My Grandmother’s Mustard Sauce (AKA: “The Ham Sauce”)
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Are you making a ham this holiday? If so, make this mustard sauce, too. It is so delicious and so simple to prepare — it’s a matter of bringing a few ingredients to a boil and then passing the mixture through a strainer. It’s fantastic for leftover ham sandwiches.
In my family, this mustard sauce is as essential as the ham on the holiday table. It takes no time to whisk together, and it is so nice to have on hand for leftover ham sandwiches.
Serve it aside this baked ham with brown sugar glaze.
You can watch the video above, but here’s the visual play-by-play: Gather your ingredients: cream, ground mustard, vinegar, salt, sugar, egg yolks.
Combine them in a sauce pan:
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking often. Do not walk away. As soon as it simmers, it’s done. Strain it.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week (or longer).
It is sooooo nice to have on hand for leftover ham sandwiches on …
PrintMy Grandmother’s Mustard Sauce
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 .5 cups
Description
In my family, this mustard sauce is as essential as the ham on the holiday table. It takes no time to whisk together, and it is so nice to have on hand for leftover ham sandwiches.
Not all dry mustards are created equally, and depending on the type you use, your sauce could taste unpleasantly strong. I don’t have a strong preference of brands here, but in recent years I use the Tone’s ground mustard, which I find at my local co-op.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (114 g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (70 g) white wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons (24 g) ground mustard, see notes above
- 4 egg (60 g roughly) yolks
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) kosher salt
- 1 cup (240 g) heavy cream
Instructions
- Place a strainer over a medium-sized bowl (able to hold about 2 cups of liquid). Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer while monitoring closely and stirring often. As soon as the mixture comes to boil, pour it through the strainer into the bowl. Let cool, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
92 Comments on “My Grandmother’s Mustard Sauce (AKA: “The Ham Sauce”)”
OMG Ali — Thank you for this great recipe! one of our guests offered to bring a ham to Thanksgiving– I remembered reading this recipe and made it—- what a great flavor and great condiment to have on next day sandwiches.
So great to hear this, Mikki! It’s my fave sauce. So glad you approve 🙂 🙂 🙂
How long does it last in the refrigerator and how do you reheat it.
I’d say 1 week (maybe a little longer).
Very very good. I think I may have put a tad too much vinegar as I was using up the bottle so while it was still warm (after straining) I added about 1 TBSP of honey. Perfect! Better than store bought sweet honey mustards.
Great to hear and yum! Sounds so good 🙂
I made this for our Christmas Eve ham. I had to substitue Dijon mustard and it was amazing. Still is. I will certwinly make this again!
Great to hear, Louise! Thanks for writing 🙂
Made this to go with ham on Christmas and it was an absolute hit. We had some left over and it was the perfect accompaniment to a baked soft pretzel. The balance of tartness from the vinegar and sweetness from the sugar is perfect. Thanks for the recipe.
Great to hear, Vince! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
I am intrigued by the HAM SAUCE. Do you think that a person could use prepared mustard instead of dry powder and if so how much would you recommend? Thank you!
I have not done this but someone did recently… you may be able to find the comment if you scroll up a bit… I think she used 3 tablespoons of mustard. Hope it turns out… again, I’ve never tried, so I’d hate to lead you astray!
Thanks for the reply. I have a favorite brand of mustard I would like to use.
I appreciate your encouragement and am confident it will be fine.
Good luck 🙂
Hi there! Hoping to make this for a large dinner soon! Unfortunately, we do not have tones ground mustard in our area. Have you used McCormicks by chance? Or possibly Walmarts Great value organic brand? If so, do you have a ratio recommendation for these brands?
Those should be fine! Tones is not fancy at all… I think it’s my store’s generic brand. Either of the ones you notes will work great. Go for it!
Thanks so much! Appreciate your quick response!
Hello, I’m not a mustard fan, but the rest of my family love it. Should this be served cold, room temperature or warm? Thanks!
Room temperature is ideal!
What kind/brand of mustard powder did you use? Did you make any changes to the recipe?
No changes. Great value.
My only thought is that the brand you are using is stronger/more bitter than the brands I have used over the years. Sorry to hear this didn’t turn out as it’s one of my favorites.
Going to make it today. But the highlight of this was hearing your wee little helper in the background of the video. God bless
Hope you love it, Bob!
I prepared the mustard sauce to accompany the your ham recipe for Easter dinner. It was fabulous. I will never serve ham without it!! Thank you for a treasure of a recipe.
Great to hear, Susan! Thanks so much for writing. We’ve been enjoying the ham sauce all week with leftovers 🙂
I made this sauce today using 1/2 and 1/2 instead of cream and it worked great. I’m going to serve this with some ground pork meatballs. Thank you for your recipes. We love them!!
Yum! Great to hear, Sara 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing!