Homemade Ketchup

Homemade ketchup! I know you can pretty much make anything they sell in stores at home, but I really did not think you could make ketchup! I found this recipe in Chef Michael Smith's The Best of Chef at Home. I love this book, it is a library loan, but I can't wait for it to go on sale so I can get my own copy!

Homemade Ketchup


28 oz can chopped tomatoes (796mL)
5.5 oz can tomato paste (156 mL)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup red wine vinegar.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive oil.
2 Tbsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 or 3 bay leaves
sprinkle of salt & pepper.

Put everything into a large pot. Put over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature, puree in blender, or with immersion blender,  until smooth.

I managed to get plenty, I think this is a 1 L mason jar. It definitely does not taste like Heinz, but I love the flavor!

The oil made it a bit difficult to stir together at first, but once it started to warm up the spices blended in. That is the allspice sitting on top. Oh, i skipped the onion, I forgot about it until it was to late. Oops, again.

Even though it did not say to, I fished out the bay leaves. I wasn't sure about leaving them in, since I know you are supposed to remove them from soups and stews. This is before I put it in the blender. The colour lightened up a bit after blending it.

So what is for dinner tonight? I decided to get in touch with my inner child and cooked up some frozen chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries to go with my ketchup : -)

Yummy! I love the taste of this ketchup, it has a little kick! It did cost a bit more to make it than a bottle of store bought, though; as it was about 3 dollars for the can of tomatoes, 1.50 for the paste, plus the oil and vinegar, even though I did not use the entire bottle, were about 5 dollars each. A 2 L container of Heinz is about 5 dollars around here. But, i think this may be worth the price just in taste alone, and no preservatives!!

Happy 4th of July to all my American followers! I have had a busy day off, between a bank snafu and getting groceries, I was running the roads half the day. The rest of the day I was catching up on my housecleaning because I did absolutely nothing the last two days. Glad I got an extra day off :-)

Have a good week, everyone!!