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.
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I see that everyone is super excited to try this out for themselves, and so am I, but im curious why not one comment, and I read more than my liking, did not comment or at least come back and opinonate on the taste of this recipe. I say this only cause there are many other recipes out there which many noted are more involved cooking and time wise and so the ease of this is almost a “too good to be true” kind of thing. I really just wanted to see more comments on how the taste was in relation to say a bottle of reduced sugar/organic bottle of Heinz for example and also if anyone tried adding worchestershire sauce or just overall. With all this said, ill be giving the recipe a go and will do my best to report back on the taste and flavor aspects.
I have a picky toddler who just loves ketchup, probably for the addictive sugar reasons which is why I tend to go for the reduced sugar versions so that’s why this is so appealing to me. I just hope my toddler will enjoy!
Thanks for the recipe and I’ll be back to give my results!
Hi David! I would love to hear your thoughts on the ketchup recipe after you’ve tried it! Regarding the use of worcestershire, I created another ketchup recipe that does use it, so great minds think alike I guess. 😉 You can see that recipe here.
So I tried this “Ketchup” – It tastes nothing like Heinz, Hunts or any other store bought ketchup IMHO.
While I would say it it not too bad…. It has WAY too much apple cider vinegar(ACV). Unless of course you like the taste of ACV by it’s self. The ACV flavor takes over and that is all you taste. After I made up a batch and tried it, I doubled all the other ingredients. It helped some but was still very overwhelming.
For your toddler I might recommend adding only 1 Tbsp of ACV and a little sugar at first to ween them off of the sugary ketchup. If you add a little less sugar each time you make it (as well as limit what other sugar they have) their taste buds should adjust.
Good Luck!
I do actually mention that you can use less vinegar and adjust the thickness with water. But feel free to adjust as needed for find another recipe. We eat this frequently.
This worked well but I used about 1/4 c of apple cider vinegar and added about 1/4 of pureed crushed tomatoes in lieu of water. I also did not have mustard powder but it works well with my corndogs! Thanks!
So glad you were able to make this recipe work for you based on what you had and your preferences!
I made this ketchup recipe the other day using triple concentrated garlic and herb tomato paste oh my goodness it was the best ketchup Ive ever tasted thank you for the amazing recipe I’m already onto my second batch !!
I’m so glad that you’re enjoying the recipe, Candice!
I was wondering if you could store the ketchup you make??
I have stored it in the refrigerator for a couple weeks.
This did not taste anything like ketchup. It could be passed off as a good chili sauc. The cumin destroyed the ketchup flavor.
oh wow, i remember making these as a kid. Old school classic.
Simon
I love that there’s no added sugar! Great recipe!
Love this, can’t wait to try it! My kids LOVE ketchup!
Great and easy recipe! I love your photos and the way the ketchup tastes. No excess amounts of sugar? Yes please!
Thanks so much!
This ketchup is yummy! I’ve been looking for a sugar free ketchup at the stores and stumbled upon this recipe. I’ve made it 3x already this month! I use the full 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar. It’s addictive! I love the tangy flavor! Thanks for sharing!
Oh yay! I love the tangy flavor, but I do tone it down for my kids.
Do you know how long it will keep when refrigerated?
I’ve kept it for a couple weeks!