Homemade Ketchup Recipe

Name: Homemade Ketchup
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 32
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 medium onion, chopped medium; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 28-oz 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

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

Homemade Ketchup

Cook 75 mins

Active 60 mins

Total 75 mins

Serves 32 servings

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

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.

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

Serious Eats / Qi Ai
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.

Serious Eats / Qi Ai
Taste ketchup and adjust seasonings if necessary. Pour ketchup into a jar, seal, and store in the refrigerator.

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Special Equipment

Medium saucepan, blender, fine-mesh strainer

Make-Ahead and Storage

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

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
31	Calories
1g	Fat
6g	Carbs
1g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 32
Amount per serving
Calories	31
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g	1%
Saturated Fat 0g	1%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 28mg	1%
Total Carbohydrate 6g	2%
Dietary Fiber 1g	2%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 3mg	15%
Calcium 9mg	1%
Iron 1mg	3%
Potassium 129mg	3%
*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.

Ingredients

Special Equipment

Make-Ahead and Storage

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