What Honey Can Do As An Ingredient In Your Favorite Savory Dishes

Spread on toast, drizzled over oatmeal, or mixed into the batter for breakfast muffins, honey is a multifaceted sweetener that has a floral aroma and sticky texture. Better yet, all these key characteristics make it a fantastic ingredient in savory dishes, too. Primed to mellow the heat of crushed chili, brighten the umami-ness of savory meats, and counteract the saltiness of sodium-rich condiments, no pantry should be without this natural nectar.

If you've ever added a sprinkling of salt into cookie batter or made salted caramel, you'll be familiar with the way that a savory ingredient can bring out the sweetness of baked goods and desserts. The same phenomenon works the other way around, too; adding honey to savory meals elevates their character and somehow makes their flavor more pronounced.

Unlike granulated sugar, palm sugar, or brown sugar, honey is a liquid sweetener that can be seamlessly added to wet marinades to use in stir-fries. As there's no need to dissolve it first, you can squeeze a dash into punchy elixirs featuring soy, sesame oil, and garlic, or smoky barbecue sauce and chipotle. The honey balances the saltiness of soy and fish sauce and counteracts the heat of spicy ingredients, resulting in a marinade that hits every taste bud. Honey can also be used to kickstart caramelized onions, drizzled over a platter of ripe figs and creamy cheeses, like Camembert and Brie, or employed to lend some sweet heat to a classic coleslaw.

As honey has a sticky texture, it's awesome for adding to glazes and coatings for roasted meats, like ham and chicken, because it can cling to their surface. For instance, you can combine a squirt of honey with the warmth of Dijon mustard and a splash of orange juice to make a fruity and flavorful glaze for baked ham or a citrusy coating on oven-roasted salmon. This classic pairing of honey and mustard is also outstanding in salad dressings, as the sweetness of the honey subdues the heat of the mustard to create a rounded sauce for fresh greens, chicken salad, and more.

Got a bunch of kids who won't eat their veggies? Give your carrots a sweet, simple glaze with butter and honey. Simply pour the glaze over the carrots and roast on an oven tray. This effortless trick also works with green beans and parsnips, but is particularly effective on veggies that have a natural sweetness to them, such as wedges of pumpkin. For extra texture, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds or furikake over your sweet and sticky vegetables and serve over salty whipped feta for a fancier side. Got some leftover glaze? Add a sprinkle of cayenne and drizzle it over some nuts before baking them to create a batch of spicy roasted cashews and peanuts.