Garlic and Chili Infused Honey (Spicy Honey Sauce)

5 from 12 votes
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How to make delicious garlic and chili-infused honey sauce perfect for using as a marinade, spread, drizzle, and more! All you need is just 3 ingredients and a few minutes to prepare this spicy honey sauce (and your new obsession, if you’re anything like me!)

A spoonful of garlic chili honey over a jar

Recently, chili pickled garlic became a sensation on TikTok. It combined pickled garlic with hot sauce for a simple, quick snack. Well, if you enjoyed that, here is your new obsession – garlic and chili-infused honey!

I’ve previously shared recipes for homemade chili oil and chili sauce – now it’s time for something wonderfully sweet with a kick of heat!

By combining chili flakes with fresh garlic and high-quality honey and allowing them to infuse over several days slowly, you end up with a deliciously sweet, savory, and spicy honey perfect for spreading, drizzling, marinating, and even eating with a spoon – at your leisure. 

A jar with garlic chili honey

When you first eat it, you’ll taste the incredible sweetness of the honey, which makes way for a hit of savory (yet mellowed) garlic and, finally, a surprising lingering heat. Not a fan of heat? Why not try this fermented garlic honey or honey-fermented ginger and lemon!

Even better, similarly to my turmeric honey, this method is heat-free, meaning you don’t lose any of the wonderful health benefits of the honey, so you get to enjoy the flavor and benefits in one go!

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The Ingredients

Ingredients for chili garlic honey
  • Honey: use high-quality honey you like the taste of. There’s no need for it to be raw as we are allowing it to infuse rather than ferment (like this fermented garlic honey). However, you can use raw honey, too. 
  • Garlic: plenty of fresh garlic is needed. I like to use fresh, young garlic when possible for better flavor. 
  • Chili: I used a combination of chili powder and chili flakes for different textures and distribution throughout the chili honey sauce. Feel free to adjust this amount to personal preference. You could also substitute chili for a chili sauce/hot sauce.

How to Make Garlic and Chili Infused Honey

First, make sure to sterilize a jar by washing it in boiling soapy water and allowing it to dry completely. 

Then, peel and grate or mince the garlic. If grating, you can do so directly into the jar.

Grating garlic

Next, add the chili and honey to the jar, mix well with a sterilized tool, and then add a lid and allow it to rest for 4-5 days at room temperature to infuse.

Steps for making chili garlic honey

If you use raw honey, then it may begin to ferment. In this case, I recommend ‘burping’ the jar daily. To do this, just open the lid to allow any built-up gases to release and close it again. The garlic will also release juices into the honey, making it more liquidy in consistency.

How to Make Ahead and Store?

Because of the garlic in the honey, once infused, I recommend storing this in the refrigerator and consuming it within 2 weeks. If you don’t include garlic, you can keep the spicy honey in the fridge or a cool, dark cupboard for 3 months. If using fresh chilies, then aim to use it within several weeks and keep it stored in the fridge. 

Note that if you store the honey in the fridge, it will solidify somewhat, so you’ll need to bring it to room temperature before using it. 

Stirring garlic chili honey in a jar

How to Use Chili Infused Honey

There are tons of ways to enjoy this hot honey garlic sauce, with sweet and savory dishes. For example:

  • Spread over toast, bagels, crumpets, soft pretzels, simit, scones, etc. 
  • As a marinade or dip for your favorite proteins – particularly seafood like these coconut shrimp
  • Turn it into a dressing with a bit of olive oil. 
  • Drizzled over pizza and in wraps.
  • Drizzled over veggie side dishes like roasted, broiled, and sauteed veggies.
  • Add a little to your grilled cheese.
  • Serve with a cheese platter and cheeses like goat’s cheese, ricotta, halloumi, and baked cheese like camembert/brie.
  • Serve with egg dishes like healthy omelettes, scrambled eggs, or tofu.
  • Drizzle a little over your favorite avocado toast or guacamole.

If you omit the garlic and make this as simple chili honey, then you could also use this to:

A spoonful of garlic chili honey dripping over a jar

FAQs

Can I infuse the spicy honey quicker?

There is a method to make what’s called ‘hot honey’ that infuses the chili with honey by heating it up and then removing the solid chili pieces. However, I try to avoid heating honey wherever possible. I might make a separate DIY for that process, though, if it receives enough interest.
You could also skip the chili infusion time by using a liquid chili sauce or hot sauce instead straight into the honey- though the garlic will still need time to release its juices into the honey and infuse it.

Can I use fresh chilies?

Yes – the only difference is that it will affect the shelf life of the chili honey sauce. I actually recommend using a combination of fresh and dried.

What are the best chilies to use?

This depends on how spicy you want the chili honey to be. Note that fresh peppers are often known under a different name when dried. Anaheim is relatively mild, Guajillo is medium, chipotle is hot, and chile de Arbol is very hot – for example. 

Is there a risk of botulism?

When garlic and honey are combined (as with the fermented garlic honey), there is a very minimal risk of botulism due to the pH level of the honey, which inhibits the growth of botulism (anything under 4.6 is good). However, when adding chilies to the mixture, the pH will likely rise. Many chilies have a pH between 4.6-6. To reduce the pH, you could add a little apple cider vinegar to the mixture, though this can affect the flavor depending on how much you add. 
To test the pH level of the mixture, you can use pH strips or a pH monitor. If it’s above 4.6, add a tablespoon of ACV, leave it for a day and re-test the mixture. 

Can I use maple or agave?

Technically yes, although it’s important to note that the different ingredients will affect the pH balance of the mixture and could increase the risk of botulism. You can test the combination with pH strips as above and add vinegar if needed. I recommend using it within a week when using maple or agave if you don’t reduce the pH to below 4.6!

A jar with garlic chili honey

Recipe Notes and FAQs

  • For chili honey: if you want, you can omit the garlic entirely and just create chile honey. This will make it more versatile to use with sweet recipes like over ice cream, waffles, pancakes, etc. 
  • Adjust the heat: using different types of dried chili and adjusting the amount you use will affect how hot the honey is. 
  • Make sure to store it properly: Depending on if you include garlic, and fresh or dry chilies, the storage method and shelf life will vary. Refer to the recipe card for my recommendations. 

Other Recipes for Chili Lovers

If you try this garlic and chili-infused honey recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts/questions below. Also, I’d really appreciate a recipe card rating below, and feel free to tag me in your recipe recreations on Instagram @Alphafoodie!

Garlic and Chili Infused Honey (Spicy Honey Sauce)

5 from 12 votes
By: Samira
How to make delicious garlic and chili-infused honey sauce perfect for using as a marinade, spread, drizzle, and more! All you need is just 3 ingredients and a few minutes to prepare this spicy honey sauce (and your new obsession, if you’re anything like me!)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 16 Tablespoons

Ingredients 
 

  • 1 cup raw honey
  • 5 large garlic cloves 2 Tbsp grated
  • 1 tsp chili flakes more or less depending on how strong you want it
  • 1 tsp chili powder more or less depending on how strong you want it

Instructions 

  • Make sure to sterilize a jar by washing it in boiling soapy water and allowing it to dry completely.
  • Peel and grate or mince the garlic. If grating, you can do so directly into the jar.
  • Add the chili and honey in the jar, mix well with a sterilized tool, and then add a lid and allow it to infuse for 4-5 days at room temperature to infuse.
    If you use raw honey, then it may begin to ferment. In this case, I recommend ‘burping’ the jar daily. To do this, just open the lid to allow any built-up gases to release and close it again. The garlic will also release juices into the honey, making it more liquidy in consistency.

How to Make Ahead and Store?

  • Because of the garlic in the honey, I recommend storing this in the refrigerator and consuming it within 2 weeks. If you don’t include garlic, you can keep the spicy honey in the fridge or a cool, dark cupboard for 3 months. If using fresh chilies, then aim to use it within several weeks and keep it stored in the fridge.
    Note that if you store the honey in the fridge, it will solidify somewhat, so you’ll need to bring it to room temperature before using it.

Notes

  • For chili honey: if you want, you can omit the garlic entirely and just create chile honey. This will make it more versatile to use with sweet recipes like over ice cream, waffles, pancakes, etc. 
  • Adjust the heat: using different types of dried chili and adjusting the amount you use will affect how hot the honey is.
  • Make sure to store it properly: depending on if you include garlic, and fresh or dry chilies, the storage method and shelf life will vary. Refer to the recipe card for my recommendations.
 

Please read the post for more answers to top FAQs!
Course: Appetizer, Side
Cuisine: Asian
Shelf life: 2 Weeks

Nutrition

Serving: 1Tbsp, Calories: 67kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 5mg, Potassium: 20mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 74IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 4mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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4 Comments

  1. I’m confused… you say because of the garlic in the honey it should be used within 2 weeks…. but fermented honey garlic keeps WAY longer. Why do you say think this is any different?

    1. Hi Cilenia,
      This recipe is infused and not fermented and therefore will not keep as well as the fermented garlic honey. Fermented food usually keeps better. I hope this makes more sense?