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
- Add everything to a small saucepan and whisk until smooth
- 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.
- 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.
- Transfer the sauce to sterilized glass jars. Secure lid on jar.
- Place jars in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours before using
- 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.
- Immediately spoon the homemade mustard into the hot jars, filling 1/4 inch from the rim of each jar.
- Using a non-metal utensil, remove any bubbles and add extra prepared yellow mustard if required.
- Wipe rims with a damp cloth to remove any food residue.
- Add rubber seals that have been sitting in warm water for 10 minutes to the top of the jar. Clamp to secure.
- 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.
- 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.
- The next day, check jars have sealed before labeling and dating.
Altitude ≤ 1,000 Feet
10 minutes
Altitude 1,001-3,000 feet
15 minutes
Altitude 3,001-6,00 feet
20 minutes
Altitude ≥ 6,000 feet
25 minutes
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
Yes, they are the same. Yellow mustard is the classic American squeeze bottle mustard you get in the grocery next to the ketchup. It's also called prepared mustard because there is a process of grinding mustard seeds and mixing them with other ingredients to make the sauce. Yellow mustard seeds are the mildest of all mustard seeds which makes this variety of mustard the mildest of prepared mustards. If mustard is prepared with brown or black mustard seeds the product will be spicier with more heat.
Here is a warning! Don't taste your homemade mustard after cooking. Freshly made mustard is bitter; it needs to sit and mellow for at least 24 to 48 hours. Patience is a virtue here, so place it in a jar, screw on a lid and let it spend some time mellowing before tasting.
After canning your own mustard store jars in a cool, dark, and dry place for up to 12 months. Refrigerate jars upon opening and consume mustard within 1 month.
If you skip canning the mustard, store it in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to one year.
Powdered mustard is the same as ground mustard. The powder is made by grinding mustard seeds and then sifting the seed coat out to leave a fine powder behind.
If you love this recipe, please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. This helps others find great recipes.
Recipe

Easy Homemade Yellow Mustard
Note:
Be sure to read through the recipe's post for tips and details about this recipe. To save you ink, video and equipment images will not print.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup yellow mustard seed powder dry ground
- 1/2 cup water could substitute beer instead
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika ground
Need an ingredient to make this recipe? Click this Instacart button and get what you need sent right to you.
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients in a small saucepan until smooth
- 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.
- Remove from heat and allow 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 Instructions
- Transfer mustard to sterilized glass jars. Secure lid on jar.
- Place jars in refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours before using
- Mustard will keep up to a year in the refrigerator.
Canning Instructions
- Spoon the mustard into jars that have been heated in boiling water, filling 1/4 inch from the rim of each jar.
- Using a non-metal utensil, remove any bubbles and add extra mustard if required.
- Wipe rims with a damp cloth to remove any food residue.
- Put on new clean rubber seals to the top of the jar. Clamp to secure. Or screw on rings if you are using that type of seal.
- Place sealed jars into a water bath canner that is at 140 degrees. When boil returns, set timmer for 10 minutes and boil.
- 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.
- The next day, check jars have sealed before labelling and dating.
- Allow to cure in the jars for a week before using.
Need an item in the this recipe? Click the Instacart button and have it sent right to you.
Notes
- Cure the Mustard: Homemade mustard needs time to develop its flavor. You can do this at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
- For spicier homemade mustard, simply mix the ingredients together without cooking.
Nutrition
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.
Sage
Thank you for this recipe! I'm an American expat living in Denmark and it's nearly impossible to find plain yellow mustard over here. It's a key ingredient in my potato salad, so I'm forever lugging it back with me from my travels. Now I won't have to :)
Gina Marie
Wow, I never thought about not beeing able to get plain mustard there. So glad this recipe sends a little "home" to you over there. :)
Sarah
I’m excited to try this recipe! About how much does this recipe yield? Just wondering for how many jars I should heat up.
Gina
It makes about 9 ounces so use two 4 oz jelly jars or a pint jar. The 4-ounce jars would make fun Christmas presents. I was amazed at how easy it was to make mustard.
Tecla Speed
Why must you cure for 8-10 hours before canning? Could you not go straight from the stock pot after cooking into canning jars and let the mustard cure in the jars before using?
Gina Dickson
Tecla, You ask a good question. I let my mustard sit for the day so it can thicken and mellow. I found it is less bitter if I allow this mellowing process before I refrigerate or can. However, that being said, I agree with your thought on canning. If we immediately can it as soon as it is done cooking, will it mellow and thicken after the water bath canning? I'm curious, it would be nice to skip the waiting process to can. It has nothing to do with safe canning practices so I think you could try canning it right away. I usually just put mine in the fridge unless I make gifts for friends. If you can yours right after making it, would you please let me know how it turns out? I will add your findings to the post to help other people.
Kathy
Amazing simple and a must have
Gina Dickson
Kathy, thanks for sharing your comment on this mustard recipe. I was really surprised by how easy it was to make homemade mustard and wanted to share it with my readers. I'm thinking about creating a few more mustard varieties if you have any suggestions for what you would like to find on Intentional Hospitality. They would make great gift packs with a variety of homemade mustards.