Hot Honey Butter
This hot honey butter is the ultimate sweet and spicy concoction that promises to add tons of flavor to everything from cornbread to your fried chicken.
The creaminess of butter, the sweetness of honey and the heat from the pepper flakes come together in this delicious and versatile condiment that you can put together in just minutes. For another twist on an infused butter, try my jalapeno butter, which is perfect for breakfast eggs.
I’m a big fan of flavored oils and butters, and love trying my hands at different herb butter and compound butter recipes.
My pesto butter and cajun butter were both big hits, but when I recently made some hot honey carrots, something clicked, and I thought of incorporating the delicious sweet and fiery flavors in a fat base. And that’s when I landed this recipe.
Quick Look: Hot Honey Butter
- 🔪 Prep time: 5 minutes.
- 🍳 Cook time: None.
- 🧈 Servings: 6.
- 🥣 Main ingredients: Unsalted butter, honey, red pepper flakes, and salt.
- ➡️ Method: Soften butter → combine butter, salt, and chili flakes → add honey → whisk until smooth → serve or refrigerate.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy.
- 🍯 Best served with: Biscuits, cornbread, toast, fried chicken, roasted vegetables, pancakes, waffles, or to make a hot honey butter board.
Jump to:
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- Hot honey butter is really easy to make. All you need is 5 minutes of hands-on kitchen time.
- This flavored butter is actually so versatile, you can put it to use in endless ways. It's great to fry your chili crisp fried eggs in.
- It's make-ahead friendly. You can prepare a batch and keep it refrigerated or freeze it in individual portions for later.
Recipe Ingredients
Butter: You’ll need to start off with some good quality, unsalted butter. If you’re using salted butter, you might want to control the amount of salt you’re adding in separately.
Honey: Honey brings a beautiful sweetness that balances out the heat. Use regular honey or habanero infused honey for a deeper, spicier kick.
Salt: Use sea salt, kosher salt or even just regular table salt- whatever works for you.
Red pepper flakes: I used my favorite red pepper flakes to get those nice flaky bits of spiciness in the butter.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don’t have red pepper flakes or just want the butter to have a uniform spicy flavor, you can just use some of your favorite hot sauce.
- Smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, jalapeno flakes and chili powder are all good alternatives to use too.
- If you're using this infused butter only for savory recipes, consider mashing up some air fried roasted garlic and mixing it in.
How to Make Hot Honey Butter
Step 1: In a small mixing bowl, combine the salt, red pepper flakes and butter.
Step 2: Now add the honey and whisk the mixture together. Serve it in a small bowl or store it for future use.
💭Top Tip
Don't microwave the butter to soften it. Melted butter can make the mixture greasy and difficult to whip together properly. Let it soften naturally at room temperature instead.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- Make sure the butter is properly softened before mixing. It should be soft enough to whisk but shouldn't be liquid. I always keep this in mind when I make my classic honey butter.
- Taste the butter before adding more salt. The amount you need will depend on whether you're using salted or unsalted butter.
- For more pronounced heat, briefly warm the red pepper flakes in a little oil, let them cool slightly, and then mix them into the butter.
- Add a little hot sauce along with the chili flakes if you want extra heat and a deeper reddish color. I like to use my fermented jalapeno hot sauce.
- If you're making a large batch, portion the butter into a silicone mold or ice cube tray before refrigerating or freezing.
- Let refrigerated butter sit at room temperature for a few minutes before spreading if it becomes too firm.
- You can also melt the spiced honey butter gently and turn it into a dipping sauce, like I did with my garlic lemon butter sauce.
How to Use Hot Honey Butter
There are so many ways to use this sweet and spicy butter. Spread it over warm toast, biscuits, cornbread, mango chutney toasties, waffles, or pancakes, or use it for sausage and potato foil packets for an easy flavor boost. It also makes a delicious finishing butter for grilled chicken, seafood, and other roasted meats.
For appetizers, serve it alongside spicy Ranch crackers, pretzels, bread rolls, or a holiday cheese board with. You can even melt it and use it as a dipping sauce for chicken wings or use it as a drizzle over garlic butter baked Brie.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
I like storing it in an airtight container, and then using a spoon or a butter knife to portion it out and use it whenever needed.
The butter may not have been softened enough before mixing. Let it sit at room temperature until it is soft and easy to whisk, then mix again until the honey is evenly incorporated.
Absolutely. This is a great make-ahead condiment. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freeze it in small portions for longer storage.
More No-Cook Condiments
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this hot honey butter or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Hot Honey Butter
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the salt, red pepper flakes and butter.
- Now add the honey and whisk the mixture together.
- Serve it in a small bowl or store it for future use.
