Authentic German Mustard Recipe | Hausgemachter Senf

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• ​It is very simple and easy to make
• The taste and flavor is so much better than store-bought
• It makes a great present 
• It is fun to experiment with various additions and flavors

The ingredients

You only need a few ingredients for your homemade mustard:

• Mustard seeds: I like a 50/50 mix of brown mustard seeds and yellow mustard seeds. You can find them in better grocery stores or online
• Vinegar: I prefer a good white wine vinegar
• Water: I am just listing this since it is an official ingredient
• Sugar: I use regular cane sugar
• Salt: I like using high-quality sea salt but kosher salt is great, too
• Tumeric: While not strictly necessary, adding this spice gives your mustard a nicer yellow color

Useful tools and equipment

Depending on the texture you are going for, you may like to use these kitchen tools:

• Kitchen scale: I highly recommend you use an inexpensive kitchen scale for this recipe
• Spice grinder: I prefer grinding whole seeds to using mustard powder. You can also use a coffee grinder.
• Small food processor: While you could just stir the mustard by hand, this kitchen staple makes it a lot easier.
• Pretty jar: This recipe makes a little more than 8 ounces of mustard and why not present it in a very pretty jar?

Substitutions and variations

Here are some ideas on how to adjust or customize the recipe:

• Mustard seeds: Brown mustard seeds are spicier than the yellow ones. Black mustard seeds have the most zing. You can change the ratio depending on how spicy or mellow you’d like the final mustard to be. If you can’t find whole mustard seeds, you can also use mustard powder.
• Vinegar: I haven’t tried it but you could also use apple cider vinegar or a spirit vinegar.
• Sugar: Regular cane sugar is the classic but you can use brown sugar for a deeper flavor and darker color. Also, you can add more if you’d like your mustard to be sweeter. Honey or maple syrup are also great additions to homemade mustard.
• Spices: If you don’t have any turmeric, you can omit it. Or use more. You can also use other spices such as tarragon, paprika (either Hungarian or smoked), garlic powder, or whatever you feel like adding.
• Consistency: I like the look of grainy, homemade German mustard. Alternatively, you can pour the warm vinegar water over the whole seeds and let them soak for 24 hours. Then you add the remaining ingredients and use a food processor or immersion blender to blend it into a smooth paste.

How to serve

Once you have experienced how great homemade mustard tastes, you’ll want to add it to a lot of dishes and recipes. The classic way is to add it to grilled meats, hot dogs, and sausages (think German bratwurst). There are a lot of recipes that use a bit of mustard such as homemade salad dressings, mayonnaise, German beef rouladen, eggs in mustard sauce, and many more.

How long does it last?

Since mustard seeds are naturally anti-bacterial, this German mustard will last for a long time. I recommend keeping it in the refrigerator in an airtight container where it should last at least 3 months but possibly up to 12 months. 

How to make this dish

Here are the simple step-by-step instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan and over low heat, bring the vinegar to a boil. Transfer it to another bowl, add the water, and let it cool down to almost room temperature. 
2. In the meantime, grind the mustard seeds into a fine powder. 
3. In a medium bowl, combine mustard seed powder with the sugar, salt, and turmeric.
4. Once the vinegar water has cooled down enough, add it to a small food processor with the mustard mixture. Blend it for about 5 minutes into a smooth paste. 
5. You can try to adjust the taste: you may like to add a bit of additional vinegar, sweetener, or just water if it’s too thick.
6. Fill the mustard into clean, dry jars and close with a lid.

Tips for success:

• Be sure to use warm or room-temperature water as hot water will make your mustard bitter.
• Let the mustard mellow down for at least 3 days. Before then it will still be pretty pungent. After 2 weeks it will have developed its full aroma and flavor.
• You can use a paper towel with some white vinegar to clean the coffee or spice grinder both before and after grinding the mustard seeds.