Ashley Londsale, Chef in Residence at ButcherBox, is known for her role in helping people find comfort and delight in their kitchens — and this new molasses-mustard glaze recipe is no exception. This glaze invites autumnal flavors and a complex bittersweetness into your kitchen, perfect for brushing onto grilled sausages, chicken thighs, or even a pork roast. Below, Londsale shares her secret to easing into fall flavor and how you can make this glaze to level up your next dinner. Londsale’s hope: A world where everyone can access the joy of food with recipes like this molasses-mustard glaze.
Molasses-mustard glaze recipe
“The bright, pungent flavor of mustard always makes me think of summer, while molasses is a distinctly fall ingredient to me. Merging the two in this recipe helps bridge that funny gap between the two seasons, celebrating both at once,” Lonsdale shares. Here’s how to recreate her recipe at home:
Ingredients
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Method
- In a medium saucepan, bring the honey, molasses, vinegar, mustard, ginger, and cloves to a boil.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until slightly thickened and flavors meld.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
- Use as a finishing glaze on grilled or roasted sausages, chicken thighs, pork roasts, mushrooms, and more. The sky is the limit!
Tips and pairings
When making this glaze recipe, Londsale recommends brushing the glaze onto the proteins a few times during the last 2 to 3 minutes of grilling or roasting for the perfect caramelization and maximum sticky-sweet flavor.
Once you’ve selected your protein and added the glaze, she recommends rounding out the meal with some of her favorite pairings, such as a citrusy cabbage slaw, grilled corn, and a creamy potato salad. “In the fall, winter squash or Brussels sprouts would be excellent accompaniments.
“I love grilling well into the cooler months, which gives me time to enjoy the fresh air as the sun sets, then move inside to eat dinner,” she shares.
If you can’t find molasses, she also says dark brown sugar works as a great substitute, or a mixture of maple syrup and tamarind puree. She also warns that it’s important to watch the proteins after glazing so it doesn’t turn to char.
“Move the protein to a cooler area of the grill or drop the roasting temperature to ensure an even caramelization without burning,” she recommends.
The inspiration behind the recipe
For Londsale, honey mustard is a classic flavor combination that just makes sense. It’s sweet, floral honey pairs well with pungent, spicy mustard. But she wanted to take things one step further by adding molasses. The addition of molasses gives the glaze a “more complex taste, adding savory and bitter notes. It also stains the proteins a wonderful brown hue.”
“Molasses is one of my favorite ingredients for adding a touch of mystery and sweetness to a dish,” she shares.
