We’re Drooling Over These Sweet & Savory Honey Recipes

As far as sweeteners go, honey is one of our favorites. Compared to white sugar, it’s less processed, it has a lower glycemic index, and it’s packed with amino acids, vitamins, minerals and enzymes, as well as the flavonoids and polyphenols that may have health benefits. Honey is also a really versatile player, adding a depth of floral sweetness to everything from honey-sweetened strawberry jam to 5-minute coleslaw. In other words,  if you’re just stirring it into your tea or swirling it into yogurt, you haven’t fully explored honey’s full potential. Here are 10 sweet and savory honey recipes that we’re drooling over.

1. Honey-Glazed Pepper Chicken from Bon Appetit

This recipe can be super-simple or just relatively-simple depending on your appetite for making your own garlic-fermented honey in advance. We’re not saying you shouldn’t do that, but if you didn’t plan ahead, you can use regular old honey (or spicy honey) and this will still be delicious.

2. Best Coleslaw Recipe from Joy Food Sunshine

This super-fresh coleslaw leans on coleslaw mix so that it comes together in just 5 minutes. It gets just a bit of sweet from honey and if you want some heat, add a squeeze of sriracha to the mix as well.

3. Sunshine Salad Dressing from Cookie and Kate

You might call this honey-mustard dressing, but that feels like something you’d dip your nuggets into. Instead, this sunshine salad dressing is creamy beyond belief and ready to be drizzled over fresh greens, any cruciferous veggie you can think of, or this roasted and raw carrot salad.

4. Honey Miso Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Killing Thyme

Do you have a container of miso that you bought for some recipe or other (soup, maybe) and now you’re wondering what else to do with it? This is the answer: Combine with honey, soy sauce, olive oil, scallions, and some other goodies, and toss it over roasted sweet potatoes. Or, honestly anything.

5. Honey Sweetened Strawberry Vanilla Jam from Food in Jars

Canning writer Marisa McClellan has figured how out how to do jams and jellies with honey, so you don’t have to. This recipe for honey-sweetened strawberry jam is a great way to use up your berries that might be getting a little mushy.

6. Vanilla Dairy Free Ice Cream from Delicious Made Easy

This easy, no-churn recipe has just 3 ingredients: coconut milk, vanilla, and honey. Okay, the recipe calls for agave nectar, but we recommend swapping it out for honey.

7. Honey Garlic Ribs from Every Last Bite

Honey garlic is a classic combo and it works beautifully in Paleo-friendly ribs — no grill required. All you need is an oven and this easy recipe for saucy, fall-off-the-bone ribs.

8. Honey-Almond Snack Cake

Whether you’re actively reducing your sugar intake or just looking for healthier treats, you’ll want to add this snack cake from baker Joanne Chang to your rotation.

9. Homemade Barbecue Sauce from Well Plated

This recipe skips ketchup, which is typically loaded with sugar, and opts for a bit of molasses and maple syrup, with the option to use honey. We say: Do it!

10. Whipped Ricotta with Herbs and Honey from Fork in the Kitchen

Whipped ricotta sounds fancy, but it’s not! Fresh herbs and honey, along with creamy ricotta, are all delicious when spread across your favorite hearty multigrain bread.  We can see this as breakfast, a snack, or maybe even dessert.