How to Make Hot Honey—Minus the Honey

Bees make honey for themselves, let’s get that fact out of the way first. The sweet golden syrup is an important food source for the insects and helps them to sustain their colonies over winter. While bees in commercial hives are given a sugar water solution after the honey is taken from them, this still doesn’t have many of the essential health properties that honey has. Bees also work incredibly hard to make honey. In fact, it takes 12 worker bees to make just one teaspoon.

That’s why most vegans choose to avoid honey. But the problem is, many delicious sauces and dressings are made with the delicious gooey syrup. Take hot honey, for example, a condiment that has risen to fame on TikTok in recent months. The clue is in the name, but the popular sauce combines honey with chili peppers and other spicy ingredients to give recipes a tasty sweet and spicy kick. 

But if you’re craving the flavor of hot honey without the actual, well, honey, you might not actually have to miss out. Read on to find out more about where to buy vegan hot honey, plus how to cook with it. 

What is vegan hot honey? And how do you make it?

Syrups like agave nectar and maple syrup can be combined with spicy ingredients to create a very similar taste and texture to hot honey. Take this recipe by Earthly Provisions, for example. Light agave nectar is combined with crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt to make a delicious, totally bee-free alternative to hot honey. According to the post, the resulting sauce can be used anywhere you’d use regular hot honey. For example, you can try it over avocado toast, over salads, on baked tofu, on pizza—basically, anywhere you like.

Where to buy vegan hot honey

If you don’t fancy making vegan hot honey yourself, we have great news: you can buy it. Or at least, you can buy spicy vegan syrups that are incredibly similar to the real thing.

Mrs Taste

1 Mrs Taste

Mrs Taste’s all-natural, non-GMO vegan Hot Honey-Free is made with Isomalt-oligosaccharide syrup, a type of sweet syrup that has long been used in Asian countries. Not only is it cruelty-free, but it’s a good source of fiber, sugar-free, and has a low glycemic index.
get it here

The Raw Store

2 The Raw Store

Blending the sweetness of 100-percent raw blue agave nectar with the heat of jalapeño peppers and chili, The Raw Store’s Hot Agave is an excellent vegan alternative to hot honey. It’s versatile, organic, and natural, and it will offer the perfect level of mild spicy kick to your favorite recipes.
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Bushwick Kitchen

3 Bushwick Kitchen

Bushwick Kitchen’s Maple Chili Syrup, which is crafted from organic Grade-A maple syrup and infused with chili peppers, offers a versatile, tasty vegan alternative to hot honey. With the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, this flavor-packed sauce is also paleo-friendly and gluten-free.
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Old State Farms

4 Old State Farms

Crafted from 100-percent dark, robust pure maple syrup and infused with chipotle morita peppers, this smoky, spicy, and sweet blend from Old State Farms strikes a flavor balance that’s even tastier than hot honey.
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Runamok

5 Runamok 

Another maple syrup-based option, Runamok’s smoked chili pepper-infused syrup combines maple sweetness with a smoky, spicy kick. As a bonus, Runamok also prioritizes eco-conscious production, utilizing a 100-percent solar-powered facility.
get it here

How to use vegan hot honey: 5 tasty recipes

Whether you’ve made your vegan hot honey yourself or you’ve purchased it from the store, the next step is to get cooking. There are many delicious ways to use this versatile condiment, but below we’ve listed some of our favorites.

Rabbit and Wolves

1 Vegan Hot Honey Chicken Salad

This quick and flavorful salad—which comes together in less than 20 minutes—features soy curls infused with a sweet and spicy blend of Frank’s hot sauce with agave syrup. If you prefer, you can swap the curls for tofu, tempeh, seitan, chickpeas, or your favorite vegan chicken product.
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2 Vegan Salted Hot Honey Nuts

This quick and easy vegan nut recipe is perfect for the holiday season, but you can, of course, enjoy it year-round if you love it. The richness of brown butter with vegan honey, red pepper flakes, and flake salt, helps to deliver a delicious combination of sweet, salty, and spicy flavors.
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3 Vegan Crispy Hot Honey Chicken With Rosemary Waffles

Recreate this comforting classic with crispy flavorful tofu (which is marinated in pickle juice, hot sauce, and Dijon mustard), rosemary waffles, and plenty of sweet and spicy vegan hot honey. To make the latter, just simply combine agave nectar with red pepper flakes.
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Rabbit and Wolves

4 Vegan Spicy Honey Garlic Tofu

You can’t go wrong with tofu that has been fried to crispy perfection and coated in a sweet and spicy garlic sauce. The latter is made with an ultra-flavorful, incredibly addictive blend of gochujang, agave, soy sauce, and garlic.
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5 Vegan Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich

Topped with a sweet and spicy vegan hot honey sauce (a mix of agave and hot sauce or red pepper flakes), shredded cabbage, and bread and butter pickles, this delicious chicken-free sandwich offers a delicious balance of textures and flavors. Quick, easy, and versatile, it’s the perfect lunchtime treat.
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Charlotte is a writer and editor based in sunny Southsea on England’s southern coast.