How much is inside a ketchup packet? No one knows for sure, but there is a general consensus that it is only about one-fifth of the amount of ketchup one needs to enjoy french fries. Brooke and I decided to find out how many packets of ketchup it takes to fill a bottle.

The first step was to buy a new bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup. Ketchup is cheap. This 14oz. plastic bottle was only $1.25. We squeezed it out into a measuring cup to double-check the contents.

Yep. 14 ounces. That is one and three-quarters of a cup.

Next we headed to Jack in the Box and Carl's Jr. to collect ketchup packets. The USA has traditionally been the land of plenty when it comes to a bounty of free condiment packets, but some places are getting really stingy with them lately. Here is a photo of Brooke jamming her pockets full. We also bought a small order of fries so we wouldn't feel bad about it.

We had a hundred packs, which is about one-eighth of the number I used in the ketchup packet bear a couple of years ago.

Here is what a hundred packets of ketchup look like. To me, it was like counting money. Stacks and stacks of money!

One by one we cut open the packets and emptied them out into a measuring cup. We tried to get all the ketchup out of each one but inevitably, there is ketchup left in the corners.











I sometimes picture myself stuck on a desert island with only five ketchup packets for food, squeezing and re-squeezing the packets for hours on end.

Soon we had 14 ounces of unpacked packet ketchup, (also known unpacketchup).

We carefully re-filled the ketchup bottle with our FREE ketchup! Woo Hoo! At last this whole website thing was starting to pay off! I'm never paying for mustard, relish, soy or el scorcho sauce again! The bottle was refilled to the top using exactly 50 packets of ketchup! That means that each packet holds 8 grams of ketchup, or about a quarter-ounce, and has a value of about 2.5 cents US!

We still had the fries and the more than enough ketchup left over, so I had a chance to indulge my immense desire for fresh ketchup. Remember, the FDA recommends eight servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and ketchup-saturated french fries are the easiest way to satisfy that recommendation!

Did you ever notice how food photography makes everything look so damn tasty?

Brooke thought that if we blended in some fresh tomatoes, we could make our own ye olde-fashioned style freshe ketchupe. Unfortunately I got excited and turned the blender on while she was fishing the foil packets out!

Luckily she only lost one of her ring fingers, she can still flip people off.