Why A Spoonful Of Mustard Makes Pan Sauce Taste Better

Mastering pan sauce sounds elusively simple, but the right ingredients must come together to create a cohesive, flavorful unit. Pan sauce can be made after meat has been cooked, as broth, drippings and bits of food known as fond, and other ingredients are stirred together in a pan immediately after meat is seared. Mustard is a quality addition to the lineup of ingredients that can help prevent a sauce from breaking and provide added flavor.

Mustard is a powerhouse of an ingredient that offers both subtle heat and added dimension to improve the taste and structure of sauces. Mustard contains mucilage which offers emulsifying properties. The gel-like substance holds butter or oil together with wine, stock, and other pan sauce ingredients, similar to how egg yolks work to make hollandaise sauce. Mustard also holds up well to the heat, and its tangy taste can add extra flavor to pan sauce while cutting through heavier ingredients to brighten them. 

Ideally, whisking Dijon into hot pan sauce before butter is added can help bring body to the sauce and prevent it from separating into individual components. Start with a half teaspoon and increase as needed. The easy addition certainly isn't limited to homemade pan sauces either. Ready-made sauces dumped out of a can or jar can also be spruced up with a swift spoonful of mustard.

Different kinds of mustards will offer different benefits when it comes to the texture and taste of pan sauce. Dijon is easy to whisk into sauces because it is smooth and can be stirred into recipes at the last minute for added zing. The tangy, sharp flavor can make your sauce taste more complex, and the emulsifying benefit is mighty. Even just a teaspoon can help a recipe take on a fuller expression. However, mustards with partially crushed seeds, like whole-grain mustard, won't offer the same smoothness.

As for taste, American yellow mustard is often more mild, so you may not get the same level of depth, but the ingredient will still help sauces come together. Heat lovers may want to reach for English mustard and add the ingredient gradually to recipes, since even a half of a teaspoon can yield a satisfactory result. Spicy brown mustard can also be incorporated to bring bite and a rustic flair to dishes. Should you want the easy emulsifying properties of Dijon and the visual appeal of mustard seeds, feel free to add a touch of both Dijon and whole-grain mustard to a pan sauce recipe.  

Beyond store-bought mustard, you can also add other ingredients to your pan sauce to take it to the next level. Smoked paprika, savory roasted garlic, or sweet honey are all nice ways to make pan sauce finger-licking good. Plus, fresh herbs like tarragon and parsley can bring earthy freshness into these saucy creations.