Homemade Ketchup with Fresh Tomatoes

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Want to save money on condiments and learn to make your own homemade ketchup? This recipe makes it so easy!

Homemade Ketchup

Homemade Ketchup with Fresh Tomatoes

I’ve been searching for a good ketchup for a long long time. My only requirements are that it doesn’t contain “natural flavorings”. What is that anyway?

I haven’t found one yet.

So I decided it’s high time I just figure it out on my own. Turns out that it’s much, much easier than I thought and only takes a few ingredients!

Homemade Ketchup with Fresh Tomatoes

What You Need:

  • 3 medium tomatoes
  • 1 6-7oz jar tomato paste
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/4 c. sugar  (or honey)
  • 1 t. onion powder

Here’s all you need! I’ve gotten and used the Bionaturae Tomato Paste in the past because it’s sold in a glass jar, no worries about BPA. However, if that doesn’t concern you as much you can get Muir Glen brand which is cheaper and now also in a BPA free can.

Start by chopping up your tomatoes after you clean them up.

And simmer them in a saucepan for a few minutes. I mashed mine up as good as I could.

Add in the salt, onion powder, sugar, and tomato paste and let the mixture bubble together for about a minute.

Remove the mixture from heat and pour into the blender. CAUTION: the mixture is very hot so make sure that you have the lid on tight before you turn it on! Blend until smooth.

Return the mixture to the stove for a little while. It won’t be perfectly smooth because of the seeds so if that will be a problem for your family you will want to strain them out. You can also can this up just like you would tomatoes, (add acid) I’m planning on doing a big batch later this year!

Print the full recipe below:

Homemade Ketchup
5 from 1 vote
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Homemade Ketchup

Delicious homemade ketchup is so easy to make!

Ingredients

  • 3 medium tomatoes
  • 1 jar tomato paste 6-7 ounces
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar (can use honey)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

  1. Start by chopping up your tomatoes after you wash them.

  2. Simmer the tomatoes in a saucepan for a few minutes. Mash them up as much as you can.

  3. Add in the salt, onion powder, sugar, and tomato paste and let the mixture bubble together for about a minute.

  4. Remove the mixture from heat and pour into the blender. CAUTION: the mixture is very hot so make sure that you have the lid on tight before you turn it on! Blend until smooth.

  5. Return the mixture to the stove for a little while. It won't be perfectly smooth because of the seeds so if that will be a problem for your family you will want to strain them out.

Make sure you check out all the free Canning and Preserving Recipes we have on Little House Living!

I recommend a Presto Pressure Canner and the book Putting Food By for all your canning projects!

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33 Comments

  1. This looks really good 🙂 🙂 I haven’t tried my hand at homemade ketchup up, but I”ve got two really good recipes. One is a made-from-scratch recipe…and the other is also good, but easier because it’s all from cans etc… 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂

  2. How does the taste compare to say, Hunts ketchup or another popular brand? I’ve been looking for a ketchup recipe that tastes “just right” for a long time. Yours looks so simple!

  3. Looks yummy. I plan to make this ketchup and add it to ground horseradish from the plants in my yard to make cocktail sauce.

    1. I also wondered about the vinegar,I have run across many recipes & often thought of making it,as I have a Vittorio Strainer that the only thing missing is the seeds & skins of the tomatoes,it would be an ideal start,anything is worth a try,not losing anything .

    2. I have actually been looking for one without vinegar. I have a child allergic to vinegar. This is why we cannot eat ketchup, mustard, Bbq sauces or any pickles. It is something in the process and the doctors have not figured it out. It is white distilled vinegar for sure though.

      1. My husband has the same problem because he is allergic to corn. Some say the distilling removes the corn but that is not what we have found.

  4. Yes could you please share with us how long it will keep? I’ve been looking for a good homemade ketchup recipe for a while now to so I’m glad to have come by yours!

  5. So excited to try this…Love to have quarts on hand in my pantry…we go through LOTS of ketchup! Thanks so much for posting!

  6. You might want to try an immersion blender. It takes that extra step out of putting hot stuff into the blender and then back into the cooking pot. I use it to make my spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce and paste. You do not mention it but can this recipe for ketchup be canned with a pressure canner?
    Thanks

  7. great recipe! First I have seen that didn’t call for onions and/or garlic! (onion powder is ok in moderation)

  8. Thanks again. I think I’ll try to prepare this one one of this days. I”m looking for a recipe that has less sodium in it and I think your recipe is the one I’m looking for.

  9. I used to make a homemade ketchup when my girls were little from a recipe in “Whole Foods for the Whole Family” from La Leche League. It was a little spicier, more like conventional ketchup. I now longer have the cookbook as my daughter “borrowed” it. If someone could share that recipe I would send big hugs.

  10. Sorry if someone asked this already…can I use a lower glycemic index sweetener like SweetLeaf stevia or coconut sugar?

  11. 5 stars
    Excellent recipe!! I’ve made it twice now and went to the extra work of putting the cooked tomatoes through a strainer to get out the seeds (before adding the spices). So delicious! I added a bit of vinegar the second batch and it tastes a lot like the store bought stuff (except better!). Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂

  12. EXCELLENT RECIPE! I made it without straining the seeds and skins (wanted to see if the recipe was worth the work lol) WELL… what a great recipe. I added 1Tsp vinegar and it jacked up to be more like Heinz Ketchup.. only better! next time I am adding jalapeño for extra heat. Thanx Bunchez for the EASY and Flavourful Recipe!

  13. You mentioned putting an acid into the canning.
    (As in canning tomatoes)
    I was going to ask about canning this .. but read farther down the line and noticed it needs to be canned with a pressure cooker
    I just do water bath.. so I guess like someone said before ,,
    they froze their leftovers and it thawed just fine,
    does this sound correct? Thank you
    I too have been looking for a ketchup recipe…

  14. Merissa, I want to make this sauce for my kiddos, for the exact same reasons you listed above, but I’m wondering if I can use canned tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes. Any idea what your yield is from the 3 tomatoes? Might make it both ways and compare… I’m hoping they like this one… the first recipe I tried was not well received! 😂

    1. 3 medium tomatoes would be about 3 cups of canned tomatoes. When you are finished you should have close to a quart of ketchup, depending on how much you cook down your tomatoes to thicken them.