Our Honey Mustard Dip Is A Salty Soft Pretzel's Best Friend

The best part about ordering a giant pretzel from a beer garden or brewery — other than eating it — is finding out what sauces it comes with. The best you can hope for is a filled-to-the-brim cup of tangy, spicy honey mustard, perfect for dunking soft pieces of salty pretzel into between gooey bites of beer cheese. Not all honey mustard is created equal, though; a particularly good mustard is altogether creamy, tangy, spicy, and sweet, with a little bit of texture from small beads of mustard seed. It should coat a pretzel with flavor and be versatile enough for chicken fingers, fries, or even salads, extending its use far beyond the salty pretzel.

If you can't make it to one of our favorite soft pretzel spots, don't worry: You can make the perfect honey mustard at home using ingredients you likely already have on hand. This easy honey mustard pretzel dip recipe, written with developer Michelle McGlinn, uses mayonnaise as a creamy base to stone-ground mustard, honey, and garlic for a perfectly balanced, perfectly tangy, sweet honey mustard. Taking only minutes to put together, this is a dip recipe you'll want to have on hand for any and all of your snacking needs.

To make this pretzel dip, you'll need stone-ground mustard, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, honey, and garlic powder. While you don't necessarily need to use two different mustards, stone-ground and Dijon have slightly different flavors that together provide a good balance to the dip overall. If you aren't keen on having two mustards in the fridge, opt for stone-ground, which can make a good honey mustard on its own.

Add all of the ingredients to a bowl.

Stir until well combined.

Serve with pretzels.

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There's only one thing better than honey mustard on a pretzel, and that's warm honey mustard on a pretzel. There's no reason you can't serve honey mustard warm, and it is very easy to do. Simply mix the ingredients together, then microwave the prepared honey mustard for 15 to 20 seconds, or until just warmed. You can also warm the honey mustard to brush onto chicken tenders or wings, too, to give them a sweet-and-tangy flavor just before serving.

If you don't have a microwave, the dip can easily be heated on the stove, but be sure to stir constantly and remove from the heat before the honey begins to burn or caramelize. The goal is to heat the dip just enough that it is warm to eat, but not enough that it gets cooked. There are many creative ways to use honey mustard, and because it changes flavor when cooked, it makes a great marinade or sauce, and you can brush it on chicken or pork before adding to the oven or grill.

There is an abundance of mustards out there, and it can feel overwhelming just to look at the few varieties stocked on grocery shelves. The most popular types include yellow mustard, Dijon, and spicy brown, which can all be used for a fine honey mustard dipping sauce. What really gives this stone-ground dip an edge over others (even store-bought) is the texture, which is a product of how the mustard is made. Because the mustard seeds are ground into water and vinegar, the mustard has more texture and a more powerful flavor than other mustard flavors. This is true of many French and German mustards, which differ from American mustards in that they tend to use whole seeds.

If you can't find stone-ground mustard, you can still create a similar honey mustard dip using other kinds. One great way to make honey mustard is with whole-grain mustard, yellow mustard, and a touch of spicy brown, which will balance the flavors while adding texture. If you'd rather avoid the texture, swap the stone-ground mustard for spicy brown for a similar, but smoother, flavor.

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