How to Make Tomato Ketchup at Home

Discover how to make your tomato ketchup. This is a delicious recipe with a sweet and tart flavour that will make you love making your own ketchup.

This summer has made my tomatoes grow wild! I have so many I am harvesting about 1kg a day for the past few weeks. Something in the air is proving wonderful for these beauties. As I have so many I didn’t want to waste any so I thought the best thing to do is whip up a batch of ketchup. It looks complicated but I promise if I can do it you can too!

My latest haul of tomatoes from the veg patch this week ready to be turned into something delicious. When you pick them yourself fresh from the vine the green verdant earthy smell is just out of this world. It’s overwhelmingly incredible and a feast for the senses.

I used milk style tall glass bottles and regular jam jars to store my ketchup in. Make sure when you sterilise your jars that you are careful as they should still be warm/hot when you decant the ketchup from the pan to them. This will stop the glass from breaking from the heat difference. I pop my glass jars in the dishwasher while I’m making the ketchup so they are clean and hot. Make sure the glasses and lids are dry before decanting too.

I leave my ketchup still a bit chunky after using the hand mixer. I love the texture and being able to see the bits of the ingredients left in. It’s thick and gloopy (in the best way) and perfect for the last minute Indian summer BBQ. I’ve also added a few table spoons in to pasta sauces as the range of spices and flavours can really boost the finished ketchup.

How to Make Tomato Ketchup

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How to make Ketchup at Home

Servings 4 large jars

Author Sisley White

Ingredients

• 4 good-size onions
• 250 g celery
• Celery very roughly chopped
• 5 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
• olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves sliced
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 kg ripe tomatoes
• 200 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp Tabasco sauce Add extra if you like it extra spicy.
• 200 ml white wine vinegar
• 2 lemons

Instructions

1. Chop the onions and celery and add them to a large saucepan on a low heat with a little olive oil for about 5 minutes until they area starting to soften.

   

2. Peel and chop the garlic and add it to the saucepan. Soften for another 5 minutes.

   

3. Add the cinnamon and the spices and stir in.

   

4. Stir in the tomato puree.

   

5. Chop up larger tomatoes. You can leave the smaller ones whole. They will mush down. Add them all to the saucepan.

   
6. Add the sugar and stir in.
   

7. Add the Tobasco and white wine vinegar. Bring to the boil.

   

8. Keep on a light bubble, for 1 hour until the tomatoes are mushy and the liquid has reduced by a few inches. Keep stiring every few minutes.

   

9. Discard the cinnamon stick and use a stick blender to whizz the mix until smooth with a few bits. If you want it smoother sieve the liquid into another bowl, disgard the bits and add the liquid back to the sauce to keep cooking. My preference is to keep it lumpy or country style as I call it.

10. When it starts to thicken up have a taste. If it is too sweet gradually add the freshly squeezed lemon juice until the sweetness reduces. I like adding a little extra lemon so it's a bit more tart than sweet.

11. If it still too thin leave it on the hob for even longer until it starts to thicken and reduce even more. Keep it bubbling and give it a stir every now and again to stop it sticking to the bottom.

12. Sterilise a few jars. I pop them in the dishwasher while the ketchup is cooking and while they are still hot (make sure they are drspoon the ketchup in and adding the lid to make a seal. Allow to cool, it will take a few hours. They should last up to 6 months.

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