A Beginner’s Guide to Cooking with Honey (2024)

Honey is considered a kitchen staple, but how many honey uses do you actually know? In this blog, we will explore seven different ways to cook with the honey — some traditional and some surprising. Here are both new and old ways to use honey in drinks and meals:

A Beginner’s Guide to Cooking with Honey (1)

Sweeten hot beverages.

No list of honey ideas would be complete without mentioning its most classic use: sweetening hot beverages. The heat melts the honey, immediately incorporating it seamlessly into the drink. Honey is most often used in tea, but it is also a great addition to lattes and other hot beverages. If you do not keep a jar of raw honey next to your tea or coffee station, you are really missing out. Choose a light, floral honey, like our California orange blossom honey, for teas. Coffee drinks, on the other hand, are where a more robust, savory honey, like our Kauai wildflower honey, can shine.

Use it for baking.

Not only is honey the star ingredient of many baking recipes, it can also be used as a substitute for both white and brown sugar. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you should use less of it. You only need one-half to two-thirds of a cup of honey for each one cup of sugar. You should also reduce the other liquids in the recipe by one-fourth cup for every cup of honey that you use. This is because honey itself contains water. If you do not reduce the other liquids, the batter will be runny and your cooking time will be off.

A Beginner’s Guide to Cooking with Honey (2)

Incorporate it into your cheeseboard.

If you are looking for a new flavor element to add to cheese and charcuterie boards, then consider adding a honey dipping sauce to your next board. The sweetness of the honey is a fantastic complement to the salty, savory flavors of cheese and cured meats. (This is also why honey makes such an excellent topping for plain Greek yogurt.) You can drizzle the honey over the cheese and meats directly, or put it in a separate dipping bowl so the guests can add some according to their preferences.

Put it in a glaze or marinade.

We just mentioned that honey is an excellent complement to cured meats, and this is true for roasted meats as well. Try incorporating flavored honey to your next homemade glaze or marinade to elevate your roasting or grilling experience. Honey is also a great ingredient to add to marinades for non-meat proteins, including tempeh and tofu. Since most marinades are mixed from cold ingredients, stir it very well to make sure that the honey is evenly incorporated. You do not want lumps of honey in some areas and no honey in the rest of the marinade.

Try roasting vegetables with it.

Meat is not the only thing that you can cook with honey —vegetables and even fruit are worth roasting as well. Honey will deepen that sweetness that comes from roasting, which occurs because the heat of the oven causes the natural sugars in the produce to caramelize. If you want to amp up that flavor even more, then drizzling the vegetables with both olive oil and honey prior to roasting will turn them into the highlight of your dinner instead of a side dish.

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Add it to sauces and dressings.

If your sauce or salad dressing is missing a little something, you might want to add honey to it. Honey will add a note of sweetness without the drawbacks of sugar, helping to balance out more sour or bitter notes such as vinegars. Be sure to shake the dressing up really well just before serving to distribute the honey evenly. With sauces, you can heat them up a little to fully melt the raw honey and mix it into the rest of the ingredients.

Make a co*cktail with it.

Hot beverages are not the only drinks that honey tastes great in. Honey is actually a must-have addition to your home bar and it can elevate your co*cktail game to the next level. For cold co*cktails, put it in a shaker so the honey will be evenly distributed throughout the drink. If you just stir it into a cold beverage, it has a tendency to sink to the bottom of the glass. Start exploring honey co*cktail recipes and you might be surprised to find your new favorite drink.

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Raw honey is a much more versatile ingredient than you might think, and every cook deserves to have a jar or two of raw honey in their pantry. Our set of raw honeys are made on small family farms in the U.S., which allows us to closely oversee production and ensure the highest quality product. Try out our raw honey today!

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A Beginner’s Guide to Cooking with Honey (2024)

FAQs

What's the best honey to cook with? ›

Buckwheat Honey

It has a bolder flavor than more lighter colored varieties, sometimes described as both nutty and slightly bitter. Its strong flavor stands up well to mixing in with other flavors in a dish, making it a great choice for cooking and baking applications.

Why is it not wise to cook with honey? ›

Consuming cooked honey leads to congestion, weight gain, respiratory diseases, certain skin conditions, digestive problems, and imbalance in blood glucose. Also, pasteurizing honey may result in an increase in the glycemic index, which is not good for people suffering from diabetes.

How to use honey when cooking? ›

Replace sugar with equal parts honey in your favorite muffin recipe – the silky texture helps keep baked goods moist. Give salad dressings, dipping sauces and hummus a hint of sweetness. Honey acts as a flavor-packed glue for crispy coatings. It also gives roasted tofu a scrumptious golden crust.

What type of honey is best for chicken? ›

Alfalfa honey: Nectar from the violet-colored blooms of alfalfa make for a mild-flavored and light-amber honey. Its neutrality makes it ideal for baking and cooking. Try it in marinades for fish or chicken, too.

What type of honey is good for cooking? ›

Alfalfa Honey is our hands-down favorite for a sugar substitute in most recipes. Medium-bodied and sweet but buttery, Alfalfa honey will add a sweet richness to your recipes without darkening the batter or changing your original recipe's flavor profile.

Is Rowse honey real honey? ›

The term “raw” isn't recognised in the UK honey regulations and we believe the term is misleading, therefore we do not use it in our labelling, marketing or website. However, Rowse honey is 100% pure and natural, arriving in its natural state and gently warmed through to pack into our bottles and jars.

Is cooking with honey better than sugar? ›

Is honey better for you than sugar? Honey has a lower GI value than sugar, meaning that it does not raise blood sugar levels as quickly. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you may need less of it, but it does have slightly more calories per teaspoon so it's wise to keep a close eye on your portion sizes.

Can you cook with honey in the oven? ›

Honey cooks faster than sugar, and so will anything you bake with honey in it. Instead of fiddling with the cook time, just turn down the oven by 25º and cook for the same amount of time. This will vary depending on the oven and the recipe (doesn't it always?)

Is raw honey good to cook with? ›

You can use raw honey in recipes in the same way as commercial honey—but we don't reccomend using it in baked goods that are exposed to higher temperatures.

Does KFC use real honey? ›

But, presumably to cut even more costs in a competitive fast-food market, KFC doesn't actually serve real honey. Instead, it's "Honey Sauce," made from the ingredients many parents try to avoid: high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and sugar.

Does honey expire? ›

Honey does not spoil, however for best quality, the USDA recommends storing honey for up to 12 months,” Amidor says. “After that time, it remains safe but the quality may not be as good. If the honey becomes cloudy, crystallized or solidified this is not a food safety concern.”

Which brand of honey is 100% pure? ›

Nature Nate's | 100% Pure Raw & Unfiltered Honey.

Is wildflower honey good for cooking? ›

Wildflower honey is the best honey for cooking and baking because of its floral flavours. Your home-baked treats will taste like you have the goodness of wildflowers in every bite. So wildflower honey is not only a wonderful antioxidant, but it adds another layer of flavour to your baked goods as well.

What type of honey is the healthiest? ›

When it comes to choosing the healthiest honey, you should look for one that is raw. Raw honeys are not pasteurized and bypass filtration, a process that may reduce its nutrients. A great variety of raw and unfiltered honey is available on Amazon.

What type of honey is best to infuse? ›

You can use many different types of honey for infusions. But, we recommend sticking to a mild-tasting honey so that your flavor infusion shines through. Use dried ingredients: For better shelf-life and to reduce spoilage, use dried flavoring ingredients instead of fresh.

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