Homemade Ketchup Recipe
Forget the bottled stuff! This homemade ketchup recipe takes minutes to stir together with a few simple pantry ingredients. You can tweak the seasonings and sweetness to suit your taste buds, and you can also make it with no added sugar, so this DIY ketchup practically counts as a serving of veggies!
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: American
- Primary Cooking Method: No-cook
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Vegan
- Skill Level: Easy
Today, I am bringing you a recipe for homemade ketchup. No fancy flavors, no unique twists. Just plain old ketchup. When you see how to make ketchup with no added sugar or other funky ingredients, you’ll forget all about the bottled stuff.
If your kids are anything like mine, they’ll eat anything if it’s dunked or covered in ketchup! So I set out to make my own quick version, minus the simmering and straining found in many ketchup recipes.
Why This Ketchup Recipe Is Better Than a Bottle
This homemade recipe starts with tomato paste, which is essentially a can of simmered and reduced tomatoes. There really is no need to go through all of that extra work. This homemade ketchup has a thick consistency and rich flavor. Here’s why you’ll love it.
- Quick to whip up. No cooking, only basic pantry ingredients, and ready in minutes. Just stir in all of the ingredients that give this ketchup its characteristic tangy, smoky, savory flavor. You can adjust it exactly how you like.
- Great to keep on hand. You can eat it right away, but it actually tastes better when you refrigerate it and let the flavors blend for a bit. Plus, you can make a double batch to keep in a bottle for weeks, so you always have some ready for dipping French fries or dressing burgers!
- No funny add-ins. Without added sugar (unless you want to sweeten it up a bit) or preservatives, this homemade ketchup is a better, tastier option than store-bought. With just concentrated tomato, vinegar, and some spices, it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, too.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s an overview of the ingredients I used to make the best homemade ketchup. Remember, the full quantities are in the recipe card, so keep reading and scrolling.
- Tomato paste – One small can is all you need. Of course, this depends on how much ketchup you’re making, so feel free to scale up the recipe as needed.
- Apple cider vinegar – If you don’t have cider vinegar, substitute it with white vinegar or wine vinegar. If needed, replace some of the vinegar with water if you want your ketchup less tangy, or to thin out the consistency.
- Seasonings – I use a combination of salt, dry mustard powder, dried oregano, cumin, and black pepper.
- Sugar – Optional, and you can also sweeten the ketchup with molasses, brown sugar, honey, or a combination. You can skip the sweetener for a no-sugar recipe.
How to Make Ketchup
To make ketchup, combine all of the ingredients above in a bowl. Stir until the mixture is smooth. The ketchup is ready to serve right away, or you can refrigerate it until it’s time to use it. I usually like to do this for a couple of hours, to let the flavors fully develop.
Variations of Homemade Tomato Ketchup
Once you’ve tried this traditional ketchup recipe, you can swap the liquids, herbs, and spices to make all kinds of gourmet ketchup.
- Balsamic Ketchup – Replace the vinegar in this recipe with balsamic vinegar.
- Worcestershire Ketchup – Add Worcestershire sauce for more umami flavor.
- Spicy Buffalo Ketchup – Bring the heat and use it on these Buffalo hot dogs!
Recipe Tips
- Too vinegary? Some people have commented that they find this homemade ketchup recipe too sharp or vinegary. The instructions have always said, but I will mention it again here, that you may want to use half the amount of vinegar the first time, and then add water for the balance of the liquid.
- Too thick? If you want it thinner or more pourable, you can also add more water, about a tablespoon at a time, to reach your preferred consistency.
- Too smoky? You can omit or lessen the amount of cumin. Cumin is a typical ingredient in ketchup to give it a bit of smokiness, but some people (typically those who also don’t like cilantro) find it too strong. A few drops of liquid smoke are an alternative for that flavor.
- Not sweet enough? I still prefer making this ketchup recipe with no sugar or other sweetener. If you want it sweeter, you can add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, molasses, brown sugar, honey, or some combination of those to suit your taste. To keep the carbs lower, you can even use Swerve Erythritol Sweetener or Swerve Brown Sugar Replacement.
How to Store Homemade Ketchup
- Refrigerate. Homemade ketchup needs to be refrigerated. If you put it in a jar, bottle, or another airtight container, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Ways to Use It
From mac and cheese to meatloaf, people love ketchup on so many things. But here are some of the all-time favorites.
- French fries: The classic pairing! Dip these air fryer truffle fries, oven-baked fries, or sweet potato fries.
- Tots: We love dipping air fryer tater tots. But you can also sneak some veggies into the mix with cauliflower tots or zucchini tots.
- Hot dogs and hamburgers: Just toss some burgers and dogs on the grill and put out some ketchup. Or get creative with French onion stuffed burgers or hot dog taquitos.
- Finger food: Little kids, chicken nuggets, and ketchup go hand in hand. Also, try these cheesy quinoa bites, chicken tenders, or air fryer onion rings smothered in ketchup.
- Eggs: This is a controversial take, but I love ketchup on eggs. Make some breakfast sandwiches or drizzle ketchup over egg muffins or a slice of bacon cheddar quiche.
More Homemade Condiments
Homemade Ketchup
Ingredients
- 6 oz. tomato paste 1 small can or 3/4 cup
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar see Note 1
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- water see Note 1
- sugar, molasses, honey, brown sugar, or a combination see Note 2
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
Notes
- Note 1. Some people find the full amount of apple cider vinegar too strong, especially if they use a raw apple cider vinegar. You can use less, but then add water to total a 1/2 cup of liquid. You can also add additional water if you want a thinner ketchup.
- Note 2. While this is a no sugar katchup recipe, if you prefer it a little sweeter, you can start by adding a tablespoon of sugar, molasses, honey, brown sugar, or a combination of those, then adjust, adding more if needed.
- Note 3. This homemade tomato ketchup keeps well in the fridge, so it can easily be doubled and stored for a few weeks.
Did you make this?
Leave a star rating to help others know that they should make this recipe.
Share a photo and tag @cupcakesandkalechips on Instagram!
there is no ½ t dried oregano, ½ t cumin, ⅛ t pepper, or 1 t mustard powder in the ingredients in heinz ketchup. the flavor they put in it is alot of sugar and the salt. on the back of the ketchup bottle you can figure out exactly what they use in it by going by how much sugar they put in and other ingredients by the weight and “reverse engineer” it.
I wasn’t trying to “reverse engineer” Heinz. I was trying to make a yummy tomato-based dip, WITHOUT a lot of sugar or salt to make it healthier for my kids, and I am pretty their “spice” and “natural flavors” might include some of these seasonings. I think I succeeded, but feel free to make your own version. Or just buy a bottle.
are the measurements table spoons or tea spoons ? 🙂
Teaspoons! Sorry, I went back in and edited that. I posted that recipe before I knew that t vs T wasn’t as clear to everyone around the world 🙂
I actually took this recipe a little further——I added shredded celery, onions, garlic, bell peppers and a little maple syrup to the apple cider vinegar and other spices. Then, I cooked it for about 15 minutes. Cooled it. Put it in the blender, processed further, then poured into a jar. Everyone loves this! Thanks for posting it.
Sorry probably a silly question… but what kind of vinegar do I use, apple cider or just the normal vinegar.
Thanks
Apple cider vinegar. Sorry, I wrote just cider vinegar.
So now how do we make homemade tomato paste 🙂
Now that I don’t know – probably have to cook down tons of tomatoes!
Hi Kamay,
It is very easy to make your tomato paste. you don’t need tons, but you really have to cook it and let the water boil out of it. if you start with a few garlic on olive oil, it adds a special favour that the kids around me love.
If you have an other few minutes, you can easily peel the tomato after putting it in boiling water for a few seconds.
it takes 15 minutes.
you can also leave the tomatoes in your oven drying. of course not too dry. it is longer, but it also makes a delicious paste without adding anything.
to be honest i was very surprised seeing canned tomato in a diy recipe. If it comes to home made I am not joking 🙂
I am impressed! I DIY to a certain extent, but haven’t tried tomato paste 🙂
I’m looking forward to trying this. I thought I had to give up ketchup due to the HFCS in it and I was bummed. Do you have a recipe for barbecue sauce using this ketchup?
No, but that is an awesome idea!
I make nightshade free ketchup using pumpkin puree (tomato is a nightshade vegetable). A very similar recipe.
Interesting! I’ll have to try that!
Hi, Anita…I would love to have your ketchup recipe using pumpkin purée. Please share!
Me too!
Oh, now I see you did make your own tots…which look fabulous. Good job!
Yep, we love our cauli-tots!
I thought it interesting you take the time to make your own healthier ketchup, but yet showed a picture of it with processed tater tots.
Maybe you should actually read the blog and then you would know that they are homemade cauliflower tots 🙂
Thanks, Rachel. 😉
What about the ingredients in the tomato paste?
Most tomato pastes are just tomatoes,sometimes a little citric acid.
Yep, just went and looked at the can of tomato paste with the same question. Tomato puree and citric acid.