Homemade ketchup

Normally I don’t make my own ketchup at home – for a squirt here or there, Heinz is just fine. But when I make a ketchup-heavy recipe – like the sloppy joes recipe I’m getting ready to post – I don’t mind taking a few minutes to make my own so I don’t ingest a whole bottle’s worth of high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.

Heinz now makes an organic version, as well as Simply Heinz, which substitutes sugar for HFCS. But when I make ketchup at home, it’s both organic (I love Trader Joe’s organic tomato paste) and HFCS-free.

If you start with tomato paste rather than fresh tomatoes, making ketchup is silly easy – tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Of course you can use fresh onions and/or garlic, but with picky eaters it can be hard to mess with a taste as familiar as ketchup. With onion and garlic powder, no one would guess that homemade isn’t Heinz.

Heat up our six ingredients in a saucepan.

Whisk to combine and bring to boil.

Simmer 20 minutes until thickened.

And there it is – homemade Heinz, without the HFCS and preservatives.

Homemade ketchup won’t last as long as commercial ketchup, but with sugar and vinegar as natural preservatives, it should keep fine for a week or two in the fridge.

Homemade Ketchup
Normally I don’t make my own ketchup, since I don’t use a lot of it, but this recipe is handy when I’m making a ketchup-heavy recipe (eg sloppy joes) and I don’t want the high fructose corn syrup and preservatives. Adapted from Top Secret Recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk to eliminate lumps while bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
2. Simmer partially covered (careful, the hot bubbles splatter) for 20 minutes, until thickened.

Makes about 1 1/3 cups.

Notes

• It’s perfectly fine to substitute white sugar and/or white vinegar.
• Homemade ketchup won’t last as long as commercial ketchup, but with sugar and vinegar as natural preservatives, it should keep fine for a week or two in the fridge.

Here’s the link to a printable version.