Homemade Ketchup

Ketchup. Ketchip. Catsup. Catch-up.

High fructose corn syrup.

Whew. I finally got the spelling right.

No matter how you spell, or say it, ketchup has become its very own food group. Even at very young ages, everything from french fries to carrots to little fingers are dipped into the red stuff. When I was little, ketchup was the only way to get zucchini or cabbage into my body.

Everything's better with ketchup, right?

Well, not anymore. In order to keep costs down, the ketchup companies decided to follow the trend of adding HFCS to their products, thus changing not only the nutritional content, but also changing the "side-kick" status of the lowly condiment. Now it is not only a dipping sauce, but is also the base for many other foods, such as thousand island dressing, sloppy joes, baked beans, cocktail sauce and barbecue sauce.

While there are some companies that have gone back to using sugar instead of the corn syrup, for me, it is still not enough. The damage has been done. The trust has been broken.

And I can't really afford to buy the good stuff.

Trust me, we need it. It's zucchini season.

And cabbage is soon to follow.

This homemade catsup recipe comes from a co-worker of my Mister. Thank you J.B. for sharing!

Home Canned Tomato Catsup

1 gallon tomato pulp

2 cups sugar, brown or white (I used Sucanat)

2 cups vinegar or lemon juice (I made a batch of each. I prefer the lemon juice.)

1/2 t. allspice

1/2 t. ginger

1/2 t. dry mustard

1/2 t. chili powder

1/2 t. cinnamon

2 Tb. sea salt

Wash, core and quarter tomatoes. If you have a food mill, run them through raw. If you need to use a seive, cook until soft first. The goal is to have a seedless, skinless, pulp.

Don't worry, it will be very liquidy.

Discard, compost, or bless your chickens with the peelings.


And if your sweet son decides to sharpen your knives for you, pay attention.

Sharpening a knife makes it sharp.

Grab a bandage, and a glove and get back to work.

Because now everyone is waiting.


Place pulp into a large pot. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil.


Boil hard for 1 hour.

Mix 1 heaping Tb. cornstarch with 1-2 Tb. cold water, then add to boiling mixture. Continue to boil for another 1/2 hour to thicken.


Pour into pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.


Each batch makes about 5 pints.


Enjoy!