Hot Honey Is Your Ticket To A Salad With A Slap Of Sweet Heat

Hot honey is the culinary world's answer to the age-old question: "Sweet or spicy?" Its cheeky response? Both. The deliciously complex condiment — which has been all the rage since its early 2000s emergence as a pizza drizzle in Brazil and later adaptation in a Brooklyn pizzeria — is the perfect blend of the smoothness of honey and the kick of chili pepper, and it has proven to be more versatile than its original use would suggest. And while, yes, hot honey makes the perfect glaze for chicken or spread to complement your favorite buttermilk biscuits, its ambitious combination of sweetness and heat can add a unique flavor punch to your salads, too.

From coleslaw and potato salad to even melon salad, hot honey is an excellent way to punctuate milder, creamier flavors like mayonnaise and add an extra dimension and boldness to the sweetness of ingredients such as tomatoes and corn. Additionally, the thickness of the honey adds texture, giving your salad more body. So grab that hot honey because, as it turns out, incorporating a little into your recipe will elevate your basic salad to the next level of delectability.

Simply, hot honey is honey infused with spicy ingredients such as chili peppers or chili flakes (and often a touch of apple cider vinegar for balance). However, homemade versions often feature a simple, accessible hot sauce or a few regular chopped jalapeños to provide that savory heat. Making it is as simple as boiling your hot ingredient in your honey for a few minutes before leaving your mixture (and flavors) to fuse for 90 minutes or so. Remember, though, that the longer the honey sits, the spicier it will become — so if you make your own, be careful not to let those flavors meld for too long or overdo it on the spice unless you're ready for some seriously potent results. 

Otherwise, what is perhaps best about this easy, delicious condiment is its customizability. Most off-the-shelf hot honey has a flavor profile in the mild to medium heat range unless specified otherwise. But if you like yours hotter, there's no reason you can't add a little hot sauce to your store-bought bottle, too, to turn up that heat. The result? A flavor-packed condiment that can be used as a dipping sauce or glaze or drizzled directly onto your salad. And homemade versions stay fresh for six to eight months, so you can keep it around for use in future salads as well.

When it comes to salads, adding the honey directly to your dressing is key. Salads such as coleslaw, for example, typically use mayonnaise-based dressings, and while mayonnaise is rich and slightly tangy in flavor, it can also be a little one-dimensional. To combat this and add an extra layer of spicy-sweet flavor, while also balancing out any bitterness from the cabbage, you'll simply add a few tablespoons of your homemade or store-bought hot honey shortly before you're ready to serve your salad. This will allow the honey to hold its texture and stand up well to the crunch of the coleslaw. Note: this tip is especially important if your salad dressing includes apple cider (or even distilled white) vinegar, as the vinegar may thin the dressing out a bit. The sweet-spicy flavor combination of your hot honey will complement and enhance the flavors in the salad without overpowering them.

For hot honey recipes that don't include apple cider vinegar, you'll want to consider adding some to add balance and cut the sweetness the honey adds to the salad. But there's no "right" amount of either — feel free to add your hot honey and vinegar to taste, toss together, and, well, keep some milk nearby just in case you've gone too heavy on the heat. Enjoy.