Whether you can find McDonald’s hot mustard at the restaurant or not, this make-at-home recipe will let you enjoy it all the time! It’s easy to prepare and it’s vegan too. You’ll love this spicy-sweet sauce.
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This is one of the most popular dipping sauces at McDonald’s, but sadly it keeps getting removed from the menu. Well, I just recreated it at home so now you can enjoy it anytime you want!
Table of Contents
What Is McDonald’s Hot Mustard?
For a brief time, this famous chicken nuggets sauce was removed from McDonald’s menu because it just wasn’t as popular as their other sauces. That made no sense to me because it was one of my favorites. That’s why I wanted to make it at home. The recipe I created is such a close copycat I can’t tell a difference.
It has the tang of brown mustard with the kick of cayenne pepper and underneath it all us an aftertaste of sweet corn syrup. This is divine!
Just in case this sauce goes the way of the McRib, returning, and disappearing, I wanted to recreate this sauce when I heard rumors of it showing up again.
I know, the name of the sauce is McDonald’s Hot Mustard, but if you haven’t tried this sauce before, it isn’t blistering hot like Chinese mustard.
McDonald’s Hot Mustard is a pleasant sauce that has some heat, and some sweet. I think this would be a great sauce to serve up with some beef cutlets or to smear onto your favorite sandwich.
How to Make Hot Mustard
I’m going to show you how to make hot mustard at home. First, let’s look at the basic ingredients. You might have everything you need at home already.
Ingredients
This recipe has very common ingredients. We are going to use:
- Prepared mustard
- Corn syrup
- Cayenne pepper
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- White distilled vinegar
- Mustard powder
- Spicy brown mustard
Ingredient Notes
You can add a little additional turmeric in there if you desire. While it doesn’t impact the flavor too much, it can make your sauce more colorful.
For this recipe, I started with brown mustard. There are many brands of brown mustard available, I find Gulden’s a great choice. The yellow mustard that we all love doesn’t have the right flavor to carry the delicious dipping sauce on its own.
Whenever you use cayenne pepper you can always add a little more if you like more heat. I like the tang and the mild heat of the mustard, so I am going to err on the side of being more conservative. As always, when cooking you have the opportunity to make the recipe your own. So feel free to use more cayenne pepper if you like. You can also use some mustard powders that are hotter than others.
I know a lot of people don’t like to use corn syrup. If you do not want to use it, there is a product in the stores called golden syrup, it made with cane sugar and functions like corn syrup. Corn syrup in this recipe serves two purposes; it adds some sweetness, but mostly it adds texture.
Recipe Steps
- Gather and measure all the ingredients.
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Stir or whisk to thoroughly combine.
Let the hot mustard rest overnight
This sauce is best when you make it a few hours before you want to serve it; it is best when allowed to rest overnight. I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you haven’t tried this hot mustard, I think it is great on its own.
How Many calories are in McDonald’s hot mustard sauce?
There are about 53 calories in one packet of hot mustard sauce. But if you follow my recipe, it only has about 29 calories in one teaspoon. Not bad!
Is hot mustard vegan?
Yes, this is a vegan dipping sauce. It only has mustard, vinegar, spices, and sweetener in it. You can modify this recipe to suit your exact diet and tastebuds.
Love McDonald’s? Check out these McDonald’s Copycat Recipes
- Big Mac Hamburger
- Secret Big Mac Sauce Recipe
- Best McDonalds Burger
- Egg McMuffins
- McDonald’s Peppermint Latte
- Shamrock Shake
- Hot Apple Pie
More Copycat Dipping Sauce Recipes
- Special Sauce for Chicken
- Houlihan’s Mustard Sauce
- Zesty Sauce
- Campfire Sauce
- Sweet and Spicy Mustard Sauce Recipe
Check out even more popular sauces and dips along with the best copycat recipes ever.
McDonald’s Hot Mustard Recipe
Here’s the recipe for you. I know you are going to love it!
McDonald’s Hot Mustard
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown mustard
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup or golden syrup
- 4 teaspoons mustard powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine all ingredients.
- Stir until well blended.
- Store in an airtight container for at least 4 hours before serving. It is best to allow this to rest overnight before serving.
Kim
I tried this once with brown mustard, and it just wasn’t right. I bought a jar of Dusseldorf mustard. I omitted the vinegar, and I added about a Tablespoon of mayo. I would swear someone emptied packets of hot mustard into the bowl. The Dusseldorf mustard makes all the difference…and a bit of creepiness from the mayo.
Bryan Leo Juchemich
what kind of Mayo? Hellmans original?
Desiree
This is delicious and so close, I’ll make this for sure all the time and I can add more heat, Thanks!!!
Stephanie Bondurant
this has always been the only sauce I eatwith chicken mcnuggets. When they told me they were discontinuing it I was super disappointed!, so I asked them for handfuls of it everytime i went to Mcdonalds drivethru so i would have it to eat with my mcnuggets. Im glad they brought it back before I ran out! Nice to know i can make it just in case they do it again
Sheree
Can you can and preserve this for eating later?
Stephanie
I haven’t preserved it, but I have had it about 2 months after I made it, it does begin to lose its heat over time.
Baltisraul
Our very favorite mustard is Hot Sweet. Going to try this but will probable add some mayo and Crystal’s Hot sauce. Don’t remember McDonalds mustard but I have not been to one in 17-18 years. Bring on the Brats!!! Fire up the grill.
jeanette lalor
hi stephanie
i wrote you some time ago telling you how pretty you looked! this recipe is a keeper as my grandson and his friends love it. you bring a lot of happiness to so many of us with your tried and true recipes.
jeanette
Rosa
I just made this. It is terrific and tastes much like their restaurant sauce. I did leave out the soy sauce since I’m sensitive to the taste and it seems to overpower the other ingredients for me. I do think the spicy brown mustard is key. No yellow mustard. Thanks for getting this right.
Stephanie
I am glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Kristen
Per the container, it contains eggs and soybean oil.. there should be mayo in here somewhere.
Ashleigh
I thought this was very close to the real thing.
Rich Sellers
Definately too “mustardy”. I’m going to try again with half of the Mustard Powder.
Also, looking at the ingredients on the packet, there is turmeric and egg yolk. Did you use Mayo a substitute for the egg? I’m not sure what turmeric will add to the flavor?
For the record, the color and constancy is dead-on (I used light corn syrup). The taste is pretty good, but heavy on the mustard powder.
Erma
Hello. I know this may be a little bit late in the game, HOWEVER, Turmeric is used to give mustard it’s yellow color. It may also add a touch of flavor, however, not much is used to just achieve the mustard yellow coloring that mustard has.
Billybob
Ew corn syrup. I’d never willingly add corn syrup to something I’m eating. I get enough of it with processed foods.
B Donewar
Corn syrup is not the same thing as the much-maligned high fructose corn syrup. While both are made from corn starch, corn syrup is 100% glucose while high fructose corn syrup has been processed to convert some of that glucose into fructose.
Thanks to http://www.epicurious.com/ for helping me out.
Dee
Corn syrup is made from GMO corn; a digestive system destroyer.
Alexandra Von Ehren
I’m trying to copy this, too. I’m not there but this is as close as I’ve come: 2 (full) T yellow mustard, just under 2 T honey, 1 T Dijon, just under 2 T horseradish, 1 1/2 T mayo, 1 1/2 T lemon juice, 1-1 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1+tsp cayenne, 3/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 fresh ground pepper, Pinch or two of ground dry mustard
It’s not right, but I know some of these ingredients are pretty imperative for the sauce, particularly the turmeric and horseradish. Not sure if that helps or anything, but I give up! 🙂 Too much work for me. Thanks and have a great day!
Tess
This sounds closer to the real deal. The recipe above is nowhere near McDonald’s hot mustard sauce. Way to much mustard powder and it gives it a very strong harsh after taste. You can taste the Horseradish in the real thing but the copy cats call for None and they are all the same. Just like the one above and they are all wrong. Im gonna try yours thanks Alexandra
ARose
I made this recipe since the one givin by the website was completely off. This recipe is great though! The way I made it was a little different. I didn’t have any horse radish or lemon juice- it doesn’t taste like the hot mustard but as something completely different it’s an amazing sauce! Very picky and tangy- I’m definitely going to make this again!
ARose
*very spicy and tangy
Brian
the recipe says brown mustard, but the video looks like yellow mustard, so which is correct ? and if it’s brown mustard, I assume spicy brown ?
Alexandra Von Ehren
In some of her other responses she’s said the mustard flavor/appearance varies from brand to brand and that McDonald’s probably has its own mustard recipe. I do not know what brand of brown mustard she uses for this, but it is the only “copy cat” of McDonald’s Hot Mustard I’ve come across that uses brown instead of yellow mustard. I’m not implying it’s incorrect, but in my own attempts to copy the recipe yellow mustard seemed appropriate for color/taste. (Note: I have not successfully copied it, so maybe that’s why!)
Despiser_of_Libs
I really liked this recipe, thanks for sharing. I added a Tbs of Mayo and skipped the Cayenne. Still had some kick but had some creaminess as well. Everyone said it tasted better than McDs. We used this sauce immediately so I can imagine it will be better after some time in fridge.
Christin
I just made a honey mustard that I thought tasted a lot like McDonalds Hot Mustard but it was much simpler!! I combined almost equal parts of a dijon mustard (it was Emeril’s New York Deli Style mustard) and honey. And thats it!
ChrisGroff
First things first: This doesn’t taste anything like McDonalds Hot Mustard sauce. HOWEVER… It still makes a fantastic sauce for other things. Great on burgers and hot dogs, and if you use honey instead of corn syrup you get a dynamite tangy honey mustard.
stephaniemanley
Thank you very much for your thoughts. I appreciate your input. What could have been changed to make it taste more like McDonald’s Hot Mustard?
ChrisGroff
I think maybe paprika and nutmeg. Possibly mayo. It’s a bit too… “Mustardy” tasting. It’s such a difficult flavor to get.
stephaniemanley
Different brands of mustard do work differently. They can taste slightly different. I am certain McDonald’s uses their own blend. I appreciate your other suggestions.
Alexandra Von Ehren
Is it possible the spice you are thinking of is turmeric? In my own “investigating” (searching recipes/trying on my own) it seems turmeric is pretty essential for color/taste. I put my closest attempt above, but it’s not right. If you figure it out and have the time, please let me know. 🙂
mary
can you let me know when mcdonalds brings it back?
stephaniemanley
I think it has started to make reappearances. Have you been back lately?
Volusia912
I got some today in my local restaurant. They have not had any for months. I always ask about it and the lady said someone accidentally ordered it. Oh yeah!
stephaniemanley
Interesting, they said someone made a mistake? I hope it is back for real. I thought that it was the best sauce for dipping those chicken nuggets in!
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Mallory | Chocolate with Grace
Oh, this looks good. Probably even better than Mcdonalds.
stephaniemanley
Oh it is pretty good 😉 You can make this without going to McDonald’s.
Ryan N Becca Torsell
My husband loves this…. me not so much. But, I will make it for him. 🙂
stephaniemanley
I think this sauce can be used on many things.
Brendon Carr
Sorry to hear your husband doesn’t love you.
Roger
I know it’s late but this made me laugh. Haha. Cheers