Honey Mustard Sauce for Ham

Name: Honey Mustard Sauce for Ham
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: ¼ cup pan juices, or olive oil; ½ cup Dijon mustard; ½ cup honey; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1 tbsp dried rubbed sage; ¼ tsp black pepper; ¼ tsp cayenne pepper ((optional))

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This Honey Mustard Sauce recipe is perfectly paired with my Instant Pot Ham or any ham recipes for that matter! I love that it's not overly sweet, slightly tangy, and packed with flavor. It takes a plain ham to a whole new level, but is surprisingly delicious with chicken and seafood as well!

honey mustard sauce over ham on a plate with salad and baked potato

I first tried a similar honey mustard sauce after the birth of my son, Scotty, who is currently 23 years old. We were new attendees at our church when he was born.

The ladies at church, who I barely knew, dropped off meals for two weeks when they found out I'd given birth to my son. One of the ladies brought over a baked ham with a side of honey mustard sauce.

It was so good that I asked her for the recipe, which Vickey was nice enough to provide. Over the years I've made many changes to her honey mustard sauce recipe. I've finally settled on this version.

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🧐 Why This Recipe Works
🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
🍯 How to Make Honey Mustard Sauce
🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips
🍖 Related Recipes
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💬 Comments

🧐 Why This Recipe Works

This is a super easy recipe that only requires a few steps and a few simple ingredients. It's as easy as adding all the ingredients into a saucepan and simmering the sauce for a few minutes. You can handle that, right?
The honey in the sauce provides just the right amount of sweetness and balances out the acidity of the mustard and vinegar. Unlike many ham sauce recipes, it's not overly sweet. That's because many mustard sauce recipes use pineapple juice, orange juice, crushed pineapple, and brown sugar. They should be called sweet pineapple sauce instead of ham sauce.
The cayenne pepper adds a nice amount of heat but can be left out for a more mild honey mustard sauce. Especially if serving it to kids, with chicken nuggets, for example.
This mustard sauce goes perfectly over spiral ham instead of a sweet ham glaze. Be sure to drizzle it over leftover ham and in ham sandwiches too!

🛒 What You Need For This Recipe

🔖 Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions

Oil: If you aren't cooking a ham or don't have pan juices to add to the sauce, you can add olive oil instead. Avocado oil is another great option.
Mustard: Don't have dijon mustard? That's alright, just use plain mustard. If you like horseradish, add a teaspoon of that too to make the mustard spicier.
Vinegar: Although I add red wine vinegar, you can substitute apple cider vinegar or white vinegar if you need to.
Sage: Make sure to use rubbed sage in this recipe. You can usually find it in the spice aisle.

🍯 How to Make Honey Mustard Sauce

STEP 1: Add ¼ cup of baked ham pan juices to a small saucepan, or substitute pan juices with olive oil. Stir in the remaining mustard sauce ingredients as you heat them over medium heat.

STEP 2: Once mixed, whisk the sauce over low heat until it begins to boil then simmer for a few minutes until it thickens.

Serve mustard sauce with ham, or use it as a dipping sauce with shrimp, other seafood, and chicken.

🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

What is Honey Mustard Sauce Made of?

Honey mustard sauce has a few ingredients that are always present. But there are other ingredients that are interchangeable.

Main Ingredients
Honey
Dijon Mustard
Yellow Mustard

Other Common Ingredients
Mayonaise
Olive Oil
Herbs
Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Seasoning (salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper)

What do you serve with Honey Mustard Sauce?

Although this recipe is called "Honey Mustard Sauce for Ham," there are many other ways to enjoy this recipe.

One obvious way is to serve it as a dipping sauce with chicken nuggets. But don't stop there; consider these other options too!

Serve over salmon
Drizzle over egg dishes, including quiche
Serve as a side with Crab Cakes
Dipping sauce for Shrimp
Serve with a salad
Mix with seafood pasta salad

👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips

Although I've found using ¼ cup of the pan juices enhances the flavor of the mustard sauce, feel free to substitute the pan juices with mayonnaise.
You can also substitute the pan juices with olive oil for a healthier alternative.
Red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar can be used in the recipe
If you don't have dijon mustard, substitute with plain mustard, and a tablespoon or more of horseradish sauce.
Try experimenting with other herbs and spices to see what you can come up with.

white plate with salad, baked potato, mustard sauce and ham

If you enjoy making your own homemade sauces, you may want to check out these other delicious sauces: Yogurt Shawarma Sauce, Pasta Cream Cheese Sauce, Chimichurri Sauce, and 5-Ingredient Sriracha Aioli.

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