What can I make with honey?
Honey is worth measuring carefully - it is the ingredient least willing to be improvised with. Recipes using honey are below, plus handling notes.
12 recipes with honey
Matcha Latte
Frothy hot latte with ceremonial-grade matcha.
Japanese5m1
Acai Bowl
Frozen acai blended thick and topped with granola and fresh fruit.
Brazilian5m1
Golden Milk
Warm turmeric-spiced milk for wind-down.
Indian8m2Harissa Chicken
Sheet-pan chicken glazed with fiery harissa.
North African45m4Gravlax with Mustard-Dill Sauce
Cured salmon with a sweet and tangy mustard-dill sauce
Scandinavian120m8
Honey Teriyaki Salmon
Mix all the ingredients in the Honey Teriyaki Glaze together.
Japanese4
Sticky Chicken
step 1 Make 3 slashes on each of the drumsticks.
Australian4
Rye bread
step 1 Tip the flours, yeast and salt into a bowl.
Polish4
Bulgarian Honey Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 F.
4
Pomegranate salad
step 1 Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and thyme leaves in a large bowl.
Polish4
Sweet potato salad
step 1 Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Turkish4
Cream Cheese Tart
Crust: make a dough from 250g flour (I like mixing different flours like plain and wholegrain spelt flour), 125g butter, 1 egg and a pinch of salt, press it into a tart form and place it in the fridge.
United States4
Working with honey
- 1Measure by weight where you can; baking with honey is much less forgiving than cooking.
- 2Melt gently over low heat or in short bursts, stirring between each one.
- 3A pinch of salt makes sweetness read as flavour instead of just sugar.
- 4Cool fully before slicing or storing so the texture sets properly.
What goes well with honey
Honey is at its best with butter, vanilla, salt, cream, flour and eggs. Any two or three of those, plus honey, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing honey
Dry honey keeps for months in a sealed container away from light and heat. Once cooked, cool it quickly, refrigerate within two hours, and use within 3-4 days; cooked grains and legumes freeze extremely well in single-portion bags.
Substituting honey
If you are out of honey, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Honey recipes: common questions
- What can I make with honey and not much else?
- Plenty. With honey plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest honey recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute honey?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover honey?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover honey without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.