Mm. Mustard.
I love mustard. But those fancy pants Dijon mustards give me a headache. I can get organic Dijon that comes in plastic. Or non-organic Dijon in glass. (Go figure, right?)
Then it occurred to me that this is yet another product we’ve become accustomed to buying ready to use, when there’s a perfectly good way to make it at home. Never mind that I didn’t know the perfectly good way to make it at home; surely I could figure it out.
Score one for me and the internet. I found a number of recipes with a variety of methods – including cooking the ingredients – but when I distilled all of this information, I decided to go with the simplest method. And my, how simple it is.
Homemade Grainy Mustard
- 1 cup yellow mustard seeds (and yes, I bought mine in bulk and put them in my mini bags!)
- 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
Place all ingredients in a covered jar and allow to sit for a couple of days so that the seeds soften. Don’t get too persnickety about the time frame. I can tell you with absolute certainty that if your week gets a little out of control busy with too many people needing too many things, it will be a-okay if you leave the soaking seeds sitting on your counter for a full week.
Over the course of a couple of days, the seeds will absorb almost all of that liquid. If the liquid is completely absorbed and your seeds look a little dry, add a bit more water or apple cider vinegar.
After a couple of days (or a week) pour the contents of the jar into your blender and process until the mustard is the desired consistency. Less if you like it grainy, more if you prefer it creamy. Put the finished mustard right back into the jar the seeds were in. Not even a jar to wash!
I kept it simple and just added a bit of thyme for seasoning, but you can go crazy with different spices. If you like traditional yellow mustard, add 1/2-1 teaspoon of turmeric. Or try using white wine or your favorite stout instead of water. I’ve found that you really do need some vinegar (a batch made with just white wine was yucky), but you can play around with the amounts and ingredients a fair bit once you’ve seen how simple this is.
The mustard mellows a bit as it sits, but it’s still quite bold. We had it with roasted potatoes the other night and it was delicious.
This was so easy. I don’t see any reason to ever buy Dijon mustard again – in glass or plastic.
Have you ever tried to make mustard?
Oh, I’m so excited to find this recipe! I lived in France, so we always had cheap mustard and never thought about making it ourselves. The mustard with grains came in a pottery jar and was more expensive. I cannot wait to try making my own. Do you have to keep it in the refrigerator after you make it? Does it ever go bad? Thanks so much!
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Well, I refrigerate mine, but I suspect this is one of those foods that will do fine at room temperature, too, due to the vinegar. The vinegar means it should have a long shelf life, too! The hardest part about this recipe is remembering to pick up mustard seeds at the store!
Kris @ Attainable Sustainable recently posted..Homemade Grainy Mustard – Yes, Really
great idea, know I just have to find out where to get mustard seeds….
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Thank you for this simple recipe. My hubby loves all kinds of mustard, and of late he has been getting more and more in the kitchen, some would call creative. I would call a kitchen science project. Anyways, I read aloud to him, as I sometimes do when I come across a new recipe. And see if either of us wants to try it…He definitely will be trying this, and I am sure experimenting with flavors. This will help keep him bored in his upcoming retirement years. Maybe we will even sell at the local Farmer’s Market…And keep organic, healthy and inexpensive (these types of recipes we search for, as almost like a hobby and if taste good, we keep on the ‘menu’).
I think there could be some really fun experimentation with this! If he comes up with a winner, please let me know – I’d love to share it.
Kris, you amaze me. It would have never occurred to me to make my own mustard. What a revelation!
Haven’t tried it yet, but will now! Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve had it on my list to learn how to make my own mustard. Now I see it is super duper easy. THANKS!
I will try this. I made mustard once before, but the recipe did not say to blend it – it left the seeds whole and I just didn’t care for it.
You can blend it coarse or fine. I did mine kind of mid-range, Dijon like.
Amazing. Silly me, I never before considered that you can actually make your own mustard. But it is so very easy. I’m impressed.
Habits, yeah? We’re breaking them left and right around here!
Ooooo, this recipe has my name written all over it. I’ve got these hot mustard seeds from one of my favorite spice shops. Do you have to use apple cider vinegar? I’m thinking it’s for the flavor. The possibilities here…
You can use a variety of liquids – vinegars, wine, beer…
So I tried my first batch with Guiness Draught. I’m not sure it really worked. The beer has a strong flavor and the resultant mustard smells nothing like any kind of mustard I’ve ever had. Since beer is more alive than vinegar, what are the chances that I’ve got some kind of fermentation going on?
Anybody done a batch with beer? What kind did you use? How much beer vs water? Sit at room temp or in the frig while soaking? Anything else different in the way you did the batch?
A follow up. I did some searching around and found that most mustards made with beer/wine also include some vinegar, sugar, and spices. I’m in the process of adding stuff to see if I can fix the batch. So far, so good. I’m going to let the batch sit for a bit and will report back on the results. In the mean time, we’ve picked up some new mustard and are going to try a few other types of batches. Big fun! Thank you for posting this.
Such a cool recipe, and as always, so easy to do. Love Dijon Mustard.
Never tried but we HAVE mustard seeds (that I used in a recipe). And I really want to try making my own. Here we CAN buy organic in glass jars but I think making it myself would be an even better option. (p.s. My friend down the street has been making her own vanilla, inspired by your recipe!)
What an amazing idea!!
What a cool idea. I would have never thought about making Dijon mustard at home. And the recipe looks so easy.
I love whole grain mustard! Thanks for the idea and inspiration, I will be trying this out right away.
I’ve got my second batch soaking right now! This time I used white wine with just a splash of vinegar for the liquid. It smells like it will be a bit mellower than the last batch.
[...] you have a few days, throw together a batch of homemade grainy mustard. It takes five minutes to make, but you’ll need to let it sit for a few days before [...]
[...] teaspoons Dijon-style mustard (you’re making your own, [...]