Making your own homemade ketchup doesn’t have to be a long drawn out process. All you need is tomato paste, a little sweetener, a little acidity, and a few well chosen spices. And voilà! Healthy homemade ketchup in a flash!

I have always found commercial ketchup to be too sweet. Even the low sugar versions. Making my own solves that problem. But getting the flavors right took a little trial and error.

The Flavors

Sweetener:

As a sweetener I use maple syrup for its rich flavor. You can of course use another sweetener if you prefer. Coconut sugar would probably be good but you’ll have to experiment with the amount.

Vinegar:

To balance out the sweetener you need some acidity, and in the case of ketchup vinegar is the way to go. I like Balsamic vinegar for its rich and somewhat sweet flavor profile but you can use any kind of vinegar for this ketchup. Using Balsamic does give the finished ketchup a darker color so if you prefer the bright red color of commercial ketchup choose a clear or light colored vinegar.

Spices:

This is where the ketchup gets its character. What makes a ketchup ketchup is the addition of either mace or nutmeg. Mace is the mesh-like coating wrapped around the nutmeg seed. It’s flavor is similar to nutmeg although somewhat softer, less sharp. I like the boldness of nutmeg so that is what I use in this recipe. If you have ground mace sitting in you spice cabinet by all means go ahead and use that instead but be sure to taste as you go along as you may need to add a bit more than the recipe calls for. I also add onion powder, garlic powder and ground allspice. The flavor of allspice comes across as a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. This lovely combination adds additional depth and a soothing woody warmth which completes the perfect ketchup flavor.

Serve with your favorite burger or alongside some lovely Aubergine Meatballs.