Best Yellow Mustard

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It’s one of the world’s best-known relishes and comes in a surprising amount of varieties, but you probably know it best as the one condiment that makes a hot dog — mustard. We’re all familiar with the bright yellow mustard drizzled over a delicious grilled sausage, but not all mustards are created equal. With such an array of yellow mustards ranging from neon paste to organic recipes, what’s the best tangy, slightly sweet mustard your pantry can’t afford to be without?

The best brands will limit the sodium in yellow mustard while still preserving the natural fiery taste of mustard seeds. Good yellow mustard is creamy, tangy, slightly sweet, and avoids excess preservatives, salts, and sweeteners. Popular brands are French’s, Colman’s, and Heinz yellow mustard.

There are so many kinds of mustards, from brown to yellow, Dijon to French, honey to wholegrain, that the right choice can seem overwhelming. Perhaps you want to try something new but don’t want to end up with a jar of mustard you find inedible or too fiery. I’m going to focus mainly on American-style yellow mustard — the one most of us are probably most familiar with — and offer you a range of options from mild to hot, and recommend the top brands we’ve found.

Best Yellow Mustard

It will be challenging to pick one mustard above all others. Different brands will prioritize different flavors, and some will work better with different dishes. Mustard that is too mild may get lost in one dish while being a perfect accompaniment to a hot dog.

It will also depend on how spicy you enjoy your food. What is mild for me may be way too hot for you and vice versa, so I’m going to rank several of the top yellow mustards, highlighting their best features and their taste.

Yellow mustard is usually made from the crushed seeds of the mustard plant. These seeds are ground down and mixed with water, vinegar, and other liquids like wine or juice until a thick paste is formed. Flavorings are then added, and these can include garlic, salt, and a variety of spices. 

Mustards can range in color from yellow to brown, but we’re going to focus our attention on one of America’s favorites — yellow mustard.

Yellow mustards are usually made from yellow mustard seeds, the mildest of the different mustard seed types. Once mixed with spices and vinegar, they create a mellow mustard that is not overpowering, making it a perfect condiment to salty foods like hot dogs and frankfurter sausages.

The yellow mustard we use in America is often colored with turmeric powder to get that deep rich yellow and tends to be milder than English yellow mustard or other types like spicy brown deli mustard.

We top our hotdogs and hamburgers with this delicious condiment and use it in potato salads like this low-FODMAP one, and in bbq sauces and relishes. Yellow mustard is as ubiquitous to America as apple pie and baseball.

There are many household names when it comes to yellow mustard brands, and most of us are pretty familiar with them — but are they actually the best? We’re going to take a deep dive into what goes into each of the top brands and how they taste. We’ll look at which ones are low in preservatives and salts and which brands pack the most flavor.

Best Yellow Mustard For Hotdogs, Hamburgers & Sandwiches

Plochman’s Mild Yellow Mustard

A classic American staple, this mild but still tasty yellow mustard is perfect for hot dogs and hamburgers. Some testers felt this mustard flavor was a little too mild, so if you’re looking for a milder flavor, this is your mustard. A serving size of Plochamn’s Mild Yellow Mustard is 1 tsp and contains

  • 0 calories
  • 3% sodium

Plochman’s use small-batch craftsmanship to give you an award-winning mustard. Their mustard seeds are grown in Saskatchewan, and the company tries to keep their mustard as pure as possible, using no artificial fillers or flavorings.

The ingredients used in Plochman’s are distilled water and vinegar, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika extract, onion powder, spices, and natural flavoring. They rely on the vinegar zing and mustard seeds to do the work, resulting in a much-loved mustard with just the right mild but zippy flavor.

Their mustard is kosher and contains no gluten or MSG.

Heinz Yellow Mustard

There can’t be anyone unfamiliar with Heinz condiments. Not only do they make tomato ketchup, but they also have both natural and organic yellow mustard, among others. The serving size of classic yellow mustard is 1 tsp and contains

  • 0 calories
  • 3% sodium

With a thick, rich taste, and a good bit of tang, this is the perfect mustard for sandwiches and hotdogs. Heinz mustard is made with 100% natural ingredients. Heinz has married the mildness of American yellow mustard with the punch of a New York-style deli mustard, producing a great all-rounder. The deep yellow color comes from the addition of turmeric to the recipe.

All around, Heinz Yellow Mustard consistently scored well, making it one of the most popular top brands we’ve looked at. However, some tasters noted it has a strong sour, vinegary taste rather than full-bodied mustard tang and that the mustard seemed a little thin and runny.

Woeber’s Genuine American Yellow Mustard

Woeber’s make many mustards, ranging from jalapeno-infused to horseradish and sweet and spicy. Their Genuine American Yellow Mustard is made from select yellow mustard seeds, distilled vinegar, salt, and spices. Turmeric gives it that distinctive bright, rich yellow, not synthetic chemicals and colorings. A serving size of Woeber’s yellow mustard is 1 tsp and contains

  • 0 calories
  • 3% sodium, although by weight, there is slightly more sodium in Woeber’s than Heinz or Plochman’s

This spicy mustard has a creamy texture, and despite the heat, keeps a delicate flavor. However, if you’re looking for a real kick with your sandwiches and hot dogs, most tasters recommend their Jalapeno Mustard instead.

Annie’s Organic Yellow Mustard

If you’re looking for organic mustard that you can trust to have all-natural, healthy, organic ingredients, then Annie’s is a brand to look at. By using organic distilled white vinegar, mustard seed, water, cloves, turmeric, sea salt, and paprika, Annie’s ensure that this is entirely natural mustard sourced from the best ingredients. A serving size of Annie’s Organic Yellow Mustard is 1 tsp and contains

  • 5 calories
  • 2% sodium

Some tasters have found it a little too mild and sour, rather than the kick they would prefer. This mustard is one best tested yourself to see if the flavor is one you like, as it has been described as being somewhat more like a tangy mayonnaise than mustard, while others have described it as having a good, spicy taste.

If you prefer sweeter mustard on your hot dogs or for use in potato salads, then you may want to give Annie’s a try.

Gulden’s Bold Yellow Mustard

While Gulden’s are probably better known for their excellent spicy brown mustard, the company also produces yellow mustard, which is a bold, flavorful classic. Made from organic vinegar, mustard seeds, salt, paprika, garlic powder, turmeric, and other spices, this is another all-natural mustard with a big taste. A teaspoon serving of Gulden’s yellow mustard contains

  • 5 calories
  • 2% sodium

This yellow mustard is not only great on hot dogs and hamburgers but adds an excellent zingy flavor to pasta salads and potato salad dressings. Tasters report a superb flavor and a slightly thicker consistency than other yellow mustards.

One of the oldest American brands of mustards, Gulden’s knows their stuff and is well-known to produce excellent, high-quality mustards. Made with #1-grade mustard seeds and organic ingredients, this is a perfect choice, though it can be harder to find than some of the other listed brands and subsequently a little more expensive.

Boar’s Head Yellow Mustard

If you’re worried about the sodium in your diet, then Boar’s Head is going to be the mustard for you. They claim to have 54% less sodium than other leading brands of yellow mustard and are gluten, MSG, and fat-free. This makes Boar’s Head a great option if you want a more healthy lifestyle but can’t bear to drop condiments from your menu. A teaspoon serving Boar’s Head Yellow Mustard contains

  • 0 calories
  • 1% sodium

Taste-wise, Boar’s Head scores well with our testers, who liked that it had a full flavor, but with less than half the sodium of other mustard brands. It’s one of the more expensive options compared to supermarket brands, but if you’re on a low-sodium diet, the cost may be worth it. Their yellow mustard uses sea salt and pink Himalayan salt, #1-grade mustard seeds, vinegar, paprika, garlic powder, and other spices to give it a classic mustard tang.

Koop’s Original Yellow Mustard

Another organic classic American mustard, Koop’s, is well-known and offers a wide range of mustards, including this popular yellow. Koop’s offers the American public an excellent yellow mustard full of flavor, perfect for hotdogs and hamburgers with no unnatural ingredients. It’s certified to be gluten-free and kosher, and a teaspoon serving of Koop’s Original Yellow Mustard provides

  • 0 calories
  • 3% sodium

The taste of his mustard has been described as full-bodied, with a somewhat less artificial-looking yellow color than brands like Heinz or French’s. It has a thick consistency and a robust and punchy mustard flavor rather than a sour vinegary one. If you like your hot dog relish to have a bit more kick with a bold, clean taste, then this is a great choice.

French’s Classic Yellow Mustard

A great blend of tangy and sweet, French’s classic yellow mustard is an excellent all-rounder, making it perfect for salads, cold meats, hamburgers, and hot dogs. This is an American favorite with good reason; the mustard is tangy but not too sour, with a creamy consistency. It has a classic American yellow mustard taste that makes it a firm classic for hot dogs — it’s the quintessential hotdog mustard.

A serving of French’s Classic Yellow Mustard is 1tsp and contains

  • 0 calories
  • 3% sodium

Much like the other mustards we’ve listed here, the ingredients are all-natural, with the flavor and color provided by the vinegar, mustard seeds, salt, turmeric, paprika, and garlic powder.

If you’re looking for a yellow mustard to suit a wide variety of tastes, this classic yellow should do the trick. Even though it’s a familiar brand in many households, it does not use preservatives or unnatural flavorings and additives and is one of the more reasonably priced staple brands. Even if you like to have a wide range of mustards in the pantry, this one should be a staple.

Colman’s Mustard

Colman’s is the mustard you want if, like me, you’re looking for yellow mustard that really packs a punch. There’s nothing mild about the flavor, giving us a full-bodied, rich, zingy mustard taste. The consistency is thick and spreadable. Prepared from Colman’s original mustard powder, this is probably the least mellow of the hot dog mustards and has a sharp, clean flavor. That complete, punchy flavor does mean that a teaspoon serving of Colman’s contains

  • 10 calories
  • 7% sodium

This is the real deal for that authentic, hot mustard taste, and Colman’s will not only be an excellent topping for hotdogs but also pair well with roast meats and hams. It’s based on the original English-style mustard, which has been in production for 160 years. Of the mustards we sampled, it is the least organic, uses xantham gum as a stabilizer, citric acid for preservative, and includes wheat flour and sugar, making it unsuitable for some diets.

All About The Best Yellow Mustard

If you’re looking for a milder, more all-around mustard to use on your grilled burgers, in your creamy salad dressing, and on hot dogs, and with a milder, more mellow flavor, we recommend going with Heinz or French’s classic yellow mustards. A good low sodium option is Boar Head’s yellow mustard. In contrast, those who want a zingier, hotter, mustard taste and aren’t concerned about sodium, salt, or sugar should grab themselves a jar of Colman’s Yellow Mustard.

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