Any mustard is great as a condiment, dip, dressing, or added flavoring, and different varieties work well with so many kinds of food that people have their own favorites, and one mustard many people love is honey mustard.
If you happen to run out of your honey mustard, here are some honey mustard substitutes I discovered that are great as alternatives!
Honey Mustard Substitutes
1. Barbecue Sauce
It may seem a bit odd, but a lot of barbecue sauces in the market are mustard-based, and barbecue sauces are sweetened with some sort of sweetener, like brown sugar or honey.
Barbecue sauce’s tangy taste with a hint of spice and a little sweetness is almost a match to the flavor profile of honey mustard.
2. Ketchup
Ketchup and mustard have the same tangy flavors and sweetness. If you cannot find honey mustard in your pantry, ketchup can fill in the void.
However, you will not get the distinct mustard flavors from ketchup, but you will get almost the same flavor notes.
In recipes where honey mustard is added in dipping sauces and dressings, ketchup will work great as a honey mustard substitute.
3. Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise will not give you any sweetness like honey mustard, but you can substitute mayonnaise for honey mustard in your rubs and dressings while adding sugar or honey.
You will get a bit of the tang you are looking for with mayonnaise, but you will lack the color and the balance of sweetness and heat you would achieve with honey mustard.
4. Dijon Mustard
Dijon mustard is a good honey mustard substitute that is less sweet and spicier. If you need something that has more mustard taste than the sweetness of honey, Dijon mustard is a perfect choice.
5. Yellow Mustard and Sugar
If you do not have a jar of pre-made honey mustard in your pantry but have honey and mustard, you can make your own honey mustard by mixing the two until you reach your desired flavor.
You can make honey mustard from any kind of prepared mustard you want, but yellow mustard is the simplest mustard to use.
You can build up the flavor by adding your own spices, but the two main ingredients already work very well.
6. Mayonnaise and Dates
Mayonnaise will work as a decent mustard replacement, and the sweetness of the dates will replace the honey.
Dates are natural sweeteners, so you do not have to worry about adding more sugar into the mixture.
To make the mixture, you can soak the dates in water to soften the dates before you blend the dates then add the dates puree into your mayo.
7. Buttermilk
Buttermilk is great when you are using honey mustard in baking or making a dessert. Buttermilk has a tangy, almost sour taste that can easily replace the mustard flavor.
To make buttermilk sweeter for a dessert, you can add any sweetener you want since buttermilk is a very good base for added flavor such as brown sugar, honey, syrup, or icing sugar.
8. Bavarian Mustard
Bavarian mustard is German mustard known for its sweetness and amazing flavors, making Bavarian mustard an easy replacement for honey mustard.
Using Bavarian mustard keeps the dish on the sweet side and adds more depths of flavor from the added spices and seasonings.
9. Plain Yogurt and Maple Syrup
Plain yogurt and maple syrup combine the tanginess and mild sourness of plain yogurt and the sweetness of maple syrup that almost make it a perfect replica of honey mustard.
While this combo will lack a bit of flavor because yogurt does not taste like much, you can always add spices and the acidity will be present.
Honey Mustard Substitute In Baked Honey Mustard Salmon
This recipe uses honey mustard not only as a crust to the salmon and binder to other spices but because of the added flavor honey mustard gives to the fish.
If you have no honey mustard on hand, you can use Dijon mustard or mayonnaise in its place.
Dijon mustard will provide you with the tang and heat of mustard without the sweetness. In this case, you can opt to add a sweetener of your choice.
Alternately, mayonnaise will help bind the ingredients as well as provide a thin crust to the fish, and mayonnaise is a great base for added flavors as mayonnaise is mild and slightly acidic.
Honey Mustard Substitute In Chicken Tenders Dipping Sauce
Honey mustard is great with fried chicken because honey mustard gives sweetness to an otherwise salty dish and adds the kick of mustard.
If no honey mustard is available, ketchup will do the trick. Ketchup’s sweet and mildly sour taste gives an overall flavor that can easily replace honey mustard.
Barbecue sauce is also an acceptable substitute, but barbecue sauce is a bit strong. In small doses, barbecue sauce can be a great pair with fried chicken due to barbecue sauce’s pronounced tanginess.
Dijon mustard is probably the best substitute for this recipe as Dijon mustard already has all the mustard flavor you need.
Plus, Dijon mustard goes great with chicken tenders since Dijon mustard is the same as honey mustard.
In this case, the best substitute is still up to your taste and preference. Whatever flavor works for you and your recipe then use that alternative for honey mustard.
Take a look at our related articles to discover mustard substitutes, ground mustard substitutes, and whole grain mustard substitutes.
Conclusion
Honey mustard has a distinct sweet and tangy flavor that people enjoy, but it is good to know that there are substitutes available if you do not have any honey mustard.
Your choice of a honey mustard substitute depends on how well you want the flavor to be recreated or how it needs to be incorporated into a dish.
Available options like ketchup, mayo, or barbecue sauce are easy solutions since most of us already have these condiments available in our home, but they need a little tweaking.