Condiment

The Ultimate Homemade Ketchup

Today’s recipe is about a sauce that we all know pretty well. That’s right, you are quite smart, and you read the title, so you already know that we are talking about the marvelous and super delicious Ketchup.
Recipes for ketchup are usually cursed, as everybody who tries to make this sauce from scratch tends to compare the resulting ketchup with Heinz ketchup, which is the standard one we all know and seem to settle for.

However, what we tried to achieve here is a sauce that is not only healthier than any of the store-bought counterparts, but it also sure to taste as delicious as any other ketchup you like to enjoy. We’re sure you’ll be surprised by the result of this recipe.

How To Make Homemade Tomato Ketchup:

Quite surprisingly, the first ingredients we are going to be dealing with are tomatoes.

Add the tinned and fresh tomatoes to the blender’s jug, and process them at medium speed until properly combined.

If you have spot-on and perfectly ripe fresh tomatoes, you are free to use only them and skip the tinned tomatoes altogether, or you can use only tinned tomatoes and skip the fresh ones, your choice!

As you can imagine, using fresh or tinned will make quite a big difference in the final ketchup.

We like to use both to obtain a more balanced final flavour.

Now strain the tomato juice to remove all the tomato seeds and skins, which you don’t want in your final sauce.

We are using a super bag, as usual, but feel free to use a nut-milk bag, or simply a fine mesh strainer for this task.

Now place all the ingredients into your favourite pan, apart from the vinegar, the salt, and the gelling agent, which will be needed at the end of the cooking process. We like to remove the head from the clove, as it is excessively powerful and will end up making the final ketchup taste of clove only.

Advertisement

Add the previously prepared tomato juice to the pan and stir well to combine the ingredients. Now, turn on the heat on high and bring the sauce to a boil.

Advertisement

As soon as the sauce starts boiling, lower the heat to the minimum, and start counting the cooking time. There is no specific cooking time for this recipe, as it depends upon how watery your tomatoes are.
However, Ketchup is generally ready in 40 to 60 minutes. Cook the sauce for 10 minutes on the lowest heat, so that the excess water evaporates.

Once the first 10 minutes are elapsed, stir the sauce well and cook it for another 10 minutes on the lowest heat, and so on. There is nothing complicated here, set a timer every 10 minutes so that you don’t forget the sauce on the stove.

Unless, of course, you are trying to prepare burned concentrated tomatoes instead of ketchup, and if that’s the case, then you’re doing great by leaving the ketchup on the stove for a few hours without checking on it.

Although there is a slight chance, it will explode all over the kitchen. So we’d stick to our method.

Once you have repeated this process for 4 or 5 times, 40 to 50 minutes of total cooking time, you will end up with something like this: a thick and very aromatic tomato sauce.

Now add the gelling agent mixed with a touch of water, the vinegar, the salt, if desired, and stir well to combine.

At this point, I also remember to remove the clove from the pan.

Bring the sauce back to a simmer over medium heat, lower the heat to the minimum and cook for the last 10 minutes to complete the sauce.

As you probably already know, thick tomato sauce tends to bubble violently, so to avoid burning yourself and turning the kitchen into a war zone, make sure to use a splatter guard if you feel it is needed. Now let the sauce cool down completely before blending it using your preferred piece of equipment.

In this case, we felt that a stick blender works best, but you can also use a regular blender if you so desire. And here you have Miriam playing with our favourite ketchup.

Mum always said to not play with food, but she never said anything about decorating with it! We strongly recommend you to give this recipe a go and let us know if you liked it.

We are sure you will be amazed by the final result!

The Ultimate Homemade Ketchup

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Homemade Tomato Ketchup Recipe


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Description

This homemade ketchup recipe is very easy and delicious. made with tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar, and is so much better than the store-bought stuff


Ingredients

Scale
  • 14 oz tinned tomatoes
  • 13 oz fresh tomatoes
  • 1 oz shallots
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 oz granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 bud clove
  • ¼ tsp ground allspice
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • 1 oz red bell pepper
  • 1 pinch cinnamon
  • ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
  • tsp sweet paprika
  • 2 tbsp apple vinegar
  • ¼ tsp salt

To thicken the ketchup

  • ⅛ tsp agar-agar powder
  • 1 tbsp water (to disperse the agar)

Instructions

  1. Add the tinned and fresh tomatoes to the blender’s jug, and process them until properly combined.
  2. Strain the tomato juice to remove all the tomato seeds and skins using a fine mesh strainer.
  3. Place all the ingredients into a pan, apart from the vinegar, the salt and the gelling agent, which will be needed at the end of the cooking process. Also, remove the head from the clove bud, as we don’t want it in the pan.
  4. Add the previously prepared tomato juice into the pan and stir well to combine the ingredients. Turn on the heat on high and bring the sauce to a boil.
  5. As soon as the sauce starts boiling, lower the heat to the minimum and start counting the cooking time.
  6. Cook the sauce for 10 minutes on the lowest heat, to evaporate the excess water and concentrate the flavour. Once the first 10 minutes are elapsed, stir the sauce and cook it for another 10 minutes, and so on. Ketchup is generally ready in 40 to 60 minutes.
  7. Once you have repeated this process for 4 to 5 times (40 to 50 minutes of total cooking time) you will end up with a thick and aromatic tomato sauce.
  8. Add the gelling agent mixed with a touch of water, the vinegar, the salt and stir to combine. Also, remember to remove the clove from the pan.
  9. Bring the sauce back to a simmer over medium heat, lower the heat to the minimum and cook for the last 10 minutes.
  10. Once the time has elapsed, let the sauce cool down completely before blending it to obtain the final ketchup.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 55 minutes
  • Category: Condiment
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Calories: 30

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Back to top button