If there’s one thing we know that we can always use to convince our kids to eat just about anything, it’s ketchup. It doesn’t matter what brand of what kind of ketchup it is, so long as they can tell that it’s something along the lines of their favourite sauce. If it smells like ketchup and looks like ketchup, we could dunk basically anything in it and they’d eat it quite happily! And creating your own ketchup does make things even more fun.
Just in case your family loves ketchup just as much as ours does, if not more, here are 15 of the most delicious ketchup recipes and dish ideas that we’ve come across in our search so far.
1. Easy homemade ketchup
Just in case you’re new to trying out and following different homemade recipes that you found online, or just in case you’d like to keep the flavour of what you’re making simple just to see if you can, in fact, make the same things you’d usually buy in stores at home, here’s a fantastic starter recipe to kick things off! Scratch Mommy guides you step by step through the process of making classic ketchup with simple canning instructions.
2. Spicy homemade ketchup
Have you and your kids always loved classic ketchup a lot but you’re actually also fans of rather spicy food as well, right now to the youngest family member, so you’ve often discussed how neat it would be to get a version of your favourite condiment that has a bit more kick? Well, why not just make it yourself instead? Luckily for all of us, that’s exactly what A Happy Food Dance is here to teach you how to do with their homemade spicy ketchup recipe!
3. Curried ketchup
Now, just because something is made spicy doesn’t mean it has to just have a whole lot of kick and no added flavour. Of course, that’s how some people actually like their spicy food, but personally we’ve always prefer adding spice and actual spices in order to take things to the next level. That’s why we were so pleased to stumble across this curried ketchup alternative outlined step by step on Chowhound! Sure, it’s spicier, but it’s also got a bit of that great curry taste too.
4. Whiskey barbecue ketchup
If you’re going to change the flavour of the classic ketchup you love so much, would you much rather add a sort of smoky taste that reminds you of camping or the cookouts you just enjoyed all summer? In that case, we have a feeling that you’ll be very intrigued indeed by this delicious whiskey barbecue ketchup recipe featured in Minimalist Baker! We can’t get over how insanely delicious this ketchup tastes on hotdogs especially.
5. Piccolo ketchup recipe
Perhaps you’re the kind of foodie who cooks so often that you can actually tell the difference between the flavours that different types of the same vegetables offer, and you’ve long been wondering whether ketchup might taste even better than usual if it were made with a different kind of tomato? Well, that’s exactly what Real Food is here to teach you how to do! They suggest making ketchup using piccolo cherry tomatoes and all spice for a little extra something.
6. Stir fried ketchup chicken
Now that you’ve got several kinds of homemade ketchup and your regular store bought ketchup to choose from, would you actually start to try making different kinds of dishes that actually use ketchup as one of the ingredients, besides just standard meatloaf? Then we have a feeling this surprisingly flavourful stir fried ketchup chicken featured on NY Times Cooking will be right up your alley!
7. Homemade smoky tomato ketchup
Did we really catch your attention when we started talking about homemade ketchup that has a slightly more smokey taste than you’re used to getting from store bought brands but you’ve never really liked the taste of whiskey and you’re worried that you’ll taste it too much in the recipe we showed you earlier? In that case, we’d definitely suggest giving this simple smoky tomato version a try instead! Take a closer look at One Green Planet to see how it’s done.
8. Ketchup cake
Yes, believe it or not, you did read that right. There is a sweet and delicious way to make cake out of ketchup! See, besides the vinegar and tomatoes that ketchup contains, it’s actually quite sweet at the base of its flavour, so it kind of makes sense in the recipe once you take a look at the ingredients and mixing instructions, which Cookies, Cupcakes, and Cardio have laid out nice and simply for you. This is the kind of recipe that’s just weird enough to get our kids totally excited and extra eager to give it a try.
9. Filipino style banana ketchup
If you’re going to put in the time and effort it takes to make your own ketchup from scratch at home, would you prefer to really get unique about it and try something that your family definitely has never eaten before, nor that you’ll find in the average store or diner? Then we’d say it’s time to get international! Food Network suggests following their recipe to learn how fragrantly mouth watering Filipino style banana ketchup is made.
10. Blueberry ketchup
Just in case the banana ketchup idea above really piqued your interest because you didn’t know that ketchup could be made from anything but tomatoes but you’re hesitating because you’ve never been a huge banana fan, here’s an awesome alternative that’s a little bit sweet! Check out how Eating Well replace tomatoes with berries in order to make a super unique blueberry ketchup that’s so good we could hardly believe each bite.
11. Beet ketchup
Are you actually still quite interested in the idea of making ketchup from other things but you think you’d prefer to keep your recipe within the vegetable realm, since that’s currently one of the only ways you can convince your kids to eat just about anything with veggie content? Then we think you’ll be pleased to learn about a similar tasting ketchup made with another vegetable they’re going to learn to love, even if they don’t realize it yet! Check out how Saveur made theirs with beets (and yes, we really did like this one).
12. Homemade sugar free ketchup
If you look on the package of your store bought ketchup bottle, we think you might be surprised to learn just how high the sugar content of the regular, everyday mixture really is. That’s actually part of what motivated us to start looking up homemade recipes originally; if we’re making it ourselves, we get to control how much sugar is included. At the same time, however, we have to make sure we don’t change that classic flavour too much or our kids might not enjoy it. That’s why we were so pleased to come across this awesome sugar free version that tastes exactly the same as the stuff they’re used to! Big thanks goes to Low Carb Yum for this one.
13. Homemade chilli and paprika ketchup
Did we really make your ears perk up when we started talking about ketchup recipes that would give your favourite condiment not only a little bit of spice but also some added flavour, but you’d prefer another taste to just that of curry, since you have curry all the time already anyways? In that case, we think you might get along rather well indeed with a recipe like this one from Catch My Party! They show you how to make a homemade ketchup that tastes like chilli and paprika.
14. Curry ketchup sausages
What if you actually were very interested in the curry ketchup idea we talked about but, like we also mentioned before, you’re still looking for some kind of dish to try it on besides just dipping your French fries in it? Well, as much as we do love a good French fry, we know there are other things out there that might really bring out the flavour of the ketchup you worked so hard making a little bit better than plain salted potatoes. That’s why we liked this recipe from My Best German Recipes so much! They show you how to make curry ketchup sausages that your kids will probably have polished off in mere moments, just like ours did.
15. Cool cucumber ketchup
If you’re going to get fancy and DIY with your homemade ketchup plans, would you rather create something a little more unique to the point that it almost seems gourmet, like something you’d find on the menu at a rather fancy restaurant? In that case, we think you simply must take a look at how Jo Burgnorth made this fantastic (and surprisingly light tasting) cool cucumber ketchup that we just can’t get enough of! Our kids were skeptical at first, but they actually came back and asked for more after their first tentative helping, and we’d consider that a success indeed.
