Tomato Ketchup, Simply Made

15 mins · Easy

 



The Backyard Ketchup Breakthrough

Ketchup wasn’t always made from tomatoes! Hundreds of years ago, sailors brought home a sauce from Asia made from mushrooms, oysters, and even fish. When ketchup reached America in the 1800s, creative cooks replaced those ingredients with tomatoes—and that’s when the ketchup we know today was born. Kids added it to everything, from eggs to potatoes, turning ketchup into one of the country’s most iconic table sauces!
 

 


Time

15 mins

Yield

~ 1½ cups

Difficulty

Easy


Ingredients

  • 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 tbsp honey or sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp mustard powder (optional)
  • 1–2 pinches paprika
  • 1 pinch cinnamon (optional, adds warmth)

Steps

  1. Mix Base: In a small pot, whisk together the tomato paste and water until smooth.

  2. Add Flavor: Stir in vinegar, honey/sugar, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard powder, paprika, and cinnamon.

  3. Simmer: Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring often so it doesn’t burn.

  4. Thicken: Simmer until it reaches your favorite ketchup thickness.

  5. Cool & Store: Let it cool completely, then pour into a clean jar and refrigerate.


⚜


Tomatoes used in ketchup are packed with lycopene, a natural red super-antioxidant—so important that early ketchup companies even created “redness tests” to make sure every bottle had the perfect color. People joked that ketchup poured so slowly from glass bottles that the bright red sauce needed its own race to reach your fries!

 


Nutrition (Per Serving) (≈ 1 tbsp ketchup)
Calories ≈ 11 kcal
Protein ≈ 0.3 g
Carbohydrates ≈ 2.8 g
Fiber ≈ 0.3 g
Total Sugars ≈ 2.3 g (5% DV)
Total Fat ≈ 0 g
Saturated Fat ≈ 0 g
Sodium ≈ 52 mg (2% DV)
 
Key Nutrients
Potassium (≈ 2% DV), Iron (≈ 1% DV) + tomato lycopene (natural red antioxidant)
🍅 Good to know
Ketchup is a fun dip! Try it with homemade fries, chicken, or veggie sticks—and use a little, then add more if you want.
*Sugar %DV shown using a 50g/day reference (added sugars). Sodium %DV uses 2,300 mg/day. Values are estimates and vary by brand of tomato paste and sweetener used.