If you've been paying any attention to the pizza world in the last decade, you've noticed a sticky, spicy revolution happening. It's not some new cheese or a wild fermentation technique. It's a condiment. A simple, golden drizzle that completely changed the game: hot honey pizza.
This isn't a fleeting food trend like charcoal crusts or unicorn bagels. The combination of sweet honey infused with chili heat, drizzled over a savory, salty pizza, taps into something fundamental about how flavor works. It hits sweetness, salt, fat, acid, and heat in a single bite. If you haven't tried it, you need to fix that. If you have, you're probably already obsessed and trying to figure out how to recreate that magic at home.
That's what this post is for. I'll walk you through the origin story, the science behind why it works, how to build the perfect pizza, and even a hot honey pizza dough recipe that bakes the sweet heat right into the crust. Let's get into it.
From Brazil to Brooklyn: How Hot Honey Pizza Happened
The modern hot honey craze traces back to one guy: Mike Kurtz, founder of Mike's Hot Honey. While studying abroad as a Portuguese major in northeastern Brazil around 2003-2004, he visited a local pizzeria that had jars of honey with whole chili peppers sitting on the tables for customers to drizzle over their slices.
The flavor combination stuck with him. Back in the States, he started experimenting with his own chili-infused honey recipes in his college apartment, eventually landing on the formula that's still used today. For years it stayed a hobby - something he'd make for himself and give out as holiday gifts.
The real turning point came in 2010. Kurtz was an avid reader of the Slice blog on Serious Eats, where he came across a post about a guy named Paulie Gee opening a Neapolitan-inspired pizzeria in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Kurtz went to check it out, and the two hit it off talking dough and ovens. Paulie invited him to come apprentice at the restaurant.
A few weeks into his apprenticeship, Kurtz brought in a bottle of his homemade hot honey. Paulie tried it on a soppressata pizza and immediately asked him to start making batches for the restaurant. That became the "Hellboy" - fresh mozzarella, Italian tomatoes, Berkshire soppressata picante, Parmigiano Reggiano, and a generous post-oven drizzle of Mike's Hot Honey. It became the most popular pizza on the menu and hasn't left since.
Kurtz went from making batches in the closed restaurant kitchen on Mondays to bottling and labeling from midnight to six in the morning after closing. Customers kept asking for bottles to take home, and the rest is history. As of 2024, Mike's Hot Honey is in over 30,000 retail locations and 3,000 restaurants, and it essentially created the hot honey category from scratch.
Why Hot Honey on Pizza Works So Well
The reason this combination is so addictive comes down to contrast. A good pizza is already a balancing act of flavors and textures - acidic tomato sauce, rich fatty cheese, a crust that's crisp on the outside and chewy inside. Hot honey throws two more elements into that mix: sweetness and capsaicin heat.
The honey acts as a counterpoint to the salty, savory, and acidic components. It cuts through the richness of cheese and cured meats, actually making them taste more savory by contrast. Think about why prosciutto and melon works, or why sea salt on chocolate is so good. Your brain loves processing those opposing signals at the same time.
The chili heat adds another dimension on top of that. Capsaicin triggers pain receptors on your tongue (technically it's not a flavor, it's a sensation), which wakes everything up and cuts through fat. Together, the sweet and heat create this push-pull effect where each bite makes you want the next one.
It's also worth noting that honey brings more to the table than plain sugar would. Even when heated, honey has a more complex flavor profile - floral notes, a slight earthiness - that plays differently against savory pizza toppings than a simple syrup or sugar glaze.
How to Make Homemade Hot Honey (Quick Version)
Making your own hot honey is simple, cheap, and lets you dial in exactly the heat level you want. Here's the short version:
Gently warm one cup of good honey (clover or wildflower) with sliced fresh chilies or a couple tablespoons of red pepper flakes over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Don't boil it - that kills the delicate flavor. Let it cool and steep for 30 minutes, strain out the solids, and stir in a splash of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt if you want.
That's the basics, but there's a lot more to explore with different peppers, infusion methods, and flavor variations. I wrote a full guide on making hot honey for pizza that goes deep on all of it - check that out here if you want the complete breakdown.
Hot Honey Pizza Dough: Baking the Heat Into the Crust
Here's where things get interesting. Most hot honey pizza recipes treat the honey strictly as a finishing drizzle, and that's the right move for the post-oven application (more on that below). But there's something to be said for building the sweet-heat flavor right into the dough itself.
Adding hot honey to your pizza dough does a few useful things. The sugars in honey promote Maillard browning - that's the chemical reaction between sugars and proteins that gives baked food its golden color and roasted flavor. This is especially helpful in home ovens that max out at 500-550°F, where dough can struggle to get that deep golden crust you see at a good pizzeria. The honey also feeds the yeast during fermentation, helps the dough retain moisture for a softer crumb, and adds a subtle background sweetness that pairs perfectly with the finishing drizzle.
At around 3% baker's percentage, you won't taste the honey as "sweet." Most of it gets consumed by the yeast during fermentation. What you're left with is better browning, a slightly more tender chew, and a subtle complexity in the crust that plain sugar doesn't quite match.
I like this as a New York-style dough - a bit of oil, a touch of honey, a long cold ferment. It creates a crust that's sturdy enough for generous toppings but still has great chew and flavor.
Hot Honey Pizza Dough Recipe
This makes three 283g dough balls, sized for 12-inch pizzas. Use the PizzaLogic dough calculator to scale it up or down for however many pizzas you're making.
Ingredients:
- 497g bread flour (or "00" flour if you prefer a softer chew)
- 321g water at 92°F (63% hydration)
- 15g hot honey (3% - use your homemade stuff or store-bought)
- 10g olive oil (2%)
- 12g fine sea salt (2.5%)
- 0.92g instant dry yeast (roughly 1/4 teaspoon)
Instructions:
- Mix and autolyse. Combine the flour and water (with the hot honey dissolved in it) in a large bowl. Stir until you have a shaggy mass with no dry flour visible. Cover and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. This autolyse step lets the flour fully hydrate and starts developing gluten before you even begin kneading.
- Add yeast, salt, and oil. Sprinkle the yeast and salt over the dough, then add the olive oil. Mix by hand for 6-8 minutes until the dough is fully developed, smooth, and shiny. It'll feel slippery and messy at first from the oil - just keep working it until it comes together.
- Bulk ferment. Cover the dough and let it rise at room temperature (around 70°F) for 2 hours. You're looking for the dough to increase roughly 50% in size. Don't rush this step - it lets the gluten relax and the yeast get established.
- Divide and ball. Divide the dough into three equal pieces (around 283g each). Gently shape each piece into a smooth ball by folding the edges underneath and rolling with cupped hands on an unfloured surface. Use a kitchen scale for accuracy. Avoid adding extra flour - keep your hands slightly damp if the dough is sticky. Here's a good video tutorial on balling technique.
- Cold ferment. Place the dough balls in lightly oiled containers or on a lightly oiled tray with room to expand slightly. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours. This cold fermentation is where the real flavor development happens - the slow yeast activity produces organic acids and esters that give the crust complex, slightly tangy notes.
- Warm up before baking. Pull the dough balls out of the fridge 1-2 hours before you plan to bake. Let them come to room temperature, covered - cold dough is stiff and tears easily during stretching, and warming it up improves oven spring.
A note on the hot honey in the dough: The capsaicin from the chili peppers does survive the baking process, but the heat level in the finished crust will be very subtle - more of a background warmth than an obvious spiciness. That's the point. You get depth from the dough and the real heat kick from the finishing drizzle. If you want a more noticeable heat in the crust itself, bump the hot honey up to 4-5% and use a spicier base honey (one made with habaneros rather than red pepper flakes, for example).
Choosing a Dough Style for Hot Honey Pizza
Hot honey works on pretty much any style of pizza, but some crusts pair with it better than others.
New York-style is my go-to for hot honey pizza. The dough usually has a little sugar and oil, giving it a distinct chew and even browning in a home oven. The slightly sturdier structure handles heavier toppings like cup-and-char pepperoni without going soggy. The hot honey pizza dough recipe above is built around this style.
Neapolitan-style is the classic pairing - it's what Paulie Gee's built the Hellboy on. The simple flour, water, salt, and yeast formula baked at extreme heat creates a light, airy crust with charred spots (called leoparding) that pairs beautifully with the sweet heat. The tradeoff is that you really need a pizza oven or a Baking Steel to get Neapolitan right at home.
Detroit-style might actually be the sleeper pick here. That thick, airy, focaccia-like crumb with the caramelized cheese edges soaks up the honey like a sponge. The honey seeps into the open crumb and creates these pockets of sweet-and-spicy that are hard to beat.
Whichever style you go with, give your dough a proper ferment. A 24-48 hour cold fermentation in the fridge develops complex flavors that the honey only amplifies. A same-day dough will work in a pinch, but the long ferment is where the real magic happens. Use the PizzaLogic calculator to dial in the right yeast amount for your timeline.
Beyond Pepperoni: Topping Pairings That Work
The classic pepperoni and hot honey pizza combo is iconic for a reason. Salty, fatty, crispy pepperoni cups are the perfect canvas for that sticky sweet heat. If you can get natural casing pepperoni that cups and chars when it bakes, that's what you want - those little grease-filled cups catch the honey and it's ridiculous.
But don't stop at pepperoni. Hot honey is incredibly versatile.
Cured meats are the obvious play. Spicy soppressata (the original Hellboy choice), prosciutto added after baking so it stays silky, crispy pancetta, or crumbled Italian sausage all work.
Cheese choices matter more than you'd think. Creamy ricotta dollops are a personal favorite - that cool, milky richness against spicy honey is a fantastic contrast. Tangy goat cheese or funky Gorgonzola also pair well. For your base, torn fresh mozzarella is the classic, but a good low-moisture mozz gives you better browning and those satisfying stretchy pulls.
Vegetables can balance the richness. Caramelized onions echo the honey's sweetness in a savory way. Roasted red peppers work for the same reason. For acidity to cut through everything, pickled jalapeños or banana peppers are great. Fresh arugula tossed on after baking adds a peppery bite that plays off the honey.
Fruit - yes, fruit. Thinly sliced figs with Gorgonzola and hot honey is an elegant combination. And if you're open to it, pineapple with hot honey adds another layer of tropical sweetness against the heat that might convert a few skeptics.
The Golden Rule: When to Drizzle
This is the most important piece of advice in this entire post. Do not bake your pizza with the honey on it.
Honey is mostly sugar. If you put it on before your pizza goes into a 500°F+ oven, those sugars will burn long before your crust and cheese are done. You'll get acrid, blackened spots instead of that beautiful golden drizzle.
Hot honey is a finishing condiment. Always.
Build your pizza with sauce, cheese, and toppings. Bake it until the crust is golden with some char and the cheese is bubbling. Pull it out of the oven and immediately drizzle the hot honey over the whole pizza while it's still screaming hot. The residual heat warms the honey, thins it out so it flows into every crevice, and releases the aromatic oils from the chili infusion.
(Yes, the hot honey pizza dough recipe above puts honey in the dough before baking - that's different. At 3% it's a small enough amount that the yeast consumes most of the sugar during fermentation, and whatever residual sugar remains actually helps with browning rather than burning. It's the heavy post-bake drizzle that would cause problems if applied before the oven.)
Recipe: The Ultimate Pepperoni and Hot Honey Pizza
Here's the full hot honey pizza recipe, start to finish. This uses a standard home oven and a pizza steel or stone.
What You Need:
- 1 ball of hot honey pizza dough (from the recipe above), at room temperature
- 1/3 cup crushed San Marzano tomatoes, lightly seasoned with salt
- 3-4 oz fresh mozzarella, torn into bite-sized pieces (or low-moisture mozzarella, shredded)
- 2-3 oz natural casing pepperoni (the kind that cups and chars)
- Fresh basil leaves
- Hot honey for drizzling
- Optional: red pepper flakes, grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Instructions:
- Preheat. Place your pizza steel or stone on the top rack of your oven. Crank your oven to its maximum temperature (usually 500-550°F) and let it preheat for at least 45 minutes to an hour. The steel needs to be fully saturated with heat.
- Stretch. Press and stretch your dough ball into a large round, working from the center out to the edges. You can toss it, use a rolling pin, or just work it by hand - whatever you're comfortable with. The crust should be thin but still foldable. Transfer it to a pizza peel dusted with semolina flour for easy sliding.
- Top. Spread the tomato sauce evenly, leaving about a one-inch rim for the crust. Distribute the mozzarella. Lay the pepperoni over the top - don't be shy with it.
- Bake. Launch the pizza onto your hot steel. Bake for 4-6 minutes depending on your oven. You're looking for a deeply browned, puffy crust with some char spots, bubbling cheese, and pepperoni that's curled up into crispy cups with rendered fat pooling inside. A note on the honey in the dough: fructose from the honey browns faster than plain sugar, so keep a close eye on things. You may need to pull it a minute or two earlier than you would with a standard dough, or tent with foil if the crust is browning too quickly.
- Finish. Pull the pizza with a metal peel or carefully slide it onto a cutting board. Tear fresh basil over the top. Then grab your hot honey and drizzle it in a steady stream, zig-zagging across the whole pizza. A squeeze bottle gives you the best control here.
- Rest and serve. Let it sit for a minute or two so the cheese sets slightly, then slice and serve. The combination of crispy pepperoni, melted cheese, charred crust, and that sticky sweet-spicy drizzle is hard to beat.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Burnt honey on your pizza stone. If honey drips onto the hot stone during your post-bake drizzle, it'll burn and smoke instantly. Don't panic. Let the stone cool completely, then scrape the burnt sugar off with a bench scraper or stiff putty knife. Don't use soap on your stone.
Pizza came out too sweet. You probably went too heavy on the drizzle. Use a squeeze bottle for better control next time, or serve the honey on the side and let people add their own. More savory or acidic toppings - olives, pickled peppers, a shower of Parm - can also help offset excess sweetness.
Honey isn't spicy enough. If your batch came out mild, you can gently reheat it and infuse more chilies, or stir in a pinch of cayenne or a few dashes of a vinegar-based hot sauce for an immediate bump. Check out the full hot honey guide for tips on getting the heat level right from the start.
Crust isn't browning well. This is common in home ovens. The hot honey pizza dough helps with this since the honey sugars promote Maillard browning. Make sure your oven and steel are fully preheated (45-60 minutes minimum), and try positioning the rack higher so the top of the pizza gets more radiant heat. Some people also hit the broiler for the last minute or two of baking.
Dough is tearing when you stretch it. Your dough is either too cold or underfermented. Make sure it's been at room temperature for at least an hour before stretching. If it keeps springing back, let it rest covered for another 10-15 minutes and try again - the gluten needs time to relax.
The Bottom Line
Hot honey pizza isn't complicated. It's really about understanding flavor balance and one simple rule: drizzle after the oven, never before. Once you get that down - and especially once you try baking the hot honey right into the dough for that extra layer of flavor - you'll start finding excuses to put this stuff on everything.
Use the PizzaLogic dough calculator to scale the hot honey pizza dough recipe for your next pizza night, and check out the homemade hot honey guide if you want to make your own from scratch. Happy baking.