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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 ...
Here's an example of how Heinz ketchup is being made to give you a vivid picture. This sauce has five main ingredients: tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, brine, and “secret spices.” First, the tomato paste is mixed with water in large cisterns to make the mass more liquid.
Ketchup and catsup are both Westernized terms for a condiment that has origins in China: fish sauce. Ketchup as we know it today is a modernized version of fish sauce, which was made in port towns on the South China Sea with salted and fermented anchovies.
Most packaged ketchup products are also high in salt. If you're sensitive to salt, eating too much salt may contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, and other health concerns ( 1 , 19 , 20 , 21 ).
Distilled white vinegar is essential for ketchup's signature tanginess. Plus, it elongates the shelf life. White sugar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar while offering a hint of sweetness.
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.
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.
The tangy-sweet sauce contains vinegar, onions, garlic, some kind of sweetener, and seasonings like mustard powder, cumin, allspice and cinnamon. However, if you were to make a batch at home with those ingredients, your ketchup still probably wouldn't taste like the stuff you get at the diner.
In America, “Heinz” is practically synonymous with “ketchup.” But that won't be true in Israel—at least, not in Hebrew. The country's Health Ministry says that the company can no longer call its tomato product “ketchup” on Hebrew labels because it does not contain enough tomato paste.
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.
In the 1800s, "ketchup" was most common in Britain and "catsup" was most common in the US for reasons unknown. The two words never really canceled each other out because in their formative years, there weren't spelling dictionaries choosing a "correct" version of words.
It contains high quantities of sugar, salt, fructose, preservatives and corn syrup. All of these ingredients when combined together have an adverse effect on the body.
Two ingredients of concern in ketchup are salt and sugar. Per tablespoon, ketchup contains 4 grams of sugar and 190 milligrams of sodium. Although 4 grams of sugar doesn't seem like a lot, much of it comes from added sugar, as opposed to the natural sugar found in tomatoes.
1. Heinz Tomato Ketchup. Heinz Tomato Ketchup sets the standard against which all other ketchup brands are measured. Kitchn has this to say, “Nearly all of the tasters immediately pegged this ketchup as Heinz.
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'.
Legend has it that Henry John Heinz invented ketchup by adapting a Chinese recipe for so-called Cat Sup, a thick sauce made from tomatoes, special seasoning and starch.
In the 1830s, tomato ketchup was sold as a medicine, claiming to cure ailments like diarrhea, indigestion, and jaundice. The idea was proposed by Dr John Cook Bennett, who later sold the recipe in form of 'tomato pills'.
In the 1830s, tomato ketchup used to be sold as a medicine, claiming to cure ailments like diarrhoea, indigestion, and jaundice. The idea was first proposed by Dr. John Cook Bennett, an American physician, in 1834, who is said to sell the recipe later in form of 'tomato pills'.
Introduction: My name is Wyatt Volkman LLD, I am a handsome, rich, comfortable, lively, zealous, graceful, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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