Easy Homemade Yellow Mustard

This homemade mustard recipe is surprisingly easy to make with a few simple pantry ingredients! Making prepared yellow mustard is much more flavorful than the squeeze bottle storebought variety. It’s guaranteed, that your friends and family will love its flavor and be asking, “Where did you get this great-tasting mustard sauce?”

If you have never made homemade mustard now is the time to try.  Making gourmet mustard at home is much easier than it sounds and it will keep up to a year in your refrigerator.

It only takes one pan and a few simple ingredients. Basically, you blend dry ground mustard powder, vinegar, cumin, garlic powder, and paprika for American-style prepared yellow mustard in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for a few minutes and then allow to cool. It’s that simple.

It makes a great zesty addition to an egg salad sandwich or your favorite chicken salad recipe. For a less spicy flavor, swap it out for dijon when making a vegan fish sandwich or corn salad. Use it to make a batch of these yummy Gardetto copycat mustard pretzels.

😋 Why Make This Recipe

• More flavorful than your typical squeeze bottle brand.
• Easy to customize the flavor by changing the spiciness or adding other ingredients.
• Greater control over the consistency so it can be as thick or thin as you prefer.
• Costs less to make at home than to buy at the store.

🥘 Ingredients

The ingredients for homemade mustard are super simple and you may already have them on hand.

• Dry ground yellow mustard powder: The backbone of this homemade sauce. Choosing high-quality mustard will improve the final flavor.
• Water: Provides the liquid for the sauce but you could also substitute beer to make beer mustard. 
• Apple cider vinegar: Brings the perfect mild tangy flavor to the sauce.
• Turmeric: This yellow spice is what gives it the traditional vibrant yellow color.
• Garlic powder and sweet paprika: Other spices that add flavor to the sauce.

Where to Get Good Mustard Powder

Colman’s Mustard gives your everyday recipes a spicy kick. This gourmet hot mustard powder is made using time-honored traditions and the highest quality ingredients since 1814!

How to Use Dry Mustard in Cooking

Here are some other ways to use up the jar of this spice in recipes.

• Dry rub: It adds a touch of heat without the long burn like chili peppers tend to do so swap it out for chili peppers or chili powders in dry rubs.
• Salad dressing: Adds flavor while acting as an emulsifier to aid the blending of oil and vinegar.
• Ham glaze: Adds a great acidic flavor to a glaze for ham when combined with honey.
• Meatloaf: Great accent to other seasonings when making your favorite meatloaf recipe.
• Mac and cheese: Add to the cheese sauce for an extra flavor profile.

How to Make Prepared Yellow Mustard

1. Add everything to a small saucepan and whisk until smooth
2. Bring to a slow boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 8 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, so it does not stick to the pan.
3. Remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature. Then cover with a lid and allow to cure for 8 to 10 hours on the counter before refrigerating or canning.

Refrigerator Method

It can also be cured in the refrigerator but takes more time. After cooking and cooling, follow these instructions to store.

1. Transfer the sauce to sterilized glass jars. Secure lid on jar.
2. Place jars in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours before using
3. Homemade mustard will keep up to a year in the refrigerator.

How to Make Spicy Mustard

Here is a fun fact about mustard, heating up the mixture produces a mellower taste while maintaining the mixture cool will make for a harsher, more spicy flavor.

You can also use brown or black mustard seeds to make the sauce spicier.

In this recipe, I was going for mild flavor that everyone would enjoy so I mixed all my ingredients together in a pan, then cooked the sauce over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes.

📖 Variations and Substitutions

• Spicy Beer Mustard: Use cold beer instead of water and add a tablespoon of honey.
• White Wine and Tarragon Mustard: Use white wine instead of water and swap out the apple cider vinegar with tarragon vinegar.
• Honey Mustard: Add three tablespoons of honey to the basic recipe.
• Beer Mustard: Swap out the water in the recipe for beer.
• Champagne Mustard: Use champagne vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: I prefer the acidic tang of apple cider vinegar but you can also use white vinegar or use tarragon vinegar, white wine vinegar, or any other herb-flavored to add a unique flavor to your batch.

How to Use Homemade Mustard in Recipes

Mustard is a versatile condiment that can add great flavor to a variety of foods.

• Dip for soft pretzels
• Condiment on hamburgers and hotdogs
• Honey mustard is a great dip for fried chicken
• Add brown sugar for a glaze sauce on your holiday ham
• Mustard vinaigrette
• Deviled eggs or egg salad
• Make a mustard crust for fish
• Stews
• Mac and cheese sauce
• Potato salad

How to Can Mustard

If you are new to canning but have always wanted to learn then visit my Canning 101 For Beginners, Learn Canning Terms, and A Beginners Guide To Canning Supplies. You will find all you need to get started canning.

When canning prepared yellow mustard you will use a water bath canner. To learn more about using a canner visit Water Bath Canning For Beginners.

After you make your homemade mustard recipe follow these steps to safely seal your jars.

1. Immediately spoon the homemade mustard into the hot jars, filling 1/4 inch from the rim of each jar. 
2. Using a non-metal utensil, remove any bubbles and add extra prepared yellow mustard if required.
3. Wipe rims with a damp cloth to remove any food residue.
4. Add rubber seals that have been sitting in warm water for 10 minutes to the top of the jar. Clamp to secure.
5. Place sealed jars into a water bath canner of boiling water. Boil for the processing time stated below for your altitude. *Start your timer once the water comes to a full boil.
6.  Turn off the heat source once the time is up. Remove jars from hot water after 5 more minutes. Cool jars overnight on a towel. Do not adjust lids during this time.
7. The next day, check jars have sealed before labeling and dating.

Giving Jars as a Gift

Canning prepared yellow mustard is easy and makes a unique gift for all your foodie friends. You can make your homemade mustard look great with one of these jars. They are just the right size for gift giving.

This homemade mustard would make a great hostess gift or fun birthday present. Just prepare the mustard then place it in a sterilized jar, wrap some twine around the jar tops and tie a label on them.

Be sure and tell whoever you give it to that it should be kept refrigerated.

💭 Top Tips

• Cure the Mustard: Homemade mustard needs time to develop its flavor. You can do this at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
• For spicier mustard, simply mix the ingredients together without cooking.

FAQ

Update Notes: This post was originally published in 2020, but was republished with new photos, step-by-step instructions and tips, and a video in May of 2022.