3 healthier homemade ketchup recipes you should try at home.
A staggering 97% of American households have at least one bottle of ketchup in their refrigerator? In fact, in the United States alone, more than 10 billion ounces of ketchup are sold annually. And when it comes to condiments and preferred toppings for a really great home-grilled burger, ketchup is tops for most people.
So, we thought it was a good idea to take a closer look at America’s favorite burger condiment, the history behind it, and provide some suggestions on creating your own homemade versions. Using ketchup as a base, you can create a lot of really great variations or start from scratch and customize your own recipe for a new family favorite.
Who Invented Ketchup?
When you reach for a bottle of ketchup in your fridge, have you ever wondered who invented the recipe, and how it became such a common condiment worldwide? There is actually an interesting story behind the original recipe for ketchup that goes back quite a lot longer than many people realize, that reaches back all the way to Chinese Emperors.
The word Ketchup comes from the Hokkien Chinese word kê-tsiap. Both Chinese and Malaysians used kê-tsiap as a dipping sauce, and it was made from the brine of fish that was fermented. The ports of South East Asia were busy and engaged in a lot of international trading, particularly in spices, which is where the Dutch and British merchants came across the condiment and brought it home in the late 17th century. The first official recipe was published in 1732 called “Ketchup in Paste”, by a man named Richard Bradley.
Because both the Dutch and British weren’t fans of the strong fishy flavors of the original recipe, they began to modify it. In England, they added ingredients like stale beer, oysters and mushrooms to try to recreate the condiment (with a less fishy flavor profile). They also threw in cinnamon, mustard seeds, nutmeg and cayenne pepper, but the most famous and widespread recipe for ‘English Katchup’ combined fresh ginger, garlic cloves and anchovies.
The British called it Catsup, but if you are thinking that the condiment resembled anything close to what it is today, it was a thin consistency, very dark in color and it was mostly added to recipes for other sauces, or marinades for meat and fish. Since tomatoes as a crop were not really widely grown in other countries outside of Italy and Greece, the original recipe did not include the rich flavors of fresh tomato, until 1812.
A food scientist and horticulturalist named James Mease, called tomatoes “love apples” and he wrote the first true tomato ketchup recipe that contained tomato pulp, brandy and some mixed spices. The previous iterations of the recipe without tomatoes had a long shelf-life and could be stored in mason jars for up to a year. But once the tomato base was added, things got a little complicated.
In the early days before tomatoes were distributed internationally, they were only available seasonally for a shot window of time. Preserving tomato pulp was a big problem and, in the beginning, there were health risks because tomato pulp was susceptible to developing bacteria, yeast and mold. In 1866 a famous cookbook author from France (Pierre Blot) called the early commercially produced versions of ketchup “filthy, decomposed and putrid”.
To make matters worse, early manufacturers of ketchup were desperate to retain the red color of the ketchup, and they used unsafe ingredients like coal tar and sodium benzoate. To this point, ketchup did not contain two essential flavors and preservatives; vinegar and sugar.
The health benefits of tomatoes were only starting to be recognized by the medical community, and while ketchup wasn’t in everyone’s kitchen in America, some drug manufacturers started to produce “love apple pills” or a concentrated version of it that could be taken as a supplement. But the level of essential vitamins and nutrients from the tomatoes were not sufficient to be of use, so the supplements were discontinued in America by 1840.
In 1882 a man by the name of Henry J. Heinz in Pittsburgh, patented a glass bottle with his product Heinz Ketchup. Heinz was the first to add white vinegar as a non-toxic preservative, which was effective to keep the product colored red, while extended the shelf-life of the condiment almost indefinitely. Originally Heinz had started a business to sell pickles and horseradish sauce, and in 1876 his business went bankrupt. But that was right before he began to manufacture and distribute Heinz Ketchup.
By 1905 Heinz had sold over 5 million bottles, and Heinz Ketchup became a leading product and mainstay of virtually every kitchen cupboard and restaurant in the United States. Today ketchup is not only a favorite condiment for certain types of fast-food like burgers, hotdogs and french-fries, but it is also the base of millions of different flavorful recipes for barbeque sauce.
Three Delicious Homemade Ketchup Recipes to Try at Home
Using prepared ketchup as a base, you can create an infinite number of delicious sauces (just like Henry J. Heinz did with his famous recipe). We’d like to introduce you to a few of our favorites that you can try at home, when you are entertaining or want to try something a little bit different. Start with your favorite prepared ketchup, and these recipe suggestions.
1. Easy Spicy Ketchup
Mixing horseradish with store bought ketchup, and some great spices like cayenne and Worcestershire sauce, give this Easy Spicy Ketchup some extra kick! Adding brown sugar enhances the caramelized flavors and sweetness.
Source: All Recipes
2. The Pioneer Woman Scratch Ketchup Recipe
Rather than using a prepared ketchup as your base, The Pioneer Woman states that she creates her own fresh ketchup from scratch. It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and one hour to cook, but variation includes some rich ingredients like olive oil, molasses and chili powder. You can create that ‘wow’ factor for your burger bar, by making your own homemade ketchup!
Source: The Pioneer Woman
3. Sweet and Spicy Korean Ketchup
Now this is a different spin on the classic flavors of ketchup your family and friends are sure to love! With some of the fresh ingredients, this homemade ketchup has a shelf life (in a sealed container) of about two weeks in the refrigerator. The gochujang sauce is a red chili paste, that is a sweet and spicy fermented Korean condiment that adds a depth of authentic ethnic flavor.
Source: Serious Eats
If you have enjoyed this article and some of our recipe suggestions, leave us a comment or share this post on social. We bet your family and friends would like to know a little bit more about the fascinating history of America’s undisputed favorite burger condiment.