Homemade Ketchup

I know some of you have been anxiously awaiting the homemade ketchup recipe… so here it is! The discussion on my Facebook page about high fructose corn syrup led me to try this out, and it turned out great! I served it with Boulder Sausage bratwurst, homemade sweet potato fries (recipe found here) and sautéed kale with ginger and garlic.

Recipe

6 oz can of tomato puree

½ cup carrot puree (wash carrots, cut into chunks, steam for 10 minutes, and puree in blender or food processor – add water if needed to puree)

¼ cup water

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp raw organic honey

½ tsp dry mustard

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp cinnamon

Add all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat slightly and simmer until ketchup is reduced by a third to a half (it took me about 14 minutes).

I doubled the recipe and froze 2/3 of it in individual ziploc bags. It will only keep in your fridge for a few days, so freezing some is a good idea.

This recipe is extremely easy. The carrot puree can be left out if needed – just replace with extra tomato puree. You can use canned tomato puree or make your own with fresh tomatoes. I used canned to save time. If you like your ketchup sweet or are making this for kids, I’d add another 1-2 tbsp of honey.

Give it a try and let me know what you think! Ed is a bigger ketchup fan than I am so he got to be the judge. He and our friend Reid thought it was great! I believe they described it as “a party in my mouth”. I ended up mixing it on my plate with some spicy ground mustard and that was delicious with the brats and sweet potato fries.

Ed had it again this morning on his eggs. It’s really not that much work if you’re willing to make a big pan of it and then freeze in single servings. High fructose corn syrup is in so many foods we eat, so if we can make little changes like this, we are doing ourselves a big favor.