Ketchup Recipe (homemade)

How to make ketchup? This ketchup recipe is really easy to make and I use fresh tomatoes to make it. Use it on burgers and as a fry dip.

I don’t know why I felt like making a homemade ketchup recipe, but, here it is.

Ketchup is easy to find in stores and it isn’t expensive either.

Yet, I felt the need to make it at home

“Look, Ma! I made ketchup”.  I have always wanted to say that and now I can.

Ketchup is so simple to make and has only a few ingredients.  I tend to add more ingredients just to keep it interesting.

In this recipe, I added Apple Cider Vinegar, fresh tomatoes, roasted red bell pepper and red onions.

The true hero of this recipe has to be the fresh roasted bell pepper.  What a difference it makes!  It gave my ketchup a smoky and sweet flavor which is exactly what Ketchup needs.

Can ketchup go bad?

The store bought ketchup has a long shelf life.  You can put it in the refrigerator and it will be good for at least a whole year.  That sounds good, doesn’t it?

On the other hand, my ketchup recipe is homemade and free of preservatives.  This means that it has a short shelf life.  It tastes so good, so, I normally just eat it up within days.

I have found that if I refrigerate this ketchup, it will be good for about 3 weeks.

Can you add mayo to make it?

I wouldn’t recommend adding mayo to this ketchup.  First, mayo is not vegan, so, its not  useful in this recipe.  If you use a vegan mayo in this recipe, I still don’t recommend it.

Mayo reduces the shelf life of this ketchup.  Also, the consistency is going to be on the creamier side.  I like the slightly runny texture of my ketchup recipe.

When I set out to make this homemade ketchup recipe, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I had to experiment with various ingredients until I finally got the right ones mixed together.  The key here is to use red onions and not yellow onions.

Also, I used canned tomato sauce to give it a little thicker consistency.

This is not to say that store-bought ketchup is bad or wrong.  Once in a while, I would like to try my own version of this condiment.

Try this ketchup with my eggplant chips recipe! Or my sweet potato wedges!

So, what do you think of “how to make ketchup at home”?  Will try making it at home?

Ingredients needed

• 6 plum tomatoes (Use campari tomatoes if you can)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/4 red onion
• 1/2 lime
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce or 3 tsp of tomato paste
• 2 tsp olive oil for roasting the bell pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil for roasting the onions
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Thai chili (Optional)
• 1 tsp maple syrup or agave

How to make ketchup?

1) Preheat the mini oven to 300 degrees

2) Baste the outside of the bell pepper with the oil

3)Put the bell pepper on aluminum foil and place it in the mini oven

4) While the bell pepper is roasting, chop the onions finely

5) Heat a medium saucepan and add the olive oil

6) Add the onions and saute them until they are translucent. Set aside

7) Remove the bell pepper after about 20 minutes or until the outside begins to look charred

8) Wait for the bell pepper to cool down a little and then remove the outside skin

9) Put the bell pepper in a food processor

10) Remove the stem of the Thai chili

11) For plum tomatoes, cut each tomato into half and squeeze the juice + seeds out.

12) Add these tomatoes to the food processor

13) Add the sauted onions and all the other ingredients into the processor

14) Using the Pulse setting, make sure that the mixture is pureed completely

15) Once the mixture is all blended together and has a thick consistency, remove from the processor