Ketchup fans will love this recipe. It offers a thick, dippable texture, with classic yet grown-up ketchup flavor. It tastes nicely balanced, but leans a little more savory than sweet. The recipe calls for a whole container of tomato paste—choose the best you can find for deep, rich tomato flavor.
Beyond the tomato paste, you’ll need balsamic vinegar for some sweetness and tang, dried spices for complex flavor (garlic powder, mustard powder, cinnamon and black pepper), salt to enhance the rest, and water to thin it out. That’s it! No corn syrup or added sugar here.
I always assumed that making ketchup would be too tricky, but I was wrong. This recipe is so easy to make. You can whisk it together by hand in just a few minutes. It tastes best after an hour’s rest.
3 Reasons to Make Your Own Ketchup
I’ve been disappointed by many restaurants’ homemade options over the years—they’re often too runny or miss the mark with creative flavor variations—so I never seriously considered making my own. That is, until we ran out of ketchup before dinner.
I studied the ingredient lists of my preferred brands (Heinz and Primal Kitchen) and started experimenting. That night’s result was good enough, but after more trial and error, I’m excited to share this final recipe with you.
You might feel compelled to make your own ketchup because:
- It’s more affordable. Even if you’re using top quality organic tomato paste (I prefer Bionaturae), you’re saving money over organic store-bought ketchup options like Primal Kitchen.
- You’ve run out of ketchup. Perhaps your kids need ketchup to go with their dinners, and you close the fridge empty-handed. You likely have the required ingredients in your pantry. Crisis averted.
- You have health concerns about store-bought ketchups. Maybe you don’t like the sugar content in regular ketchup (it’s typically high), or you want to serve your family organic ketchup, or you’d rather not eat tomatoes out of plastic containers (which tend to leach BPA and similar substances upon contact with acidic ingredients). You can avoid all of those issues with this homemade recipe.
Watch How to Make Ketchup
Ketchup Serving Suggestions
This ketchup is fantastic on burgers and fries, of course. Here are a few suggestions:
More Homemade Condiments
These homemade options taste far superior to store-bought. They’ll take a basic meal to the next level.
Please let me know how your ketchup turns out in the comments! I hope you love it.
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Homemade Ketchup
Make your own ketchup with this easy recipe made from pantry ingredients! It offers classic ketchup flavor with a thick texture, perfect for dunking. Recipe yields just over 1 cup.
- Place the tomato paste in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or glass jar. Add the salt, garlic powder, mustard powder (if using), cinnamon, and about 5 twists of black pepper. Use a small whisk to stir the ingredients together until they’re evenly combined.
- Add the vinegar, and whisk until combined. Add the water, and whisk again until you have a smooth, even mixture. Season to taste with additional pepper, if desired. If you’d prefer a thinner ketchup, add more water by the teaspoon until you reach your desired consistency.
- For the best flavor, cover and refrigerate the mixture for at least 1 hour before serving. This homemade ketchup will keep in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
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