For The Love Of Ketchup

[Fistandantalus]

My kids like ketchup, just like most kids.  In the battle to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our lives, ketchup took a big hit when I sat down in the middle of the aisle to read every....single...label on the various brands and kinds of ketchup and discovered that the ONLY ONE without high fructose corn syrup was Heinz Organic, which cost $2.44 for 10 ounces.  The gynormous bottle of generic ketchup loaded with HFCS cost $.97.  Naturally, I was in a State Of High Pissoff because it doesn't make sense to me that the good old Heinz company couldn't put out ketchup that's made from boring tomatoes, boring vinegar, boring salt and plain cane sugar, so I made my own!  I discovered that brown sugar is better than white, a good-quality cider vinegar makes a difference and this recipe can be tweaked with garlic, cayenne pepper, ginger or any salt-free seasoning you like.  Just taste and test!

This recipe makes about 2 cups and keeps for three weeks in the refrigerator.

• 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes in puree, or 28 ounces of tomato puree
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

If your tomatoes are whole, go ahead and puree them in a grindolator.

Sautee the onion in the olive oil until softened and slightly gold.  Add everything else, bring to a simmer and let it cook down slowly for about 30 minutes.  If you don't want little bits of onion in it, put it back in the grindolator and get 'er smooooth.  Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary and add in any extra seasonings you want in there.  Put it in a nice CLEAN recycled bottle or jar and nom away!  This recipe can be doubled or tripled and given away to like-minded anti-HFCS friends as long as it stays chilled.

[KTMOM]

May. 16, 2009 at 3:35 PM Wow. I have never thought about making my own ketchup. I thank you for the recipe and will let you know if I decide to get all handy and make it! :)

[ivansmom07]

May. 16, 2009 at 3:35 PM

Liz, I love you!

Ivan likes his ketchup.  I'm going to make this TODAY and store it in my empty ketchup bottle =)

[aurorabunny]

May. 16, 2009 at 3:36 PM

That's awesome Liz!  We were amazed at how much nicer real organic ketchup tastes.

If you ever are in a pinch and don't want to make it (well and presuming you have a Whole Foods somewhere near you, I don't know if you do) their store brand (I believe it's called 365) has a HFCS free organic ketchup that's pretty cheap I think.

[JoyeAustin]

May. 16, 2009 at 4:07 PM

This is AWESOME!

[tericared]

May. 16, 2009 at 8:34 PM

I read a lot of labels and never thought about cats-up as my youngest calls it....

[hotchicks007]

May. 16, 2009 at 11:19 PM

Very cool.  I'll definitely try it!

[MythicMMM]

May. 17, 2009 at 9:06 AM

Well this came along at a perfect time. We are totally out of ketchup. I'm going to spoil my family this week and make it!

[Rosesandlilys]

May. 17, 2009 at 1:42 PM

That is wicked neat! Thanks for sharing.

[Mina2904]

May. 17, 2009 at 2:23 PM

This is great! I've been cruising around, trying to find new things to make at home instead of buying at the store and this is fantastic! I'm going to try it out on my kids (my son and DF lol) and see what they think! I'll be sure to give you the results of the test later on. (We're having a finger food dinner tonight consisting of chicken fingers and homemade french fries)

[cedailey]

May. 17, 2009 at 2:30 PM

For those of you who have HEB stores, the Central Market organic  is reasonably priced.