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Grandma’s Homemade Ketchup can be made with fresh tomatoes and onions or canned tomato juice for a condiment that will remind you of the good old days. With a mixture of cinnamon and ground cloves, this catsup – as Grandma called it – is delicious on everything.
This is our grandma’s favorite condiment. Growing up, we ate it on everything, even homemade dumplings. It has a unique flavor from cinnamon and ground cloves. To this day, every recipe that has ground cloves reminds us of Grandma and this recipe.
Table of Contents
Old-Fashioned Catsup
Barbara decided to try her hand at making Grandma’s catsup (that’s what we grew up calling it) earlier this year. One bite of this took us right back to our childhood.
Grandma made her homemade ketchup from garden fresh tomatoes. She would boil down the tomatoes and onions until she had 2 gallons of fresh tomato juice. You can definitely do this and then just add the rest of the ingredients.
Since tomatoes were out of season when Barbara decided to make Grandma’s Homemade Ketchup, she used canned tomato juice. Grandma’s version was a thinner, runnier texture; while Barbara’s has more of a consistency of the ketchup you buy at the store.
Please note, all Barbara had was whole cloves which she ground herself. You’ll notice the flecks of cloves in our photos.
Ingredient List
Fresh Ripe Tomatoes
Fresh Onion
Salt
Ground Cinnamon
Ground Clove
White Vinegar
How to Make Homemade Ketchup
Step by Step Instructions
Cook tomato and onion in large pot or large saucepan until onions are translucent.
Run juice through a sieve and discard onions.
Add juice back to pot and mix in salt, cinnamon, cloves and vinegar.
Boil until reduced by one-third.
Mix together sugar and cornstarch and then add to the liquid mixture.
Turn down heat and whisk constantly until thickened.
Cool and then refrigerate.
Full recipe for gourmet ketchup is at the bottom of this post.
Recipe FAQs
Isn’t it cool that old fashioned ketchup is really a gourmet ketchup?
The distinct flavors of this homemade catsup are ground cloves and ground cinnamon.
You can use fresh garden tomatoes or take a shortcut by starting with canned tomato juice.
This homemade catsup stores great in the refrigerator.
Try using the leftover homemade catsup in pulled pork like this Crock Pot Sweet Pulled Pork Recipe.
Small Batch Ketchup Recipe
You can also do a smaller quantity if you are only wanting 1 quart of ketchup. Here’s the ingredient measurements for the smaller batch of Grandma’s Homemade Ketchup:
46 oz. tomato juice
1/2 onion, shredded
2 Tablespoons salt
1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 Tablespoon ground cloves
3/4 cup vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Why is my homemade ketchup not thickening?
If your homemade ketchup is not thickening, it could be due to a few reasons.
The first thing to check is your patience. Make sure you have cooked it for a sufficient amount of time. The reduction process takes a long time; let the mixture simmer until it reaches the desired thickness.
Secondly, the ratio of cornstarch to liquid in your recipe may be off. If you added too much liquid or too little cornstarch, it may not thicken properly.
Lastly, be sure you whisk constantly while the ketchup is simmering on low heat. This will help the cornstarch to activate and thicken the mixture.
Grandma's Homemade Ketchup can be made with fresh tomatoes and onions or canned tomato juice for a condiment that will remind you of the good old days. With a mixture of cinnamon and ground cloves, this catsup – as Grandma called it – is delicious on everything.
Smith observes that the first published recipe for ketchup in English—a thin mixture of vinegar, white wine, anchovies, shallots, lemon peel, horseradish, and a passel of spices described in Eliza Smith's The Compleat Housewife from 1727—includes a note that “the clear Liquor that comes from Mushrooms” may be added to ...
Ketchup will keep 3 weeks in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer. Ketchup can also be water bath canned using the hot pack method. Leave 1/4” headspace and process the 1/2 pint jars for 15 minutes.
Delicious – This easy ketchup recipe tastes fresh and better than anything that you can buy at the grocery store! It has no artificial ingredients or corn syrup, so it's healthier too!
In the 1830s, tomato ketchup was sold as a medicine that could cure ailments like diarrhea, indigestion, and jaundice. The idea was initially proposed by Dr. John Cook Bennett, an American physician, in 1834, who later decided to sell the recipe in the form of 'tomato pills'.
The need for a number logo came after Heinz spotted a shoe company advertising 21 styles of shoes. On the Heinz UK website it states that five was Heinz's lucky number and seven was his wife's lucky number. He also believed that seven was a significant number for people of all ages.
The main ingredients of ketchup are tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt, spices, flavorings, onion and garlic. For large scale production Tomato puree (concentrated tomato juice) is used for maintaining consistency. There are many recipe available online.
Made with fresh tomatoes (rather than paste or concentrate), a variety of seasonings and spices, and organic cane sugar, Sir Kensington's ketchup is a go-to for nutritionist Robin Werner, RD. It has a uniquely spicy, tangy vibe.
The condiment made its way west via European merchants, taking with it Westernized pronunciations. Early recipes for ketchup (or catsup, if you like) incorporated a wide variety of ingredients like mushrooms, walnuts, and shellfish (hence the distinction tomato ketchup).
It's clear that ketchup has spoiled if you notice one or more of the following changes outlined by Okegbe: a moldy surface or container, a “sour, yeasty” smell and taste, and/or a bloated container, which is a sign that the ketchup has fermented and shouldn't be consumed.
but it takes not only so many tomatoes, but it's cost is more than the sauce that's already made. (at least where i live in the US the tomatoes to make even a decent amount of sauce costs far more than premade stuff.) Because it is simply easier to buy food in supermarkets than it is to make it.
McDonald's ketchup consists of tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes, distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt, and natural flavors. Heinz doesn't have the water, like McDonald's does, and Heinz contains onion powder and "spice," while McDonald's does not.
It gives sauces and jellies an even, thick consistency as they cook. The trouble with fresh tomatoes is that they contain an enzyme that breaks down pectin. So as you're preparing your sauce, those little enzymes are eating up all that magical pectin… ultimately leading to a watery sauce.
The first known published tomato ketchup recipe appeared in 1812, written by scientist and horticulturalist, James Mease, who referred to tomatoes as “love apples.” His recipe contained tomato pulp, spices, and brandy but lacked vinegar and sugar.
During the 1800s, the red color of ketchup was achieved by adding natural or artificial red dyes, often taken from sources such as cochineal insects, and later moving to other sources such as tomatoes or modern FDA-approved food colorings.
I also learned a little bit about the history of these favorite condiments. Mustard's journey starts long before ketchup. “Modern mustard first emerged in Europe in the sixth century B.C.E.
We think of ketchup as a thick red sauce, but it was something pretty different in the beginning. It originated as a thin soy sauce made from fermented fish most likely from a region called Tonkin, or in what we call Vietnam today. It was common throughout Southeast Asia in the 17th century.
Introduction: My name is Domingo Moore, I am a attractive, gorgeous, funny, jolly, spotless, nice, fantastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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