How To Make Your Own Ketchup Slideshow

The Five Basic Tastes

Norton and Ramadan explained that the beauty of ketchup all lies in the five basic tastes it represents: sweet, sour, salty, savory, and bitter. While some other foods may give you one or a combination of a couple of those flavors, no other food captures the beauty of all five like ketchup does. It gets these five tastes from the five main ingredients used to make it — tomatoes, sugar, salt, onions, and vinegar. 

Blend It Together

After you've added all of your ingredients and simmered them together for a minute or two, it's time to blend it all together to get that smooth and silky texture we all know and love about ketchup. Ramadan and Norton recommend using an immersion blender right in the pot if you have one, but if not, a regular blender will do. 

Sautéing the Savory Ingredients

Norton and Ramadan start by sautéing onion and garlic together with a little olive oil to build the savory flavors of their ketchup. This step of cooking the aromatics builds the base flavors of the ketchup, they explain, and almost any ketchup recipe starts this way. 

Let It Simmer

We were thrilled to hear that not simmering your ketchup long enough was really the only place you could go wrong when making it. Choosing your ingredients and balancing the flavors is all up to your own personal preference, Norton and Ramadan explained, but simmering it at the right temperature for the proper amount of time is the only way you'll let the flavors and textures of your ketchup develop properly. After they blend their ketchup, Norton and Ramadan add it back to the saucepan to let it simmer until perfectly thick. At Sir Kensington's, they use a special mesh-wire cover to simmer their ketchup so that they let enough liquid evaporate without letting it sputter out of the pan, but they recommend that you keep the pot half-covered with a lid at home, allowing enough steam to escape without putting you at risk of what they call "Kensington Kisses" — splashes of hot tomato sauce burning your hands and arms.

5 Great Recipes That Use Ketchup

Ketchup can be more than just a condiment in the kitchen. These recipes show you how. 

Click here to see 5 Great Recipes That Use Ketchup

Ketchup Recipe

Once you've blended your ketchup together and have transferred it to a container, all you have to do is let it cool. Norton and Ramadan say that this step is super crucial, because it'll allow the flavors of the ketchup to set in and its texture to thicken. 

Ready to make your own ketchup? Try this one to get started with Norton and Ramadan's helpful tips in mind.