Sweet. Heat. Pretty neat. McDonald’s nails its new Hot Honey Sauce.

I was at the grocery store the other day, and I heard someone say to the person they were shopping with: “Why would I buy hot honey? I have honey and I have red pepper flakes at home.”

OK, sure. You could apply that logic to anything. Why would I buy Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups when I have a bag of chocolate chips and a jar of peanut butter at home?

While that random shopper might not want to invest in one of the many fantastic hot honeys that are available on store shelves these days, I’m more than happy to give one of these premade hot honeys a shot. (Because it’s basically ubiquitous these days, my go-to is Mike’s Hot Honey, but I’ve also tried Nugget Honey, the hot honey from the folks behind Hot Ones.)

McDonald’s knows that hot honey is what people are buzzing about these days. Taco Bell already partnered with Mike’s last may for its Mike’s Hot Honey Diablo Sauce, and most pizza places even offer hot honey as a topping, and now the Golden Arches is rolling out its own Hot Honey Sauce.

The fast food chain boasts that its take on the condiment “combines the sweetness of honey with the spicy, peppery heat of red bell and cayenne peppers with a hint of tangy vinegar that makes your perfect favorites even better.” The twist to this limited-edition sauce is that it’s also available as part of McDonald’s breakfast menu.

It took more than a year, but the McDonald’s breakfast menu is finally getting its due over here at Snackology.

Love reading Snackology? Become a subscriber to receive every edition in your inbox.

Subscribe

What it costs

McDonald’s’ Hot Honey Sauce is available across its menu, being featured on the Hot Honey Sausage Egg Biscuit ($4.89), Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich ($5.89), Bacon Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich ($7.19) and Hot Honey Snack Wrap ($2.99).

My thoughts

Usually when I do a review for Snackology, I try everything at once to properly compare things. This Hot Honey Sauce review, though, stretched out over the course of Tuesday, kicking off when I chowed down on the Hot Honey Sausage Egg Biscuit as one of the first things I did in the morning before eventually closing out with a couple chicken sandwiches and a wrap in the evening.

But it was worth it. McDonald’s did a fantastic job with the Hot Honey Sauce.

It has just the right amount of heat on the backend of a bite while adding the proper amount of sweetness to this menu. The chain’s Special Edition Gold Sauce from last fall is my favorite across-the-board new sauce from McDonald’s, but Hot Honey Sauce is absolutely giving that one a run for its money now.

Hot Honey Sausage Egg Biscuit

A McDonald’s breakfast sandwich? On a Tuesday? While I usually reserve my breakfast sandwich moves for a road trip or an early morning car service appointment, I kicked things off today with the Hot Honey Sausage Egg Biscuit.

In recent years, the McGriddle has become my go-to McDonald’s breakfast item, but I do love pretty much any and every combo of their biscuit sandwiches. The Hot Honey Sausage Egg Biscuit is the perfect delivery vehicle for the Hot Honey Sauce. My only complaint is that I wanted more of that heat on my sandwich.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich

I’m on record over the course of several of these McDonald’s reviews of being a big fan of the McCrispy Sandwich. Unless I’m jonesing for a Filet-O-Fish, I’m most likely driving away from the McDonald’s drive thru with either the classic or spicy version of the McCrispy.

The Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich lives up to that high bar.

McDonald’s amped up the topping for this version of the McCrispy, swapping out the standard pickle for crispy jalapeños and shredded lettuce in addition to the usual mayo. I love the crispy jalapeños on this sandwich. They’re a great new element to a sandwich I already love.

If you’re picking up a Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich, do yourself a favor and get an extra pack of the Hot Honey Sauce to dial up the heat.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

Bacon Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich

The only way to make the Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich better? Add bacon.

Everything I said about the standard Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich rings true for the elevated Bacon Hot Honey McCrispy Sandwich — I just get to dial up my praise a level thanks to bacon nestled in between the chicken patty and the top potato roll.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 (5 out of 5 cookies)

Hot Honey Snack Wrap

After doing several of these full-menu reviews over the past year, I’ve learned to open up my Snack Wraps and make sure the toppings are distributed in a way to nail a balanced bite. In the case of the Hot Honey Snack Wrap, I took this opportunity to drizzle more of the Hot Honey Sauce on top of the McCrispy strip.

Like most of the Snack Wraps, the Hot Honey Snack Wrap is meant to be a lighter, smaller menu item. The toppings are scaled back compared to the McCrispy sandwiches, relying on the trusty duo of shredded cheese and shredded lettuce. I’d love to see McDonald’s roll out a deluxe Snack Wrap at some point, and bring the wealth of toppings available on their chicken sandwiches to these wraps.

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)

The Hot Honey Sauce menu items were provided to Snackology for this independent review.