This quick and easy 5 minute recipe will show you how to make homemade tomato ketchup from scratch using simple healthy natural ingredients! It’s perfect as a dip for French fries, potato wedges, vegan meatballs, veggie patties, sandwiches & burgers and other barbecue snacks!
Easy and Healthy Ketchup Recipe
Have you ever made your own tomato ketchup? If you think making ketchup from scratch is time-consuming and complicated, this simple effortless recipe will quickly convince you otherwise! With a few simple, inexpensive ingredients, you can make a delicious, tangy, tomato-based ketchup without refined sugar in no time!
Not only is this ketchup simple and delicious, it’s also much healthier than store-bought ketchup. It’s tomato-y, decadent and subtly sweet and perfect for dipping many savory dishes and finger food snacks. Just like tzatziki, ketchup should never be missing at potlucks and barbecue parties! It pairs especially well with vegan meatballs, French fries and veggie burgers.
Homemade Ketchup from fresh tomatoes
To keep this recipe as simple as possible, I used tomato paste. However, you can also make your own healthy ketchup with fresh ripe tomatoes by simply using fresh peeled tomatoes or canned tomatoes instead of tomato paste and water. Please pay attention to the quality and ripeness of the tomatoes, otherwise the tomato dip will not be as fruity and aromatic. If necessary, you would have to boil it down longer to get the desired concentration and consistency.
Ingredients needed
For this quick recipe you only need the following 6 ingredients plus water, salt and optionally some chili:
- Oil: e.g. canola oil, sunflower oil or olive oil.
- Tomato paste: or fresh tomatoes
- Onion powder: or fresh onion
- Garlic powder: or fresh garlic cloves
- Apple cider vinegar: or white vinegar
- Maple syrup: or other syrup or sugar
- Chili powder: optional to taste
- Water
- Salt
How to make Ketchup from scratch
As always, I recommend checking out the recipe video and these step-by-step instructions first. Then you’ll find the full recipe with the exact measurements in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Make your own tomato ketchup
First, heat some oil in a pan. Add the tomato paste, onion powder and garlic powder and sauté for a few seconds, stirring occasionally. Then deglaze the pan with water and bring the mixture to a boil. Now add apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, chili and salt and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Step 2: fill in a bottle or jar and enjoy!
Then pour the ketchup into a clean sealable jar or bottle and let it cool. You can use it right away, but I recommend letting it sit for at least 1-2 hours to allow the flavors to develop for even more aroma!
How to store homemade tomato sauce
The tomato ketchup keeps in a clean sealed jar or airtight container for about a week in the fridge.
Ketchup Recipe Tips and Variations
This basic ketchup recipe is very versatile and can be adapted any way you like. Here are some ideas:
- Curry ketchup: if you want to make curry ketchup yourself, you can just add curry powder.
- Spiced ketchup: of course, you can also try other dry or liquid seasonings like Worcestershire sauce, allspice or other spices for different flavors.
- Hot Ketchup: for more spiciness, you can add more chili powder or sriracha.
- Italian Style: For a Mediterranean version, you can add dried Italian herbs such as rosemary, basil, oregano or thyme.
- Fruity: For a fruity note you can sweeten your ketchup with fruit compote or fruit puree.
- Tomato sauce: If you feel like pasta with tomato sauce, you can simply boil 1/2 cup of ketchup with 1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup of dairy-free cooking cream and season with Italian herbs, salt and pepper to taste.
- Consistency: If you want the ketchup to be smooth and creamy, you can blend it in a blender or food processor or with an immersion blender.
- Sweetness: If you want it sweeter, you can add more agave syrup, maple syrup, date syrup or another sweetener to taste.
This homemade tomato ketchup is:
- Quick and easy to make
- No preservatives or additives
- Gluten-free
- Healthier than the original
- Fool-proof
- Versatile & customizable
- Hearty & spicy
- Totally delicious!
- Perfect as a dip, sauce or spread!
More easy vegan recipes for dips and sauces:
- The Best Peanut Sauce
- Green Herb Dip
- Garlic Sauce
- Sweet Chili Sauce
- Hummus
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Vegan Mayonnaise
- Aioli (Garlic Dip)
- Baba Ghanoush
- Guacamole
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Raita Dip
Recipe-Video
If you try this easy homemade ketchup recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your tomato dip and share it on Instagram or Facebook, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I love seeing your creations! Have fun trying it out! 🙂
Easy Homemade Ketchup in 5 Minutes!
Author:Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil
- 7 oz tomato paste
- 2 tsp onion powder or 1 medium fresh onion
- ½ tsp garlic powder or 1-2 garlic cloves
- ⅔ cup water
- 1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to taste
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or other syrup or sugar
- 1 tsp chili powder optional to taste
- 1 tsp salt
Optional
- curry powder optional to taste
Instructions
*Note: Check out the recipe video + step-by-step photos at the top of the post!
- Heat the oil in a pan. Add the tomato paste, onion powder and garlic powder and sauté briefly. Then deglaze with the water and bring to a boil.
- Add the apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, chili and salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Pour the ketchup into a clean sealable jar and allow to cool.
- Stored in the refrigerator, the homemade ketchup will keep for up to a week. Enjoy! 🙂
Notes
- Consistency: if you want the ketchup to be smooth and creamy, you can puree it finely with a hand blender or in a blender after cooking.
- Onion/ Garlic: Instead of 2 tsp onion powder, you can use 1 medium fresh onion and instead of ½ tsp garlic powder, use 1-2 fresh garlic cloves. Just sauté these in a little oil 2-3 at the beginning until translucent. Then add tomato paste and sauté briefly. Continue to prepare the recipe according to instructions and finely blend until smooth.
- Tomatoes: Instead of tomato paste + water, you can also use 12.3 oz (350 g) fresh peeled tomatoes (or canned tomatoes). Please pay attention to the quality and the degree of ripeness of the tomatoes, otherwise the ketchup will not be as fruity and aromatic. If necessary, you would have to boil it down longer to get the desired concentration and consistency.
- Curry ketchup: If you like, you can add other spices such as curry powder.
- More helpful tips and information, including recipe variations & storage tips, are mentioned in the blog post above!
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It’s very simple and delicious! Thank you for sharing recipes 🙂
Glad you like it! 🙂