Have you ever thought about making your own ketchup? It’s delicious! I first tackled canning ketchup many years ago, when my little kids tasted this and said, surprised, “it tastes like…ketchup!”
Originally published in April 2021; this post has been updated.
Transforming fresh garden tomatoes into homemade ketchup calls for mixing de-seeded tomato pulp with vinegar, sugar, and seasonings, and cooking it down into a thick condiment.
Ingredients for Ketchup
Fresh tomatoes — You can use any variety of tomato, but if you choose a very juicy variety, you’ll spend more time cooking down the ketchup. Roma tomatoes are a great option since they’re so meaty.
Onion — You can use any kind of bulb onion you have on hand — white, yellow, or red.
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Red bell pepper — The sweetness of the red bell pepper is perfectly suited to this recipe.
Vinegar — I use apple cider vinegar, but you can safely use white vinegar as well. Be mindful of this little tidbit when buying apple cider vinegar.
Sugar — Use your favorite brand of granulated cane sugar. I prefer organic.
Making Tomato Ketchup
Because you’ll be reducing the tomato pulp to make a thicker product, this recipe can take several hours, start to finish. It’s not hands on time, though.
You’ll start by cooking down the tomatoes along with the onions and peppers. Once softened, run the pulp through a chinois or food mill to remove the seeds and skins.
Return the tomato sauce to a cooking pot. Tie the cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and bay leaves into a square of cheesecloth. Add this to the pulp, along with the remaining ingredients.
Simmer, stirring frequently, until ketchup reaches desired consistency.
Remove the cheesecloth bag.
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Home Canning Ketchup for the Pantry
While this is a fairly large batch to make ketchup for canning a shelf stable product, you could easily halve the recipe and simply keep the ketchup in the fridge for a month or so.
🍅 Safety First!
Canning is an excellent way to preserve food for the pantry, but there are some important safety considerations to keep in mind. The recipes on this site have been made following safe canning procedures by a certified Master Food Preserver.
- Know the difference between water bath canning and pressure canning. Low acid items must be pressure canned for safety.
- Altering ingredients may change the recipe’s pH, posing a safety issue.
- Use the proper jars and lids. Never reuse lids, with the exception of the Tattler or Harvest Right hard plastic lids that are intended for such a purpose.
- For more on canning equipment, please go here.
- Want to learn more? The National Center for Home Food Preservation is the go-to resource for safe canning information.
Process the Jars
You’ll need special canning jars, lids, and rings to make this a shelf-stable product, but the process isn’t difficult.
Transfer ketchup into canning jars, leaving a generous half-inch headspace. Use a non-metallic knife or bubble tool to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars, removing any residue.
Place the lids on and process them in a water bath canner. What this means is you’ll put the filled and sealed jars of pie filling into boiling water and heat them for a specific amount of time. This assures that the jars will seal well and kills off any potential bacteria in the tomato mixture itself.
Jars must be covered by 1″ to 2″ of water.
Use a jar lifter to remove the hot jars to a towel-covered countertop and allow to cool fully. As they cool, you’ll hear the little “tink” sound of the jars sealing. Store any unsealed jars in the fridge and use those first. (This is unusual, but it does happen once in awhile.)
Remove the ring from each sealed jar, rinse to remove any sticky residue, and store home canned ketchup (without the ring) at room temperature in a dark place such as the pantry. Opened jars should be kept refrigerated; they’ll last in the fridge for a month or more.
If you’re new to canning, be sure to read more about the process of canning and canning equipment here.
You’ll find more food preservation recipes here!
Homemade Canned Tomato Ketchup
Equipment
- 8 half-pint jars
- 8 canning lids and rings
- canning funnel
- water bath canner with lid or deep pot
- jar tongs
- canning bubble popper/measurer optional but handy
Ingredients
- 14 cups tomato puree 13-14 pounds
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 1 cup red pepper chopped
- 1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice
- ½ teaspoon whole cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper finely ground
- 2 teaspoons mustard
Instructions
- Note: some of these steps can/will happen simultaneously
Recipe yields 8 half-pint jars.
Making the ketchup
- Peel and halve the tomatoes.14 cups tomato puree, 1 cup onion, 1 cup red pepper
- Place tomatoes into a stock pot along with chopped onion and red pepper. Bring to a boil and let cook at a low boil for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will take about 30 minutes to reach a boil.
- Run cooked pulp through a chinois or sieve to remove the peels and seeds. Measure out 14 cups and return to cooking pot.1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1 1/4 cups sugar, 4 teaspoons sea salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons mustard
- Tie the cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and bay leaves into a square of cheesecloth.2 cinnamon sticks, 1 teaspoon whole allspice, 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves, 2 bay leaves
- Add the vinegar, sugar, and bundle of spices to the cooking pot.
- Return to a simmer and cook for another 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until the ketchup reaches the desired consistency. Be sure to stir often to prevent scorching. You may need to stir more frequently as the sauce thickens.
- Remove the cheesecloth bag.
Prepare for canning
- Wash the jars you'll use, making sure each is clean and free of nicks in the rim, which could impede sealing.
- Wash the lids and rings in hot soapy water.
- Place empty jars in a canning pot or large stock pot with enough water to cover by an inch or two, cover pot, and set on high heat. It can take awhile for the water to heat, so get it started before you begin making the recipe.
Canning this recipe
- Remove the empty jars from the canner, draining the water back into the pot.
- Transfer the hot ketchup to canning jars using a ladle and a canning funnel, leaving a 1/2" headspace between the top of the ketchup and the jar rim.
- Wipe the rims thoroughly with a damp cloth. Residue on the jar rim can impair sealing.
- Set a flat lid on each jar as you fill it and screw on a canning band to fingertip tightness.
- Use a jar lifter to transfer the jars into boiling water in the canner. Return water to a boil and process for 20 minutes.
- When time elapses, lift jars from the canner onto a clean towel on a solid surface. Place them where they won't be in a draft or be disturbed for 24 hours. Resist pressing the lids, as you don't want to accidentally push one in and create a false seal.
- Check seals after 24 hours. The lid should be solid; if it flexes, the seal failed. Keep that jar in the fridge and use it first.
- Wash jars and store in a cool, dry, dark place without their canning rings.
Notes
- Recipe yields 8 half pint jars.
- *If the filled jars will be processed for more than 10 minutes, they don't necessarily need to be sanitized. It also won't hurt them to be sanitized and you may wish to err on the side of caution. Whether or not you opt to sanitize the jars, you should always clean the jars with hot soapy water and rinse well before filling them.
- If you like a little more bit to your ketchup, you can safely add dry ground cayenne pepper to give it a little heat.
- Boiling lids or heating above 180°F as once recommended can damage the sealing compound.
wondering if this can be made without sugar?
The recipe has been tested for canning safety as written. If you wanted to try it and freeze it instead, you could certainly use a sugar substitute.