This Homemade Ketchup Recipe is super simple and easy. Knowing what ingredients are in your ketchup is never a bad thing, and the only way to do that is by making your ketchup from scratch. Be sure to check out my cookbook for more homemade basic recipes!

Recently I was left a comment saying that a recipe of mine wasn’t “from scratch” because I used ketchup.

Say what?

I guess I never thought about (organic store-bought) ketchup destroying a recipe and deeming un-scratch-worthy. To be honest, I don’t make the bread for my french toast and I also don’t distill my own vinegar. With that said, how “from scratch” do I need to cook in order to have a “from scratch” blog? Well I suppose since this is my blog, I get to determine that.

But I do want to say thanks to “anonymous” who left that comment because I decided to turn his or her comment into a recipe post and make my very own ketchup from scratch. Although I’m sure I’ll get a comment about using canned tomato paste. <insert eye roll emoji>

To Make Homemade Ketchup You Will Need:

tomato paste

dark brown sugar

dry ground mustard

kosher salt

ground allspice

cayenne pepper

ground clove

ground turmeric

apple cider vinegar

water (or more)

It’s really pretty easy to make homemade ketchup. Tomato paste is the base for this ketchup recipe and if you’re up for the challenge and want to make your own tomato paste then here is a great recipe for first-timers. It’s currently on my bucket list to make homemade tomato paste late next summer.

First get out a large mixing bowl or measuring cup. Next measure in 12 ounces of tomato paste.

Then measure and add in 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon both of ground mustard and kosher salt*. Add in 1/8 teaspoon each of ground allspice, cayenne pepper, clove and turmeric .

When making homemade ketchup, I don’t like to use TOO much salt, so if you are using this in a recipe (like barbecue sauce or baked beans) you don’t want risk the final product being overly salty. If using as a condiment (for like tater tots or French fries) then season to taste.

Add in four tablespoons of apple cider vinegar along with 2/3 to 1 cup of water. If you find that it’s still too thick you can always thin it out with even more water.

Finally whisk until thoroughly combined.

Lastly, pour the homemade ketchup recipe into a jars or any container with a tight-fitting lid and pop it into your fridge for a few hours. This will help to develop the flavors. And just like pretty much anything that is tomato based, it always tastes better the next day.

Now who’s made their own mustard? And can it be done? I’m a woman on a mission.

For more homemade ingredients check out my Kitchen Basics section!

Enjoy! And if you give this Easy Homemade Ketchup recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!