How to Make Homemade Tomato Ketchup – No Refined Sugar!

By Rebecca St.Clair

Make your own homemade tomato ketchup with just a few wholesome ingredients! This recipe uses fresh tomatoes straight from the garden and is naturally sweetened with honey for a clean, preservative-free version of your favourite sauce.

Learn to make ketchup the old-fashioned way. Skip the store-bought stuff! It’s rich, tangy, and perfect for dipping fries or spreading on a burger.

Bottle the flavour of summer with this fresh, homemade ketchup recipe. It’s a healthy and delicious condiment your whole family will love. You might even love it more that the ones from the store! This recipe captures that sweet sunny garden taste, so you can enjoy it long after the summer months have past.

How to store homemade tomato ketchup

For the longest shelf life, make sure to use clean sterilized containers and utensils for bottling your ketchup.

Avoid containers made from aluminum or non food-grade plastic. The acidity of tomato sauce can cause them to leach harmful chemicals into the sauce or react with the aluminum. This can affect the taste and safety of the sauce.

Glass jars like Mason jars, airtight plastic containers that are BPA-free are all great options.

Fridge

If you are planning on using the ketchup right away, the fridge is a great option,

• Allow the ketchup to cool to room temperature
• Place in an airtight container
• Store in the fridge for 2 – 3 weeks

Freezer

For long-term storage, the freezer is a great option for storing homemade ketchup.

• Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature
• Place in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Keep in mind, the sauce will expand as it freezes so leave extra space in the containers.
• Store in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Home canning

Home canning is a great option for long-term storage of your homemade tomato ketchup.

Make sure to follow the guidelines of your canning method for best results.

• Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place.
• Shelf stable for 12 -18 months, if canned and sealed properly.
• Once opened, refrigerate and use within 2 to 3 weeks.

What type of tomatoes are best for making homemade tomato ketchup?

Roma

A smaller compact tomato with a meaty flesh. These tomatoes have few seeds and a low water content.

Paste Tomatoes

These are also called plum tomatoes or sauce tomatoes and just from the name you can see it is a great option for sauce.

They have a low water content, a thick meaty flesh, and few seeds. This is ideal for sauces, ketchups, and home canning.

Rutgars

A slicing tomato great for ketchup.  The perfect balance of acidity to sweetness and a thin skin.

Homestead

These large heirloom tomatoes are easy to grow and great producers. They have a dense meaty flesh and the perfect balance of sweet to acidity.

Oxheart

This beefsteak variety of tomato has a dense meaty flesh and a great sweetness to acidity level.

Mixture

Making ketchup out of a variety of tomatoes adds a unique depth of flavour. While making sauce out of cherry tomatoes would be challenging, due to the skin to flesh ratio. Adding some cherry tomatoes to a mix of larger tomato varieties adds a delicious pop of sweetness.

How to make Homemade Tomato Ketchup

Prep

1. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer.
2. Cut a small ‘X’ in the bottom of each tomato.
3. With a slotted spoon dip the tomatoes and the bell pepper into the boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes or until you see the skin start to come away from the flesh. (You may need to do this step in batches.)
4. With a slotted spoon remove the parboiled tomatoes and pepper to a large bowl of ice water.
5. The skin should easily peel away from the tomatoes and the pepper. Discard the skin.
6. Remove the seeds from the inside of the pepper and discard.
7. Add the pepper to the bowl of a food processor along with 1 rib of celery, 1 peeled shallot, and 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar.
8. Process until very finely diced. (You can skip the food processor and chop the vegetables by hand.)

Cooking

1. Add the peeled tomatoes to a large pot. Avoid aluminum and non enameled cast iron, as these can react with the acidity in the tomatoes.
2. Add in the diced vegetable and vinegar mixture.
3. Stir in 1/4 cup of honey, 1/4 teaspoon of ground clove, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder, 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper.
4. Cover, leaving a small crack for steam to escape. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
5. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking.

6. To turn this in to ketchup – either use a food mill, this will allow the sauce to pass through while not allowing any skin or seeds to go into the sauce. You can also purée the sauce with an immersion blender and pass it through a fine mesh strainer or use a potato ricer to squeeze the purée into a silky sauce leaving any seeds or skin behind.

7. Return the smooth ketchup purée to the pot and bring it back up to a low boil, stirring occasionally.

8. Allow it to reduce, uncovered, until you have the desired thickness for the ketchup. The ketchup will thicken slightly as it cools.

Storage

1. Pour the finished ketchup into hot, sterile canning jars. Leave 1/2 inch space at the top. (I used a funnel for this.)
2. Seal with sterile lids and process in a water bath. Allow it to boil for 15 minutes, for home canning.
3. Otherwise, store in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks or freeze for up to 6 months.

Hungry for some more recipes you can make from your garden? Hop over here!