If you like ketchup, try this simple recipe for homemade ketchup made from fresh tomatoes. It tastes great, and the best part is that this ketchup keeps in the fridge for up to six months without canning.
About the recipe
Homemade ketchup is prepared with fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled apples, and onions. It is seasoned with salt, sugar, and vinegar. Bay leaves, allspice, whole peppercorns, and sweet paprika provide a delicious flavor.
This ketchup does not need to be canned; it keeps in the refrigerator for six months.
Ketchup is also a very popular condiment in the Czech Republic, where I live. It's probably most often served with sausage. Czechs call ketchup by a similar word: kečup.
TIP: If you like Czech condiments, don't miss this tartar sauce, authentic Czech tatarská omáčka!
Ingredients
For homemade ketchup, you'll need:
- Tomatoes; fresh, ripe
- Apples; contain pectin, which helps the ketchup thicken
- Onions; for a better taste
- Salt
- Sugar; powdered or granulated sugar
- White wine vinegar
- Bay leaves
- Allspice
- Peppercorn
- Sweet paprika; ground
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
Quick Instructions:
- Wash the tomatoes, peel the apples. Cut them into larger pieces.
- Peel the onions and chop them coarsely.
- Put everything in a large pot, add salt, sugar, vinegar, and spices.
- Cook under a lid for about half an hour.
- Remove the cover and simmer for another 2 to 3 hours.
- Strain through a sieve.
- Cook for another 30 minutes until it thickens.
- Pour ketchup into clean jars, cover with a lid, turn upside down, and let cool.
Detailed Instructions with Photos
STEP 1: Wash the tomatoes and cut them into larger pieces. Peel, core and dice the apples. Peel and coarsely chop the onions.
STEP 2: Prepare a large pot with a lid. Put the chopped ingredients in it, add salt, sugar, vinegar, and other spices (bay leaves, allspice, pepper, sweet paprika).
STEP 3: Cover the pot with a lid and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer at a low temperature for 30 minutes under the lid. Then remove the cover and simmer on low heat for another 3 hours without stirring.
STEP 4: Strain the cooked mixture through a sieve; about two ladles at a time. The strainer will retain the skins and seeds of the tomatoes and the remaining spices.
Always dispose of the leftovers in the waste bucket before pouring the new mixture from the pot into the strainer.
STEP 5: Return strained ketchup to the pot and cook over medium heat until thickened. The cooking time depends on the liquid content of the tomatoes. This takes anywhere from a half-hour to two hours. I cooked my tomato mixture for another 1.5 hours.
STEP 6: In the meantime, clean the jars with screw top lids. I washed them in a dishwasher; they were still hot when I used them.
STEP 7: Carefully pour the thickened ketchup into the prepared jars and seal them with a screw lid tightly. Turn the jars upside down and let them cool completely.
Storage
Store cooled bottles with tomato ketchup in the refrigerator. Ketchup made this way lasts in the fridge for up to 6 months.
Useful Tips
- How long the ketchup takes to cook depends on the amount of water in the tomatoes. Watery tomatoes take much longer for the ketchup to thicken - maybe an hour or two more. Plan your time carefully and start making your homemade ketchup in the morning!
- Do you like spicy ketchup? Add chili, curry paste, or a teaspoon of hot paprika powder.
- Other appropriate spices for ketchup include ground cinnamon, thyme, and garlic. Experiment and find out which combination of spices you like best.
FAQs
The only correct way to thicken ketchup is to reduce the amount of liquid when cooking. Simmer the ketchup in the pot without a lid until it thickens. Depending on the amount of liquid in the tomatoes, it may take one to two hours for the ketchup to reduce.
I used about 4 ½ lbs of tomatoes, three apples, and four smaller onions in this recipe and got about 4 ½ cups of homemade ketchup.
The shelf life of homemade ketchup depends on how you treat it after cooking. Canned ketchup lasts the longest. However, the method described in this recipe will guarantee that ketchup will last up to 6 months in the fridge.
More tasty recipes:
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Other readers and I love hearing what you think. Stay in touch by following me on Facebook and Pinterest. For more Czech stuff, subscribe to my newsletter!
Homemade Tomato Ketchup
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 4 ½ pounds fresh tomatoes ripe
- 3 medium apples peeled, cored, diced
- 3 medium onions peeled and roughly chopped
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup white wine vinegar 5% acidity
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 10 allspices
- 15 peppercorns
- 1 Tablespoon sweet ground paprika Hungarian style
Instructions
- Wash 4 ½ pounds fresh tomatoes and cut into large pieces. Peel, core and dice 3 medium apples. Peel and chop 3 medium onions.
- Prepare a large pot with a lid. Put the chopped ingredients in it and add 1 Tablespoon salt, ¾ cup powdered sugar, ½ cup white wine vinegar, and other spices such as 3 bay leaves, 10 allspices, 15 peppercorns, and 1 Tablespoon sweet ground paprika.
- Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and simmer over low heat, uncovered, for an additional 3 hours.
- Strain the cooked mixture through a sieve, about two ladles at a time. The strainer will retain the skins and seeds of the tomatoes as well as the remaining spices. Always discard the leftovers in the garbage before pouring the new mixture from the pot into the strainer.
- Return the strained ketchup to the pot and cook over medium heat until thickened. The cooking time depends on the liquid content of the tomatoes. This will take anywhere from a half hour to two hours. I cooked my tomato mixture for an additional 1.5 hours.
- Meanwhile, clean the jars with screw caps. I washed them in the dishwasher; they were still hot when I used them.
- Carefully pour the thickened ketchup into the prepared jars and screw the lids on tightly. Turn the jars upside down and allow to cool completely.
Notes
- STORAGE: Store cooled bottles of tomato ketchup in the refrigerator. Ketchup made this way will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
- How long the ketchup takes to cook depends on the amount of liquid in the tomatoes. Watery tomatoes will take much longer for the ketchup to thicken - maybe an hour or two more. Plan your time carefully and start making your homemade ketchup in the morning.
- Like your ketchup spicy? Add chili, curry paste, or a teaspoon of hot paprika powder.
Maggie F says
Absolutely delicious! Lovely consistancy will keep this receipe and treasure it.
Petra Kupská says
Thank you, Maggie, for your nice feedback!
Brian D. says
I probably used the wrong type of tomato. I used tomatoes used for paste ("paste tomatoes"). Mine looked more like a thick, fresh pasta sauce than the photos you posted with a deep, dark red color. Maybe the color came from carmelizing? I didn't add the sugar. The sugar from my apples had the right amount of sweetness.
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says
Ahoj Brian, thank you for your comment and feedback. Yes, the type of tomatoes used is definitely important, e. g. home grown tomatoes have a much nicer taste. Perhaps, if you are able, try using different type of tomatoes if these were not up to your expectations? Please, let me know how they turned out afterwards - fingers crossed!