Homemade yellow mustard is a DIY riff on the classic American condiment. The store-bought stuff can’t touch this. And it’s remarkably easy to make from mustard powder, vinegar, and a couple of other pantry staples.–David Leite

WHAT IS A NON-REACTIVE SAUCEPAN AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

A “nonreactive” saucepan is one that doesn’t react with the food being cooked. By contrast, acidic foods are reactive and are typically problematic. Foods like tomatoes, wine, cranberries, lemon, vinegar, and pickling brine, can react with your cookware. Why does this matter? Because chemistry, baby. Acidic ingredients will react with certain metals—leaving you with a damaged pot and metal material in your food. Stainless steel cookware is typically considered nonreactive, as are glass and earthenware. Enamel-finished cast iron pots also non-reactive unless there are any chips or cracks in the enamel.

LC DRY MUSTARD NOTE

Just a word of caution before you start making this amazing condiment. Yellow, dry mustard is used in cuisines all over the world but you’ll find that American or British versions work best here. Other mustard powders may not work the same and the results might not be what you were hoping for.

A bowl of homemade yellow mustard next to a wooden spoon filled with mustard seeds.

Homemade Yellow Mustard

4.68 / 68 votes
Homemade yellow mustard is deceptively simple to make from mustard powder, vinegar, and a couple other basic pantry staples. You just may never go back to store-bought! Here's how to make it from scratch.
David Leite
CourseCondiments
CuisineAmerican
Servings48 servings
Calories11 kcal
Prep Time1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 45 minutes

Equipment

  • Nonreactive saucepan

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup cold water
  • 3/4 cup yellow dry mustard
  • 3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon garlic purée, or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

Instructions 

  • Place the water, dry mustard, salt, turmeric, garlic, and paprika in a small nonreactive saucepan and whisk until smooth. Cook the mixture over medium-low to low heat, stirring often, until it bubbles down to a thick paste, 30 to 45 minutes.

    ☞ TESTER TIP: You’re definitely going to want to do this in a well-ventilated kitchen. As in windows flung open and exhaust fan on high. Trust us. And that nonreactive saucepan is also essential or the mustard could take on an off color and hue.

  • Whisk the vinegar into the mustard mixture and continue to cook until it’s thickened to the desired consistency—you know, the usual prepared mustard consistency—which can take anywhere from 7 to 15 minutes.
  • Let the mustard cool to room temperature before spooning the mustard into an airtight container. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 months. The mustard will be quite pungent the first few days or even weeks, but will mellow with time.
The Kitchen Pantry Cookbook

Adapted From

The Kitchen Pantry Cookbook

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 teaspoonCalories: 11 kcalCarbohydrates: 1 gProtein: 1 gFat: 1 gSaturated Fat: 1 gSodium: 37 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 1 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2013 Erin Coopey. Photo © 2013 Rina Jordan. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

I’ve always wanted to make my own homemade yellow mustard. I’ve heard it beats the pants off the stuff you buy—and it’s true! I’m not sure how else to describe the flavor of this homemade yellow mustard other than complex and mustardy, but trust me, you might not go back to the stuff in the squeeze bottle.

I whisked in the vinegar and let it bubble for 18 more minutes until the mustard was pretty thick. The resulting mustard is spreadable rather than squeezable. Delicious!

You may ask yourself, WHY make my own mustard when store-bought mustard seems so inexpensive? Simple. CHEAP mustard is cheap. GOOD mustard is not. This homemade yellow mustard recipe is tasty and fun and, if you are anything like me, you love to make EVERYTHING from scratch, because it almost ALWAYS tastes better.

You could add your own touches—horseradish, pepper, whatever your heart’s desire—but it’s not necessary, as this has a bit of heat and, is quite good just as it is. I made mine exactly as described and, after adding the vinegar, cooked it down for another 5 minutes and ended up with some REALLY FINE ballpark-style mustard!

Having never made mustard before, I was a bit nervous. This homemade yellow mustard recipe made it super simple and worked out better than I expected.

The mustard thickened quickly, within 5 minutes of being over the heat. Halfway through the cooking time, the mustard’s color changed to a bright yellow, just like the store-bought brands. By the time the initial cooking time was up, the mustard was very thick. I added the vinegar and it loosened right away. I cooked it for an additional 25 minutes to the typical squirt-bottle mustard consistency.

It tasted very similar to the store-bought variety, so I’m pretty sure I will not be buying any more yellow mustard at the grocery story. It was easier than I thought it would be, with the added bonus of knowing all the ingredients in my mustard. This recipe yields about 1 cup, which is more than enough for a backyard hot dog cookout this summer.

We go through a lot of mustard in our household, so it’s exciting to have a solid recipe for homemade yellow mustard that we can make ourselves in a fairly short amount of time. This recipe makes a basic mustard that’s quite a bit better and more flavorful than your typical ballpark yellow mustard. It was very easy to make and not too much of a time commitment.

My only caution is to be very watchful while the liquid cooks out of the mustard mixture or it will burn to the bottom of the pan. After 20 minutes of cooking at medium-low, I turned my burner down to low and put a cover that was slightly offset over the pot both to reduce the amount of mustard splatter and to keep it from burning. I also stirred constantly toward the end until I added the vinegar at just short of 1 hour.

The mustard seemed to mellow quite a bit between the time I started cooking it and the time I added the vinegar. I’ll be making this again.

After making the homemade ketchup on the site, I decided to try the homemade yellow mustard, too. It was perfect and tastes just like what you buy at the store. I’m not a mustard lover, but my son is, so I let him do the tasting. He gave it the official taste test versus the store-bought version and declared them too close in taste to distinguish the homemade.

I had a hard time keeping my burner low enough to not cook the water mustard mixture too quickly. The mixture became very thick, almost paste-like. I was worried I had ruined it with the higher-than-low heat. After whisking in the vinegar, I let it cook another 6 to 8 minutes, then I decided to let it cool.

I have to admit, I may never do this again, as the ingredients cost more than buying the prepared version and it took a little over an hour to make. But it’s nice to know I can duplicate it using ingredients I usually have on hand if I need to someday.

This homemade yellow mustard recipe is easy to throw together and ends up tasting just like the store-bought variety.

I messed up the first time I tried this recipe and mixed the vinegar in with the other ingredients at the beginning. After an hour of cooking, it was a very nice thickness and ready to cool. I made this again, adding the vinegar after the 1 hour cooking time, and it took 12 minutes (on my induction stove) to get to the right thickness. I didn’t notice any difference in the flavor or texture. I made this a third time (I know, overkill) but added some finely diced canned jalapeños with the vinegar, and it was fantastic.

What a fun project. Delicious, too. So far I’ve used the homemade mustard on a meatloaf sandwich and a BBQ sandwich, and it was perfect. I had my son-in-law, who adores mustard, try it, and he ate it on some Ritz crackers and gave it his seal of approval.

Who makes their own mustard? This girl—thanks to this super simple recipe and a whole lot of patience. This yellow mustard tastes just like I remember it (with that tangy zing), and it is really the perfect accompaniment for any ball-park hot dog.

It turns out mustard takes a lot (and I do mean a lot) of stirring. It, however, was totally worth the sore arm I had the next day. Because it really is cool to make something you never thought about making at home, and making it better than any store-bought brand.

A quick note, the mustard mixture sans vinegar became very thick for me and almost paste-like. I decided to be a bit rebellious and added the vinegar at that time. One word of caution, the mustard mixture is potent and may cause your eyes to tear up a bit. Wear goggles if you have them or just go ahead and cry at how amazing it is to never have to buy mustard again. The finished recipe made plenty to last awhile—or at least one BBQ.

This homemade yellow mustard is wonderful.

I admit I don’t usually cry in the kitchen and I was okay when I started this recipe but the second time I went to stir the yellow concoction, I had to turn the fan on high and stick my head outside for fresh air. The fumes can be overpowering, and this is not something you want to make the day of an event, such as a backyard picnic. It’s easy to make, though.

It tasted a little harsh the first couple days, but after a week it had mellowed a little and was great on hamburgers, though it still had a little bit of an understated bite to it. I had purchased mustard powder from a spice store, and the salesperson told me that mustard is harsh when you first make it and mellows with age, so keep the mustard at room temperature until it reaches a level you like and then put in the fridge to stop the mellowing process. When we first tried the yellow mixture, we were reminded of the mustard you get at Chinese restaurants—a hot bite that, if you’re not careful, will get deep in your nasal cavity if you inhale the aroma too deeply. We tried the salesperson’s tip of leaving the mustard out on our counter and tried a dab every day with pretzels. When it reached a level we liked, we put the mason jar of mustard in the fridge. Three days later, we had it on hamburgers.

Bring on the baseball games and hot dogs, we’re ready.

I loved making this yellow mustard. It’s a recipe you can throw together while multitasking in the kitchen. Comes together really easily and in half an hour you have an amazing yellow mustard that packs a mean punch. Perfect for BBQ season and the store bought stuff is no comparison.

I’ve always wanted to make my own yellow mustard. Never buying the stuff in the bottle, ever again. The variations to this mustard are endless. Definitely a versatile recipe.

Mustard is one of those things that I would never think to make myself, seeing that there’s such a wide variety of different types of mustard available in the grocery store. However, this homemade yellow mustard recipe is fun to make because you get to see what actually goes into making mustard. This lovely combination of dried mustard, paprika, white vinegar, garlic, and turmeric was very flavorful and actually easy to make.

My only recommendation would be to add a touch more salt; I would amp that amount up to 1 whole teaspoon.

In terms of the time it took to cook the mustard, I cooked it on low for about 45 minutes to start and then after the addition of the vinegar, I cooked it for another 15 minutes. At this point it was not only fragrant, but also the correct consistency for yellow mustard.

I’m excited to try this mustard on a variety of different things. A hot dog perhaps…or a hamburger…maybe even with some seared sausage links and sauerkraut as an appetizer? Overall, this was a very trusty version of a condiment we all know and love.

This mustard was really, really good. Two people told me it tasted just like a well-known brand of mustard, but to me it tasted like a cross between a good Dijon mustard and the well-known yellow stuff. There was a small amount of mustardy heat but it was pleasant rather than sharp like some store-bought types.

I found that after cooking the mustard mixture for 10 minutes it was so thick that I couldn’t get my whisk to move in the pan. I know the heat wasn’t too high, as I have a special simmer burner on my stove for just such things and had it on the lowest setting. I pulled it off the heat and added 1/4 cup water to loosen it up, but after another 10 minutes, it was so thick again that I had to add another 1/4 cup water. A further 10 minutes after, that I just added the vinegar and cooked it for 15 minutes more until it was the consistency of store-bought mustard. Total time was about 45 minutes. I put it through a large mesh sieve to remove any lumps that may have formed because it had gotten so thick so quickly, and it was much smoother.

My end results were a really terrific mustard. I know that I’ll be making another batch soon, as the little bit I have left after everyone took a jar home won’t last for 3 months. By the way, the total cost for making my own mustard came in under 75 cents.

Fabulous tasting mustard. This was a great recipe, quick and easy to follow. The color was not quite as bright as the picture but still a vibrant yellow. The flavor was punchy but not too much so. This recipe was quick and easy to follow. It is also easily adaptable and from experience I know the water can be substituted with cider, beer or wine and different types of vinegars could be used. I did not find it too spicy. The spiciness can always be tweaked by adding a teaspoon of honey towards the end of the cooking.

The flavor mellowed after 3 days and the color seems to have intensified a little. It only took 20 minutes for the mustard to turn into a paste. This might be because I used a pan with a large surface area. I used homemade garlic paste instead of garlic powder. It only took another 15 minutes after adding the vinegar for the mixture to have the correct consistency, although I thought it was a little on the thick side. I could probably have taken it off the heat after 10 minutes. This recipe produced about 180 ml of mustard.

Who would ever have dreamt we could make our own “hot dog” mustard and have it be so good! It’s easier than easy and fun. One pot, no tricks and there it is. Bright yellow and sharp as a tack. In about 50 minutes you have almost a cup of goodness looking for a brat and a bun. 53 minutes from mise-en-place to container for fridge. Cooling is about the only time you can just walk away. I’d have thought I could leave it while it was bubbling away, but alas—yellow bubbles everywhere even a low heat, so it did take some monitoring.

My house smells like the ball park! Fan at full blast was really a great suggestion. I thought I was getting a sinus headache but it was just the mustard cooking away. After the fan, nothing to complain about.

Pretty darn good. It made about 3/4 cup of pale yellow mustard. It was a little vinegary on first taste but that subsided after a day or two in the fridge and a smooth mustard flavor came through.

The mustard had a clean, sharp mustard flavor—proving homemade mustard is certainly worth the time and effort! While making this, I didn’t experience a strong, eye-watering fragrant aroma that the instructions and previous reviews warned me about. I remembered in Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for “Gerard’s Mustard Tart,” she warned, “if the mustard brings tears to your eyes, it’s fresh enough for this tart.”

This led me to grinding high-quality mustard seeds to a powder and making a second batch with the freshly ground powder. I immediately experienced the eye-watering aroma the instructions warned me about! While the second batch was a lot more pungent, I thought both batches tasted a lot fresher than store-bought, and I thoroughly enjoyed having the smell of mustard permeate my entire house for a day.




About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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133 Comments

  1. I’m going to try making this recipe and I wondered how much mustard does it make? And can you freeze mustard or can it? Thank you

    1. Roanna, the recipe makes 1 cup of mustard. We haven’t tried canning this but according to our canning expert, it is safe to do so in quarter or half-pint jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude if necessary. If you can it, be sure to use garlic powder and not garlic puree. You can freeze mustard, but it’s not ideal as the flavor and texture may change after freezing. It will keep for a long time in the refrigerator though.

    1. Panda, if you prepared it with garlic powder, it will likely last several months, even up to a year in the fridge. If you made it with garlic puree the shelf life will be shorter but I can’t give you an exact timing. It should be good for at least a few weeks.