Recipe calls for 1 teaspoon mustard powder.
Can I throw in a spoonful of standard mustard instead?
The photo of the dish shows green flakes on the pasta. Is that the mustard? I don’t see any other ingredient that wouldn’t dissolve during cooking.
Probably, the tiny bit of additional moisture won’t cause any problems in that recipe. The green flakes are almost certainly dried parsley.
I thought that might be parsley. It wasn’t listed in the ingredients. But, I’ll add some for color.
I know mustard has vinegar in it. I wasn’t sure if that would be an issue in this recipe.
In my experience, “mustard powder” means Colman’s English mustard powder — https://www.amazon.com/Colmans-Mustard-Powder-4-Ounce/dp/B000I4MKSS?th=1
Most prepared mustards in sauce or condiment form don’t have the same flavor as this. You need the real stuff.
Whatever you do, avoid American yellow mustards, like French’s.
For something like homemade Hamburger Helper, you can absolutely use regular yellow mustard or just skip it as an ingredient. I almost always add a spoonful of yellow mustard to my mac and cheese, and this is just a beefy mac and cheese.
I’ll use regular mustard today.
I’ll get a jar of mild mustard power for next time.
Colman’s would be too hot. I wouldn’t go near a brown mustard. Dijon mustard is too hot for me.
Is mild mustard powder even a thing? If Dijon is too hot for you, just skip it altogether.
I’ve replaced mustard powder with prepared mustard in dishes. If it would be sensitive to the addition of vinegar I’d substitute cayenne. Ground mustard in small amounts is there to kick up the dish a little.
Even the hottest mustard would be diluted enough by a dish like this that the heat wouldn’t be an issue. And I’d go ahead and use liquid mustard if you don’t have any of the powdered kind. The teeny bit of vinegar wouldn’t hurt your final product, and in fact would probably enhance it.
Note, however, that 1 spoon of powder makes up 2 spoons of liquid mustard. (That’s assuming it’s Coleman’s. Other powders may vary.) Adjust the quantity accordingly.
I’ve tried this sort of substitution before, and the vinegary flavor added by prepared mustard is pretty noticeable to me, not in a good way. I’ve wondered if adding a pinch of baking soda would help, or just make things even worse.
See, for mac and cheese and these type of skillet dishes – especially where you’re doing a chili cheese mac kind of thing – I think the vinegar flavor is more than desireable to cut through the fatty richness of the dish. But I love adding a kick of acid to all sorts of dishes, so perhaps I’m not the best to judge. (Though I really do think prepared mustard really perks up mac and cheese a lot. I won’t make my mac and cheese without it.)
Just finished supper. The hamburger helper was very good.
This was a good recipe.
I like mine with a spoonful of sour cream. I add it to the plate after serving.