky
Nutrition Facts:
1 piece: 354 calories, 16g fat (3g saturated fat), 85mg cholesterol, 677mg sodium, 24g carbohydrate (23g sugars, 0 fiber), 29g protein.
This roasted salmon recipe features a two-ingredient glaze of hot honey and lemon. Using lemon zest and juice adds a tart, aromatic edge. We brush the salmon twice as it cooks to create layers for deep flavor and a shiny top.
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Hot Honey Peach Bellini
From the Recipe Creator:
This twist on a peach bellini adds a little kick! We piggyback on the hot honey trend for this re-envisioning of the classic cocktail. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nutrition Facts:
3/4 cup: 129 calories, 0 fat (0 saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 3mg sodium, 13g carbohydrate (11g sugars, 1g fiber), 0 protein.
You only need four ingredients for these gorgeous, bubbly cocktails. Instead of the white peach puree you’d find in a classic Bellini, the base of this drink is hot honey-roasted peaches. The extra effort is worth it to create a concentrated peach flavor with just enough spice to stand up to the dry champagne.
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Hot Honey Mozzarella Sticks
From the Recipe Creator:
These hot honey mozzarella sticks are the perfect appetizer to serve on gameday. They’re cooked in the air fryer, so they’re more approachable to make than traditional fried mozza sticks! —Margaret Knoebel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nutrition Facts:
1 piece: 196 calories, 7g fat (4g saturated fat), 31mg cholesterol, 250mg sodium, 27g carbohydrate (23g sugars, 0 fiber), 9g protein.
These homemade breaded mozzarella sticks need to freeze for at least eight hours, so they’re a perfect make-ahead freezer snack idea. After air-frying them, toss them in hot honey to add that sweet-and-spicy finish. If you like a lot of sauce, serve more on the side for dipping.
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Hot Honey Sweet Potatoes
From the Recipe Creator:
If you and your family like foods with a little kick, try dressing your sweet potatoes in hot honey this Thanksgiving. They’re sweet, spicy and savory, thanks to the hot honey, garlic and goat cheese. —Margaret Knoebel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nutrition Facts:
3/4 cup: 158 calories, 5g fat (1g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 305mg sodium, 29g carbohydrate (15g sugars, 3g fiber), 2g protein.
Roasting sweet potatoes with hot honey creates an easy side dish for everything from Thanksgiving turkey recipes to skillet pork chops. The crumbled goat cheese topping is optional, but the creamy bite adds balance that makes the dish taste complete.
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Hot Honey Chicken Tenders
From the Recipe Creator:
A sweet and spicy hot honey sauce makes these family-favorite chicken tenders truly irresistible. —Susan Bronson, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Nutrition Facts:
1 serving: 549 calories, 17g fat (1g saturated fat), 106mg cholesterol, 464mg sodium, 65g carbohydrate (47g sugars, 1g fiber), 40g protein.
We make homemade chicken tenders with a seasoned flour coating and finish the crispy bits with hot honey. Since the chicken isn’t heavily breaded, the honey’s sweet, tangy taste really shines through. Serve it with creamy skillet mac and cheese to cool down your taste buds between bites.
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Tyler Smith’s Hot Honey Ranch
From the Recipe Creator:
We all know ranch is tastier than blue cheese dressing, but did you know it’s possible to make it even better? Enjoy this hot honey ranch with chicken tenders, wings, fries, pizza or pretty much anything! —Tyler Smith, Virginia Beach, Virginia
If you usually order several dipping sauces for wings or chicken tenders, this hot honey ranch is about to make things even easier. Adding a heavy dose of hot honey to classic ranch dressing means you don’t have to choose between creamy and spicy. Serve it as a dipping sauce or use it in salads, coleslaws or potato salads—anywhere you would use ranch dressing.
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Shrimp Salad with Hot Honey Avocado Dressing
From the Recipe Creator:
This loaded main-dish salad uses avocado in place of oil in the dressing, with hot honey for a kick. Sometimes I like to add sliced black olives and green onions, but feel free to mix and match your favorite toppings to make this salad your own. —Jeanne Holt, Mendota Heights, Minnesota
Nutrition Facts:
2 cups: 243 calories, 7g fat (1g saturated fat), 172mg cholesterol, 185mg sodium, 21g carbohydrate (16g sugars, 3g fiber), 26g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1-1/2 fat, 1 starch, 1 vegetable.
This fresh green salad has juicy mango, cooked shrimp and salty pepitas, all coated with a hot honey and avocado dressing. Start with a ripe, buttery avocado, then adjust the acidity and sweetness with more hot honey or lime juice until it’s perfect for you.
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Hot Honey Peach Pasta Salad
From the Recipe Creator:
Juicy and ripe peaches, crunchy bacon and a vinaigrette made with hot honey add a sweet, savory and spicy twist to a classic caprese pasta salad. —Susan Bronson, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Nutrition Facts:
1 serving: 307 calories, 16g fat (5g saturated fat), 22mg cholesterol, 330mg sodium, 32g carbohydrate (11g sugars, 2g fiber), 11g protein.
This colorful pasta salad recipe tastes like summer in a bowl! Juicy peaches, tomatoes, fresh basil and creamy mozzarella mingle with a hot honey mustard vinaigrette. The dish depends on sweet peaches to create a balanced dish, so you may want to add extra honey if your peaches aren’t super ripe.
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Steamrolled Sweet Potatoes
From the Recipe Creator:
This sweet potato side dish is a tasty way to enjoy sweet potatoes all year round. —Susan Bronson, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Nutrition Facts:
1 serving: 269 calories, 16g fat (8g saturated fat), 39mg cholesterol, 212mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate (9g sugars, 3g fiber), 10g protein.
There are a few steps to creating these “steamrolled” sweet potatoes. Start by cooking and halving the potatoes, then browning them in a skillet to add a caramelized flavor and crisp texture to a normally soft, custardy vegetable. Finish them with fresh herbs and a blanket of Gruyere cheese, and broil until bubbly. A drizzle of hot honey completes the nutty, sweet, spicy side dish, so make sure to add a good squeeze.
