How to Make Ketchup from Scratch
Have you ever wondered about making your own ketchup from scratch? Well, I did. I realized how "monotone" the bottled stuff is when I tasted this scratch made spicy ketchup. All of the flavors are very distinct and it contains no high fructose corn syrup or any substance called "flavoring."
They were right when they said, "Good things come to those that wait." So, if you're in a rush or you have somewhere to be, don't start this recipe. It's an epic cooking adventure. While it's pretty simple, it requires many much hours of cooking time. But, it's totally worth it.
This is all coming from someone that isn't a huge fan of ketchup. It's not that I don't like it. I mean, it absolutely belongs on a classic cheeseburger, with a bucket of french fries or in a down-home, all-American meatloaf but that's usually where I draw the line. I don't mean to be a snob about it but I think, with a few exceptions, ketchup is just not a very refined condiment and just doesn't belong in many types of cooking.
So now, you're wondering why I would want to go through the trouble of making ketchup from scratch. There are several reasons:
- Every time I cook a dish I see it from an angle that I'll never see by simply eating it.
- I'm convinced that anything made from scratch will be better than store-bought.
Ingredients
- 8 pounds tomatoes
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
Directions
Start with a big, 8 pound pile of tomatoes.
Slice a shallow "X" in the bottom of each tomato.
Boil a pot of water and drop the tomatoes in for 20-30 seconds. Remove the tomatoes and immediately place them into an ice bath for another 20-30 seconds. Peel the tomatoes by grabbing the skin near the "X" and pulling. It should come right off.
Remove the navels, quarter them and discard the seeds (I strained the seeds out).
Add the tomatoes, onion and cayenne to a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft. Put the tomatoes through a food mill or puree in a blender. Return to the saucepan and add the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced by half (possibly 90 minutes but it's more likely to be several hours).
Meanwhile, add vinegar, cloves, cinnamon, and celery seed to a saucepan. Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the vinegar from the heat and let stand until the tomato mixture has reduced.
Strain the vinegar into the tomato mixture. We want the vinegar infused with the flavor of the spices but not the whole spices. Season the ketchup with salt and simmer until it's thick enough. During the process, any time you check and it's not thick enough you need to imitate the Breakstone's guy...
"Not thick enough!"
What's that? I'm the only one on the planet that remembers that obscure commercial? Nothing to see here! Move along! Anyway, it'll probably be about 30 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking or burning.
- Transfer into sterile jars or bottles leaving 1/2 inch of head-space and process in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Comments (11)
Impressive! I have to say that I do not care for ketchup and never have...but there is no way that this fresh and lovely creation would not grace my plate. If bottled ketchup starts of with these ingredients, then I don't even want to know how it ends up that way.
P.S. That top photo is great :)
Thanks Spice! I think bottled ketchup is just uber processed and it contains "natural flavoring" which can be a variety of things. Since spices are relatively expensive I think they skimp to maximize profit at the cost of flavor.
I'm still experimenting a lot with my photos to find out what works and what doesn't. I have a bout 4 gigs of photos that are "really neat" accidents from this recipe alone. I'm so glad they invented digital cameras or I'd be going through so much film...
Congrats on the Top 9!!
I've never thought about making my own ketchup, but I'm sure you're on to something here. This sounds tons better than the store-bought version, especially with the cayenne. Isn't it crazy what pounds and pounds of tomatoes will reduce down to??
Cool, been wanting to try this for a while now. Thanks for the recipe, I feel inspired. Adding you onto my blogroll too at mangemontreal.com
Thanks KC. You have a great layout and some really cool recipe ideas over there! I can't wait to see some more.
Great photos Matt... and gotta love anything made from scratch with such tasty looking tomatoes! :)
I have never thought about making my own ketchup before but it sounds like an inspiring idea! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on making the Top 9!
Your friend on Foodbuzz,
Emily Z
I had plenty of tomatoes in our garden this summer and rather than freeze them whole, I cooked them up and froze the juice. I think I'll give this ketchup a try with some of the juice (since I've got a step saved!). I'll start with a gallon of juice and see how much that gives me. Even if it's only a cup, I'd like to try it :) Congrats on getting to the top 9!
Thanks, I will have to try this when I have the time :)
Thanks for the comments!
@OhBoyWhenKarenCooks It's the perfect thing to do with the last tomatoes of the season.
@Jenny I think I normally would use the ugly tomatoes that nobody else would buy otherwise you end up with $10 jar of ketchup (unless I grew my own) but I really wanted to take some great pictures.
@Karen It really is amazing. My deepest saucepan was filled to the rim with tomatoes and by the time I got the thickness I liked there was about 3 inches of ketchup at the bottom.
High 5 on Top 9! :) I've only tried homemade ketchup a few times but it is far superior to the bottled kind. Thanks for sharing!