Chili Infused Honey

A few years ago, I was walking past a grocery store and stopped in to pick up a slice of pizza from their hot food section. I saw a bottle of chili infused honey on the condiments table and thought I would try a little with my pizza. Let me just say….WOW. It was so good. A little sweet, a little spicy and such a great combination with the pizza.

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It was so good, I wanted to buy a bottle to take home, but unfortunately it turned out that the store didn’t actually sell it. They just ordered it in for their condiment table. Sigh….I really wanted to bring a bottle home with me. I knew my son would love it.

Now, here…this next sentence is a testament to great customer service. The manager of the store, when he heard that I was so disappointed with not being able to buy some of this spectacular honey, well…he sold me a bottle from their condiment stock. Now that’s customer service at it’s finest!

So, I brought the bottle home and I was right. My son loved it too. He used it on a lot of different foods. (My favorite is still with pizza!)

After the bottle ran out, I did a google search to see if I could find it anywhere else in the area, but had no luck. I did determine that I could order it online, but it would cost me way more than I wanted to pay….especially once you add in the cost of shipping, etc. I just basically decided to forget about it…

Flash forward a couple of years. I have this huge bottle of honey in the cupboard that is starting to crystallize on me. I hate to see things go to waste, so I start thinking about what I can do with it. All of a sudden it hit me…Chili Infused Honey. Can I make it myself? I wonder it it’s a hard process? Do I need any special machinery or cooking tools? Hmmm…

Turns out, it’s way easier than I ever thought. Three ingredients, less than ten minutes! Why I didn’t think of making it myself a few years ago, I’ll never know.

So now I am going to share it with you. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Chili Infused Honey

A little bit of “heat” with your sweet. Try this Chili Infused Honey on your pizza, chicken, seafood and much more!

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Equipment

• Small sauce pan, metal sieve, glass jars or heat proof containers that can be sealed

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 cups liquid honey
• 3 to 5 Habanero Peppers
• 3 to 5 Red Thai Chili Peppers

Instructions

 

• Pour the honey into a small pot or saucepan.
• Chop up the chili peppers (wear rubber gloves to avoid getting the juice on your fingers) and add them to the pot of honey.
• Simmer over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let it come to a boil. Turn the heat down a little if it looks like it’s going to start.
• Remove the pan from the heat and strain the honey into air-tight glass jars or containers using a fine metal sieve.
• Let the containers sit, uncovered, until the honey cools.
• Once cooled, you can seal the containers and store in the fridge for up to four weeks.

Notes

• You can use different peppers than I mentioned above. You can use dried peppers, fresh peppers or a combination of both.
• Use fewer peppers for a milder taste; more peppers for a much spicier taste.
• You don’t have to seed the peppers if you don’t want to because you are straining them out of the honey, however I like to remove the seeds from the Habanero peppers first.
• You can toss away the strained peppers if you want, but you could also enjoy them as they are now “candied”. It would make a great topper for a hamburger or a garnish on pork or chicken.
• Make sure you wear rubber gloves when chopping the peppers, but if for some reason you don’t wear gloves, wash your hands right away. The pepper juice can burn your eyes or any other places you touch.

Keyword honey, chili peppers, spicy, tangy, sweet

Where to use it…

Chili infused honey is great on many different foods. Here are some suggestions:

• Fried chicken – Drizzle a bit of your hot honey over freshly fried chicken and you’ll never want to eat it plain again.
• Baked Chicken Wings – Serve as a dip on the side or spoon over for a pop of sweet heat.
• Seafood – Amazing on grilled salmon or deep fried shrimp. Don’t forget scallops, pan fried and served with a drizzle of spicy honey.
• Pork or chicken – chili infused honey goes great with pork or chicken any way it’s prepared. Use it as a finishing sauce, drizzled over…or just as a glaze.
• Vegetables – Great on any type of veggies; grilled, pan seared, roasted, steamed, or even raw.
• Ice Cream – Add a little heat to a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
• Honey Mustard – Add a little bit to mustard and you have a homemade spicy honey-mustard. 
• Protein Shakes – Squirt in a teaspoon to add a bit of zip to your protein shakes.

Now that you know how easy it is to make your own Chili Infused Honey, I hope you will whip up a batch and fill some bottles. This is a great gift idea for Christmas or any other occasion. Surprise your friends with a bottle at the next house party!

Which idea was your favorite? Leave me a comment!