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This is a guest post by Melanie Zook, MA, RD, LDN. She is the blogger behind Fresh Start Nutrition where she offers wellness classes, workshops, pantry makeovers, and nutrition consultations. She lives here in the Charlotte, NC area, and I thought you all would enjoy her homemade ketchup recipe from her new DIY Kitchen Cookbook!
Hi there, I'm Melanie, and I think the kitchen is the perfect place to do it yourself (DIY).
Why DIY in the kitchen?
- YOU are in control.
You know exactly what’s going into your food - no preservatives or artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners, just whole, clean, healthy foods instead of processed foods that are full of unnecessary additives.
- - You’ll save time and money, as well as space in your pantry and refrigerator.
Once you stock up on the ingredients you’ll need for a DIY kitchen, you won’t have to buy as many premade staples and you can save yourself the extra errands. Spend some time putting together the make-ahead mixes and you’re done.
- - It’s green.
You can skip the excess packaging of premade, processed foods.
- - It’s worth it to make some of your meal and snack staples.
They take a matter of minutes using ingredients you probably already have on hand. (But some DIY recipes out there just aren’t worth the time and hassle if you can already find affordable clean versions in the store.)
These reasons are exactly what inspired me to put together my new DIY Kitchen Cookbook*. It covers how to Make Your Own Clean & Healthy Make-Ahead Mixes, Seasoning Blends, Snacks, Breakfasts, Condiments, Dressings & Drinks with copycat recipes that are cleaner, healthier, and more budget-friendly versions of what you’d normally buy in a grocery store. The recipes are designed so you can tweak them to fit your family's preferences or swap out ingredients to make them allergy friendly.
Homemade Ketchup in the Slow Cooker
Let’s start with ketchup. It’s a kid-friendly kitchen, restaurant, and picnic staple, but the bottled, store-bought version is one of the condiments highest in sodium and sugar (often in the form of high fructose corn syrup). And some of the new reduced sugar varieties are made with artificial sweeteners. By making your own, however, you can control how much salt is added and skip the processed sugar altogether by using honey as the sweetener.
Homemade ketchup makes a perfect summertime hostess gift. Double the recipe, pour into mason jars, and tie on a bow.
It also freezes well (leave headroom if freezing in jars to allow for expansion). Or freeze in an ice cube tray so you can thaw out individual portions when you need them for serving food or when making other recipes, such as barbecue sauce.
Homemade Ketchup in the Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 28-oz can tomato puree
- ¾ cup white vinegar (Look for white vinegar derived from corn or rye or try apple cider vinegar.)
- ½ cup honey
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt (kosher)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon celery salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground mustard (mustard powder)
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves (about 3 cloves)
- pepper (and/or cayenne pepper to taste (optional))
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or until thick.
- Store in a glass jar or a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator or freeze.
Notes
• Use the same measuring cup for the honey that you did for the vinegar. Honey slides out of a wet measuring cup much better than out of a dry one.
• Grind whole cloves using a mortar and pestle or with the flat side of a chef’s knife.
Nutrition Facts
(*FYI - You do not need a Kindle device to download and read this ebook. FREE apps for just about any desktop, smartphone, or tablet are available on Amazon or in your gadget’s app store.)
Sheryl Bergstrom says
I would love to try this homemade ketchup, my kids would surely love it. This could assure that the ingredients are organic.
ChelC says
How long will it last before it goes bad? Indications of going bad? I want to try this!
Sara says
Would like to know this, too!
Darlene Puck says
I made faux Alfredo sauce tonight. Garlic, Parmesan cheese, vegetable broth, cooked cauliflower in blender until creamy. Served over spaghetti squash with peas and sautéed mushrooms.
madmema says
This looks like a great recipe and I chose it to use as a start up recipe. I made my changes to suit our tastes. I subbed honey for reg corn syrup and added about 1/3 cup sugar. I also added more salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. I decided not to use my slow cooker and added one can of tomato paste and simmered for about 30 minutes. All the other spice measurements were spot on. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Rhiannon says
Thanks for the recipe. I personally liked the taste of the ketchup and I'm not one to use it. Now the Heinz lovers didn't care for it. I do have to mention that you should cook it on low in the Crock-Pot for 8 hours with the lid off. I did the recipe exactly the way it said to and it was still soupy because the steam built up inside the lid and poured back down into the ketchup. I then took off the lid and cooked it on low for 8 hours and it came out to a perfect consistency. I do advise stirring this mixture occasionally so you don't get a crusty build up around the edges.
sionally so you don't have a crusty build up around the edge.
Melanie Zook says
Thank you for the comment and good tips! Glad you liked it. :)
KatyW says
Do you think would be safe to water bath can?
Melanie Zook, RD says
Hi KATYW, I'm not a canning expert, but I think based on a lot of the comments, some readers have given it a try. I would think it would work well. Good luck and I hope you like it!
Nicole says
I just made this, and had it in my crockpot on low for 10 hours but it was still pretty thin. It was also darker, had a saucy consistency, and had a very strong tomato sauce + vinegar taste. :(
Melanie Zook says
Sorry it didn't turn out. :(
Melanie Zook says
So glad to hear that, H Stou! And thanks for sharing the lid-off tip.
H Stou says
Store-bought ketchup tastes like chemicals and sugar to me, so I've been on a mission to make my own. I've tried several recipes! This is my current favorite. Thank you! I cook it on high for 8 hrs with no top on the CP to get it to the consistency I like. YUMMY! My family loves it.
Melanie Zook says
It uses tomato puree, not paste, so hopefully you'll be able to keep it low sodium that way. Hope you like how it turns out!
Mandy says
I have to watch my salt. What could I substitute for tomato paste as it is high in sodium. I would have to leave out the salt also in the recipe and use celery seed not celery salt. I can't wait to try it. I have only found on version of no salt ketcup and only one store sells it. Can't wait to have my own. Thanks!
Kim says
I didn't know that this recipe called for tomato paste...
Melanie Zook says
It doesn't! But you could add it if you'd like and experiment with it.
Melanie Zook says
Hi Mandy! There is no tomato paste in this recipe, so you should be good to go. Enjoy!
Debbie says
How long will it last in the refrigerator please?
Melanie Zook says
I’ve kept it in my fridge at times for at least a month with no problems. To avoid waste, though, I usually double a batch, then freeze it in pint or quart sized jars (leave headroom), then thaw out a jar to refill a squeeze bottle as needed.
Hannah says
would you be able to can this via water bath or would you need to pressure can it???
Melanie Zook says
Hi Hannah--I'm in no way a canning expert, but I don't see why not? But I have only ever frozen it, not canned it. There have been a lot of other canning comments on this post, so I wonder if anyone else has tried it!
Molly says
I would be concerned with canning because of the honey in it. I am not an expert but have canned and pressure canned many times, and I believe honey is one ingredient that is not supposed to go in a canning recipe. You could check the USDA website on canning to be sure!
Melanie Zook says
What a good idea! I would think so, but to be extra safe, you could freeze the jars then they'd thaw out by that time, all while keeping it chilled. Hope they love their gift!
Pam says
I plan to give this as a small gift to coworkers. Could it be left unrefrigerated for 5 or 6 hours?
Lena says
can this be canned in a water bath versus freezing?
Melanie Zook says
Hi Lena--I'm not a canning expert, but I don't see why not? Let us know if you give it a try!
Teri says
I made this today and thought it was very good. Will be our family's new ketchup. Thank you.
Melanie Zook says
I am happy to hear that! Thank you for the feedback--hope you and your family enjoy it at all your summer picnics!
Cheryl Weldy says
Seems like a lot of salt
Melanie Zook says
You can always tweak it to fit your family's preferences!
Melissa says
Could you do this with tomato paste instead and just add some liquid?
Melanie Zook says
The first time I made it, I used tomato paste and it was too, well, tomato-y. But I probably just used too much! So if you give it a try, just go light on the paste.
Tiffany says
Mine came out a lot darker and did not taste good. :-(
Melanie Zook says
Sorry to hear that! :(
Val says
Can you use fresh tomatoes?
Melanie Zook says
Hi Val--I haven't tested it that way, but it sounds like some readers planned to make it with fresh tomatoes. You can see some of the info in their comments. Overall, it sounds like you would need to skin them as you would for other tomato products, then add more cook time to cook off more liquid (water). Let us know how it goes!
Lori says
Where do you buy tomato puree. I have never seen in in a store.
Melanie Zook says
Hi Lori--my store has the Cento brand, but Hunt's and Contadina also makes a puree. Even better, Muir Glen Organic is available on Amazon if you're an online shopper!
Willow Miller says
How long will this last in the fridge?
Melanie Zook says
I’ve kept it in my fridge at times for at least a month with no problems. To avoid waste, though, I usually double a batch, then freeze it in pint or quart sized jars (leave headroom), then thaw out a jar to refill a squeeze bottle as needed.
Danielle says
Hi, how long and at what temp. do you stove cook this? Thanks!
Melanie Zook says
Hi Danielle--I haven't tested it on the stovetop yet, so I'm not positive. But I would keep it on low (or my stove has a 'simmer' option) and keep any eye on it.