Homemade Ketchup is bursting with fresh tomato flavor and spices. It’s easy to make and totally worth it! You’ve never REALLY tasted ketchup until you’ve made it yourself.
A quick walk around your local grocery store or Farmer’s Market reminds the peak of tomato season is on its way.
Every imagineable variety and shape is available, boasting a natural sweetness only found with in-season tomatoes.
Canners are preparing to get their tomato sauce on and most of use are gobbling them up in fresh form salads, dressing, sandwiches or just by themselves.
I have a recipe that has been a long-time summer favorite you MUST MAKE before summer ends: the Best Homemade Ketchup!
Like many things, once you make it from scratch with fresh tomatoes you’ll realize how fantastic ketchup can be AND will want to use it with many recipes.
Why Make Homemade Ketchup?
Like many homemade recipes for items that are mass produced, the flavor of homemade ketchup is better in my opinion.
Most homemade ketchup recipes are made with canned tomatoes. That’s fine but nothing beats fresh tomatoes, am I right?
This recipe uses fresh tomatoes and aromatic spices to make a sauce like none you’ve tried!
What Type of Tomatoes are Used in Homemade Ketchup?
Most tomato sauces are made with Roma style tomatoes due to their lower moisture content and high flavor.
I made my homemade ketchup with a mix of Roma hybrids and heirloom cherry tomatoes and it was delicious.
Experiment with the tomatoes you have on hand for varied flavor in every batch!
Is it Hard to Make Homemade Ketchup?
No! It’s very easy and takes less than an hour with most of the time being inactive time of yours.
How Long will Homemade Ketchup Last?
It should be kept in a glass container, sealed, for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.
NOTE: since tomatoes are acidic they can react with plastics which is why glass containers are recommended.
How to Freeze It
I’ve never personally frozen this ketchup recipe as it gets eaten too fast BUT you can freeze ketchup!
I recommend freezing using an ice cube tray.
- After the ketchup is totally cooled, fill the cavities in a plastic or silicon ice cube tray. This allows use in smaller volume.
- Place in the freezer to hard freeze.
- Once the cubes are solid, remove them and place them in a large plastic freezer bag or container.
- Remove as needed and thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Stir the ketchup before use.
The consistency may be more runny after freezing and thawing.
Does Homemade Ketchup Thicken as It Cooks?
It does! It will simmer for about 30 minutes during which time it does thicken.
Homemade Ketchup Ingredients
This homemade ketchup recipe is full of fresh seasonal ingredients, herbs and spices that you’ll love!
- whole cloves
- bay leaf
- cinnamon stick
- celery seeds
- chile flakes
- whole allspice
- Roma (or Plum) tomatoes
- kosher salt
- apple cider vinegar
- light brown sugar
- yellow onion
- Anaheim chile
- garlic clove
Trust me you’ll never want to use store bought ketchup again!
How to Make Homemade Ketchup – Step by Step:
For a detailed printable recipe, please refer to the recipe card at the end of the blog post. Check out the video too.
- Make a spice packet with a square of double layered cheesecloth. Add the cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, celery seeds, chile flakes, and allspice.
- Tie closed with kitchen twine.
- Add the tomatoes, salt, vinegar, sugar, onion, chile, garlic and spice packet to a 4-quart pot.
- Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the spice packet and discard.
- Puree the ketchup and strain to remove any seeds.
- Add back in the pot to simmer longer and thicken (about 30 more minutes).
- When thickened to a desired texture (note: will thicken more when cool), the homemade ketchup is put in a glass container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Suggested Supplies for Making Homemade Ketchup
- Kitchen Knife
- 4-quart pot (avoid cast iron, unless well-seasoned, or aluminum)
- Immersion Blender, traditional Blender OR Food Mill
- Fine mesh Strainer
- Glass containers with lids
- Cheesecloth
- Kitchen Twine
Like the idea of making your own condiments from scratch? Here are some more recipes ideas!
- How to Make Mustard (Wonky Wonderful)
- Homemade Mayonnaise (15 Spatulas)
- Chipotle Mayonnaise
- Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish (Saving Room for Dessert)
- Homemade Sriracha (White on Rice)
- Quick Pickled Red Onions
More Recipes You’ll Love
Shakshuka (Poached Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce)
Homemade Tomato Soup: an Easy Fresh Tomato Soup Recipe
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Originally published: October 4, 2012
Linda says
Great recipe.
John says
Hi
Can you replace the sugar with honey?
Regards
John
Toni Dash says
I’ve only made it as written John but do let me know how it turns out if you try it!
L says
Hi! Would this be safe for home water-bath canning? 🙂
Toni Dash says
Hi Lindsayn. If you are a canner you’ll already know the pH of a canning mixture determines whether it is appropriate for water bath canning vs pressure canning. This recipe wasn’t developed for the purpose of canning so you’d need to do some research to decide for yourself whether you feel it would work for canning and using which method. Hope that helps!
Roberta says
This is by far the best ketchup I’ve ever tasted!! Love this recipe and would recommend to anyone. It is easy, tasty, and really just the right amount
Toni Dash says
So glad to hear it Roberta! I feel the same. Who ever thought ketchup could taste this good, right?
madhuri Shirke says
hii i like ur post and enjoyed it
Ayoyemi samuel says
Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar?
Toni Dash says
Vinegar is a key ingredient in giving ketchup it’s flavor, for this recipe included. If it’s a case of not having any vinegar and wanting to make the recipe I would encourage waiting until you have all the ingredients. If you just don’t like vinegar and want to try lemon juice you certainly can experiment understanding you may not have a true ketchup flavor with the end result (but who knows, maybe you’ll like it better!).
Lisa says
Loved it!
Sebi says
No water?
Toni Dash says
Nope! The tomatoes release liquid as they cook.
Talha Ijaz says
good
Mary says
Since the first time I made this recipe I make it all the time now. I use it in my homemade BBQ sauce. We use it as the sauce on our homemade pizza. As one reviewer said it is the best and I will never buy ketchup from the store again. I also do not strain mine. I love the chunkiness.
Toni Dash says
So glad to hear it Mary! Thanks for leaving your comment. I need to try it I strained now too!
K says
Made this last week and by far is the best ketchup recipe I’ve found. I would boil it down to make it thicker next time but the flavor is spot on.
AA BB says
Ok, just used a portion of my first delicious batch to double down and make a real ‘from scratch’ cocktail sauce: Ketchup, lemon juice, worchestershire sauce, over generous amount of *fresh* horseraddish and salt/pepper. Game winning cocktail sauce!
Toni Dash says
Ooooo! I definitely need to try this! Yum.
AA BB says
Made it with no mods and it was very good, will definitely make it again. Will consider adding a teaspoon or two of liquid smoke, just a personal quirk. My normal ‘ketchup’ is Heinz Chili Sauce with a little liquid smoke. That’s the old Chili’s Rojo sauce from the 1980’s. Anyone remember the Rojo burger, yeah, that’s the sauce. This ketchup was a smooth winner, good balance and fresh flavor! Goes well on homemade fries and burgers!
Jeani W says
I didn’t have the Anaheim pepper for the first batch but still came out awesome! Have the Anaheim now so here goes another batch. I just put it in the crock pot and simmered it to ketchup thickness. Made 11 4 oz jars, Water bath for 20 minutes and presto!
Dave Polacheck says
Great recipe! This is delicious and I’m excited to start varying the recipe (spicy, chipotle, etc.). I’ve done 3 batches with 8-10lb of tomatoes and one batch with 20lb. It’s probably the volume I’m starting with but I found it took many hours to cook it down to store bought consistency. Also I found that letting it simmer for a couple hours first meant softer pulp for the blender so more pulp through the strainer, and a higher yield overall. If my math is correct I’m getting about 1/2c ketchup per lb of tomatoes. And not sure if this is making a big difference but I put the spice bundles back in after the blend/strain step to maximize the flavor.
Iryna says
Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s delicious!
Lindsay Maielli says
Do you peel the tomatoes first?