Learn how to make a plant-based Easy Homemade Ketchup with just 6 ingredients and in 10 minutes! This ketchup is refined sugar-free, naturally sweetened and much less sugar and sodium than store-bought ketchup. It tastes amazing on fries, burgers or anything you like!
EASY HOMEMADE KETCHUP
I’m pretty sure we all grew up eating fries with ketchup. I also used to love eating hot dogs and burgers with loads of ketchup. However, the salt and sugar content is enough to make me want to create a homemade version. This way, I can control the amount of sweetener (and the kind I use) and salt I put into it. Well, my homemade version is healthy ketchup with half the amount of sugar and salt as commercial brands!
I make a lot of sauce recipes here on the blog, particularly classics, and make them much healthier, vegan and always oil-free. Like this Ranch dressing, Creamy Italian Dressing, Caesar and this Thousand Island Dressing. I find it so much fun to remake classics and you all seem to really love them. In fact, it was that Thousand Island Dressing that became so popular and loved, that several were asking me about subs for the ketchup because of the salt and sugar in it. So, naturally, I had to create my own ketchup, since it is key to the classic dressing. And yes, I’ve already tested the ketchup in the dressing and it’s amazing!
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE KETCHUP
First, you will need to gather these 6 ingredients (+salt and water):
- tomato paste
- white distilled vinegar
- maple syrup
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- ground allspice
To a medium bowl, add all of the ingredients and whisk very well for 1-2 minutes. You want to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly and is smooth.
Pour the sauce into a small pot over medium heat. As soon as it starts to simmer/bubble around the edges well, set your timer for exactly 4 minutes and whisk or stir with a rubber spatula constantly. Do not walk away from it or it’ll stick to the bottom and pop all over the place. We are cooking it to cook out the raw spices flavor and develop the classic ketchup flavor. 4 minutes is just enough to do this. The color will slightly darken.
Pour the ketchup into a glass container and chill a few hours to let the flavors develop fully and get nice and cold to dip potato wedges in. Or, use on burgers, vegan hot dogs or whatever you like!
KID-APPROVED KETCHUP
When I created this, I literally had the real ketchup and my homemade version side by side. As I was creating it, I was tasting the real one and mine, adjusting it, going back and forth between the two until I got the flavor as close as I could. I knew it was delicious, but the real test was when I served my daughter some ketchup and fries and she squealed “ketchup!” because it’s a treat around here (we don’t eat much of it) and she loves it so much.
She finished the plate of fries before I told her I had made it myself. Next, I got out the real ketchup and let her taste each, side by side, and give her honest opinion. She couldn’t believe how similar they were. The only thing she said she could tell was slightly different, was that the real ketchup was “a tiny bit more salty”. This, of course, is only noticeable when tasting both at the same time! It was a home run!
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Easy Homemade Ketchup (10 Minutes)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120g) tomato paste (with NO added salt, my tube says "double concentrated" but I'm not sure it makes a huge difference
- 1/2 cup (120g) water
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (20g) distilled white vinegar (this is key to the ketchup flavor, do not sub)
- 1 tablespoon (20g) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon ground garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground onion powder
- scant 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
NOTE
- Please make sure to weigh the tomato paste, so you get the accurate flavor. Since it's so thick, and not a sauce, it can be a little tricky to measure accurately. Otherwise, just makes sure there are no gaps in your 1/2 cup and level off.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
To a medium bowl, add all of the ingredients and whisk very well for 1-2 minutes. You want to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly and is smooth.
Pour the sauce into a small pot over medium heat. As soon as it starts to simmer/bubble around the edges well, set your timer for exactly 4 minutes and whisk or stir with a rubber spatula constantly. Do not walk away from it or it'll stick to the bottom and pop all over the place. We are cooking it to cook out the raw spices flavor and develop the classic ketchup flavor. 4 minutes is just enough to do this. The color will slightly darken.
Pour the ketchup into a glass container and chill a few hours or overnight to let the flavors develop fully and get nice and cold to dip potato wedges in. Use in my homemade Thousand Island Dressing! Or, use on burgers, vegan hot dogs or whatever you like!
If you would like to make the potato wedges I have pictured, it is very easy. These are nothing fancy or crispy like fries, but are delicious and simple, healthy potato wedges that taste great with the ketchup! Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Peel and slice 3 large russet potatoes into 1/2 inch thick fry shapes. Spread out evenly on the pan. Salt and pepper well and bake for 25-30 minutes until they are getting very golden brown. Serve immediately with the ketchup.
Recipe Notes
Can sub the maple syrup with agave if desired. I believe it will yield a very similar result.
Nutrition per tablespoon: 11.5 calories, 0g fat, .5g protein, 2.2g carbs, 1.5g sugar, .25g fiber, 76.7mg sodium
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is there a way to make it sugar free by using Stevia instead of maple syrup?
We have to be sugar free
Hi Nancy, I do not use stevia, so I don’t know. You would have to add it and taste it to see. I know stevia is very concentrated, so you obviously won’t use a tablespoon, so maybe start with 1/4 teaspoon, not sure.
Yes! It will taste slightly different because maple syrup adds its own flavor but it will still be excellent. I’ve made my own with just tomato paste and stevia and even that was “ok”. This recipe looks worlds better though! Another option would be monk fruit extract as sweetener which since testing in other things I now prefer to stevia for the taste. Either one though, just start w/ a lot less than you think and adjust by taste.
Thank you so much for chiming in Geoffrey! I’ve heard monk fruit has a good taste. Don’t want to have a funny aftertaste to the ketchup, that is for sure!
About how long you think this would keep in the fridge?
Hi Jen! Well, honestly, I just created it this week, so I can’t say for certain the longevity of it. But since I used the same ingredients in it as regular ketchup (which lasts a long time), I would think it lasts weeks easily. It contains white vinegar (just like store-bought) which is a natural preservative, so as long as it still looks and smells fresh, I really think it will last weeks.
Love that yo made your own ketchup girl! Looks awesome!!
Thanks girl! So easy!
Want to use beets can I use some powder or juice?
Beets? Why do you want to add beets to the ketchup? I wouldn’t add beets to this, it doesn’t need it and it’ll change the flavor. I’d reserve that for recipes like chocolate desserts or recipes calling for beets.
How about a BBQ sauce, I use more often then Ketchup.
Thanks
Hi Kim, I have 3 bbq sauce recipes here on the blog. I would just type barbecue sauce in the search box!
Not sure if this is of interest to anyone, but distilled white vinegar, if not labeled organic, is usually derived from genetically modified corn, or from petroleum. I first became aware of this issue when a blogger friend noticed the label on Pace Chunky Salsa (recently purchased by the Campbell’s company, which has begun voluntarily declaring genetically modified ingredients on its labels) said “The ingredient from corn in this product comes from genetically modified crops.” Read the article here: http://joannfarb.weebly.com/blog/pace. Matters like this may seem small, but not when full environmental and health implications are considered. If a better option is reasonably available, I choose it, every time … because there are so many exposures we CAN’T control. Just my $0.02 🙂 xo ~ Laurie
The allspice is interesting – never would have thought to put it in there. Thanks for the easy recipe. If I serve oil-free fries this ketchup would definitely get used up.
Thank you Patty! Allspice is classic in ketchup, so that’s why I used it! Definitely doesn’t taste quite right without it.
Thanks for vinegar info! And use organic potatoes! Non organic potatoes are Over sprayed to prevent sprouting!
So easy and turned out great!!
Yay, thrilled to hear this Kim, thank you for making it!
This is awesome! After recently buying a bottle of ketchup that had green bell peppers listed in the ingredients, I’m so happy to get back to the “regular” 🙂 This recipe is so easy. I’ll need to double it next time. I’ve been putting it on chickpea flour and tofu omelets and scrambles, burgers, dips, and almost everything. I mean, ketchup is like avocado – what doesn’t it go with?
Yay! Rally glad you have been using this ketchup on so many things, you are making me hungry!!
Brandi, you have done it again…this ketchup is delicious! My husband said it is the best ketchup he has ever tasted! The flavor is perfect and it is so easy. No more standing in the grocery isle trying to decide which brand has the least number of objectionable ingredients. :0)
Thank you!
Awww yay, that makes me really happy to hear June, thank you so much for letting me know!