Homemade Ketchup

Brighter and fresher than bottled ketchup, with a natural tomato flavor.

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated March 22, 2024
Overhead view of ketchup in a bowl on a plate with fries

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Why It Works

  • While it's not Heinz, this ketchup, with its natural tomato flavor, is brighter and fresher than what you'll find in the bottle.
  • This recipe uses real sugar instead of corn syrup.
  • A simple blend of spices, including pinches of clove, allspice, and cayenne, gives this sauce its signature ketchup flavor.

Heinz has totally spoiled me. When Erin asked if I'd be interested in starting up my column "Sauced," I started racking my brain about which condiment to tackle first. I could think of nothing more fitting, more ubiquitous, than ketchup. You hardly ever stop to think about what goes into making ketchup. Usually, a bottle of Heinz is just hanging out in the fridge and, well, it tastes exactly the way it should.

So I started this recipe from the ground up, reading ingredient labels on common ketchups, tasting them, and researching the process of making it. The fruit of this labor is a homemade ketchup recipe that's simple to make and tastes great.

While nothing will replace a flavor so ingrained in our psyches as Heinz, this ketchup had its own appeal. It was brighter and fresher than bottled ketchup, with a natural tomato flavor that had just enough spice to clearly define itself as ketchup over any other tomato sauce. The wife and I enjoyed a plate of fries with this ketchup, alongside another dish with Heinz. We happily went back and forth between the two, appreciating each for its uniqueness.

February 2011

Recipe Details

Homemade Ketchup Recipe

Cook 75 mins
Active 60 mins
Total 75 mins
Serves 32 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 medium onion, chopped medium

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • 1 (28-ounce) can tomato purée

  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

  • 1/8 teaspoon allspice

  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato purée, brown sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, salt, mustard, cloves, allspice, and cayenne pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened to the consistency of ketchup, 45 to 60 minutes.

    Four image collage of cooking onions, adding spices, and ketchup boiling

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  2. Place ketchup in the jar of a blender and purée until completely smooth.

    Overhead view of ketchup in a blender

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  3. Wash and dry saucepan, then place a fine mesh strainer over top. Pour ketchup in the strainer and, using a spatula, force through all of the ketchup.

    Side view of pushing ketchup through a strainer

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  4. Taste ketchup and adjust seasonings if necessary. Pour ketchup into a jar, seal, and store in the refrigerator.

    Ketchup in a jar

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Special Equipment

Medium saucepan, blender, fine-mesh strainer

Make-Ahead and Storage

Store in the refrigerator for 3 weeks, or up to one month.

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
31Calories
1gFat
6gCarbs
1gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 32
Amount per serving
Calories31
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g1%
Saturated Fat 0g1%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 28mg1%
Total Carbohydrate 6g2%
Dietary Fiber 1g2%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 3mg15%
Calcium 9mg1%
Iron 1mg3%
Potassium 129mg3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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