Homemade Ketchup Recipe

Homemade ketchup
Lisa McLaughlin•

A bottle of ketchup is something that is just so ubiquitous in your fridge that it probably never occurs to you to make your own. But homemade ketchup is easy and impressive, the type of thing that you serve to friends and they're like, "Wow." The type of thing that even if you're eating alone, you're kinda proud to know that for once, you made an effort, and it paid off. We suggest adding this to everything you cook that calls for ketchup, including our best basic burgers and easy meatloaf.

If you're looking for homemade ketchup with a spicy kick, try our grownup ketchup recipe.

Homemade Ketchup Recipe
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Prep Time
15
minutes
Cook Time
45
minutes
Servings
1
pint
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 chili pepper
  • 1 roasted red pepper
  • olive oil
  • 2 pounds fresh tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
Directions
  1. Place all of the vegetables — but not the tomatoes — and the ginger, garlic, and chili in a saucepan with a good pour of olive oil, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
  2. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Add all of the tomatoes and a cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sauce is reduced by about half.
  4. Remove from heat and puree the sauce in a blender or food processor. Or keep in the pot and use an immersion blender. 
  5. You haven't gone through the annoying bits of peeling and seeding the tomatoes, so now you'll have to double-strain the sauce through a sieve to get out any seeds and skins.
  6. Place the strained sauce into a pan and add the sugar and vinegar. Stir well and then simmer until the the sauce takes on the thickness of ketchup. What you have now is ketchup. 
 
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