Easy Tomato Ketchup

By
Leda Meredith
Leda Meredith
Leda Meredith
Leda Meredith is a food writer and certified botanist who has written five books on foraging and preserving food.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 08/18/22
Easy tomato ketchup recipe

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Canning Time: 15 mins
Total: 40 mins
Servings: 32 servings
Yield: 2 half-pints

This tomato ketchup recipe uses tomato paste, powdered onions, and garlic. You can use homemade versions of these already-preserved foods, but substituting their fresh counterparts will yield a taste that is nothing like the familiar commercial product.

This delicious homemade tomato ketchup is ready in 30 minutes (45 minutes if you take the extra step of canning it).

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Ingredients

  • 12 ounces tomato paste

  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, or light corn syrup

  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup water

  • 1/4 cup white wine, or apple cider vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or medium-grain sea salt

  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

  • 1 pinch ground cloves, optional

  • 1 small pinch cayenne pepper, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for tomato ketchup recipe gathered

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  2. Combine all of the ingredients—tomato paste, brown sugar, water, white wine, onion powder, garlic powder, ground mustard, salt, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, and if using, ground cloves and cayenne pepper—in a small pot, using just 1/2 cup of the water to start.

    Combine ingredients in small pot

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Bring the ingredients to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.

    Bring the ingredients to a boil

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Once the mixture reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer the ketchup for 15 minutes. Stir every few minutes, scraping the mixture away from the sides of the pot and making sure that it isn't sticking to the bottom. Do not let it burn. Add more water if necessary to keep it from thickening too much.

    Stir ketchup

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. If after 15 minutes you find that you added a little too much water and the ketchup is too thin, raise the heat to medium-high and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, to boil off the excess liquid. The ketchup should be thick enough that when you drag a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pot, it leaves an empty trail that does not fill in right away.

    Stir ketchup

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  6. Turn off the heat and let the ketchup cool for 5 minutes. Transfer it to clean glass jars (it is not necessary to sterilize the jars for this recipe).

    Ketchup in a jar

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  7. Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to a month, or follow the canning instructions below.

    Ketchup in jar

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

How to Store and Can

  • For long-term (up to a year) storage at room temperature, be sure to leave a 1/2-inch headspace between the surface of the ketchup and the rims of the jars. Screw on canning lids and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (adjust the canning time if you live at a high altitude).
  • Once you open a jar, store it in the fridge just as you would ketchup from the supermarket. Note that the unopened, sealed jars are still safe to eat beyond a year, but the quality will decline after 12 months.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
26 Calories
0g Fat
6g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 32
Amount per serving
Calories 26
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 43mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 6g 2%
Dietary Fiber 0g 2%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 2mg 12%
Calcium 6mg 0%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 111mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)