The Popular Steak Sauce You Never Thought To Use As A Dijon Mustard Substitute

Dijon mustard is sweet, tangy, mildly spicy, and luxuriantly creamy, making it a perfectly balanced condiment, especially for those who find regular mustard too sharp. Dijon and spicy mustard are quite different and are best used in dishes they are suited for — the former as an ingredient in sauces and marinades, the latter as a spread in sandwiches. If you do need a last-minute substitute to fill in for Dijon mustard, look instead to the potent Worcestershire sauce. A condiment and flavor booster with roots that go back a millennium, Worcestershire sauce is used in everything from steak sauce to cocktails and is a chef-recommended secret ingredient for elevating French onion soup. While this dark, watery "sauce" looks completely different from the thick yellow Dijon mustard, it actually contains many similar flavor profiles. Both share lightly spicy, sharp, and tangy notes that add significant complexity to whatever dish they are added to. In fact, both are great accompaniments to steak.

Of course, since the two are made from significantly different ingredients, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce are not equal substitutes. If a recipe calls for a teaspoon of the former, you can't simply use the same amount of the latter. For one, Worcestershire sauce has a stronger taste; and if it's the mustard's creaminess you're after, you will have to modify Worcestershire sauce by adding some mayonnaise. However, in a pinch, it delivers the punchy complexity that will elevate your dish much like Dijon mustard would.

Dijon mustard is made from ground mustard seeds, spices, water, and salt, and gets its tartness from the juice of unripe grapes. In contrast, Worcestershire has a much longer list of ingredients that includes the likes of soy, cloves, pepper, tamarind, sugar (or molasses), and most significantly, anchovies and vinegar. The last two ingredients provide much of the sauce's prominent flavors. Comparing what goes into Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce, it's easy to tell where the tangy notes they have in common come from — unripe grape juice in the former and vinegar in the latter. The sharpness of mustard seeds can be approximated with the pepper, cloves, and other spices that the ancient sauce contains.

To avoid your recipe going awry when using this substitute, it's worth noting the differences between the two as well. The most significant is the deep savory and umami notes in Worcestershire sauce which starkly contrast the lighter flavors in Dijon mustard. To adjust for this, use only a small amount of Worcestershire sauce in a recipe that calls for the French condiment. Marinades and steak sauces are the easiest dishes to use Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce interchangeably, since both add a nice tangy depth to steaks. When used in cooking or as a condiment, mix Worcestershire sauce with mayonnaise, yogurt, or sour cream to bring its consistency and flavor closer to that of creamy Dijon mustard. For dishes that are already heavy on salty and umami flavors, it's even more important to dilute Worcestershire sauce to avoid the dish getting overly salty.