Grandma’s Step By Step Homemade Ketchup Recipe
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Grandma’s Homemade Ketchup can be made with fresh tomatoes and onions or canned tomato juice for a condiment that will remind you of the good old days. With a mixture of cinnamon and ground cloves, this catsup – as Grandma called it – is delicious on everything.
This is our grandma’s favorite condiment. Growing up, we ate it on everything, even homemade dumplings. It has a unique flavor from cinnamon and ground cloves. To this day, every recipe that has ground cloves reminds us of Grandma and this recipe.
Old-Fashioned Catsup
Barbara decided to try her hand at making Grandma’s catsup (that’s what we grew up calling it) earlier this year. One bite of this took us right back to our childhood.
Grandma made her homemade ketchup from garden fresh tomatoes. She would boil down the tomatoes and onions until she had 2 gallons of fresh tomato juice. You can definitely do this and then just add the rest of the ingredients.
Since tomatoes were out of season when Barbara decided to make Grandma’s Homemade Ketchup, she used canned tomato juice. Grandma’s version was a thinner, runnier texture; while Barbara’s has more of a consistency of the ketchup you buy at the store.
Please note, all Barbara had was whole cloves which she ground herself. You’ll notice the flecks of cloves in our photos.
Ingredient List
- Fresh Ripe Tomatoes
- Fresh Onion
- Salt
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Clove
- White Vinegar
How to Make Homemade Ketchup
Step by Step Instructions
- Cook tomato and onion in large pot or large saucepan until onions are translucent.
- Run juice through a sieve and discard onions.
- Add juice back to pot and mix in salt, cinnamon, cloves and vinegar.
- Boil until reduced by one-third.
- Mix together sugar and cornstarch and then add to the liquid mixture.
- Turn down heat and whisk constantly until thickened.
- Cool and then refrigerate.
Full recipe for gourmet ketchup is at the bottom of this post.
Recipe FAQs
- Isn’t it cool that old fashioned ketchup is really a gourmet ketchup?
- The distinct flavors of this homemade catsup are ground cloves and ground cinnamon.
- You can use fresh garden tomatoes or take a shortcut by starting with canned tomato juice.
- This homemade catsup stores great in the refrigerator.
- Try using the leftover homemade catsup in pulled pork like this Crock Pot Sweet Pulled Pork Recipe.
Small Batch Ketchup Recipe
You can also do a smaller quantity if you are only wanting 1 quart of ketchup. Here’s the ingredient measurements for the smaller batch of Grandma’s Homemade Ketchup:
- 46 oz. tomato juice
- 1/2 onion, shredded
- 2 Tablespoons salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 Tablespoon ground cloves
- 3/4 cup vinegar
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Why is my homemade ketchup not thickening?
If your homemade ketchup is not thickening, it could be due to a few reasons.
The first thing to check is your patience. Make sure you have cooked it for a sufficient amount of time. The reduction process takes a long time; let the mixture simmer until it reaches the desired thickness.
Secondly, the ratio of cornstarch to liquid in your recipe may be off. If you added too much liquid or too little cornstarch, it may not thicken properly.
Lastly, be sure you whisk constantly while the ketchup is simmering on low heat. This will help the cornstarch to activate and thicken the mixture.
Grandma’s Homemade Ketchup
Ingredients
- 2 gallons tomato juice
- 2 onions shredded
- 8 Tablespoons salt
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons ground cloves
- 3 cups vinegar
- 8 cups sugar
- 6 Tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Cook tomato juice and onions in a large stockpot over medium-low heat until onions are translucent, approximately 20 minutes.
- Run juice through a sieve; discarding onions. Add juice back to the stockpot.
- Add salt, cinnamon, cloves, and vinegar. Boil over medium heat until reduced by one-third (1/3). This will take a long time.
- Mix together sugar and cornstarch and add to the stockpot. Turn down heat to low, whisking constantly until thickened, approximately 5 minutes.
- Let cool.
- Store in refrigerator.
Notes
- Isn’t it cool that old fashioned ketchup is really a gourmet ketchup?
- The distinct flavors of this homemade catsup are ground cloves and ground cinnamon.
- You can use fresh garden tomatoes or take a shortcut by starting with canned tomato juice.
- This homemade catsup stores great in the refrigerator.
- Try using the leftover homemade catsup in pulled pork like this Crock Pot Sweet Pulled Pork Recipe.
Linking up to Weekend Potluck!
Can you use sugar substitute?
We haven’t tried a sugar substitute but you should be able to. You might need to adjust the amount though.
I would like to omit the salt in this recipe. Is this possible, if not can I reduce the amount?
We haven’t tried it without the salt but you should be able to omit the salt and then taste and add as needed. Good luck!
I don’t have enough cornstarch can I sub flour for part of it
We’ve never tried it but it should work. Might need a bit more flour as cornstarch has more thickening “power” than flour. Good Luck!
I’m not sure what I did wrong I started with a 5 gallon bucket home grown tomatoes made my own tomato juice 2 gallons I followed recipe exact except I only had 2 1/2 T of cornstarch so added flour at 2 T = 1 T cornstarch to make total of 6 T cornstarch It says will thicken inn5 mins stirring with whisk well it’s been cooking for total of 3 hrs and still note thick. As it is I’ll only have enough for a couple pints. And it’s still not thick enough. Any ideas I’m won’t take another 5 gallon bucket fill of tomatoes if I only get a very small amt
I roughy followed your Grandmas recipe and loved it! I did tweek a little in the seasoning, adding additional amounts of the cinnamon and cloves and a little less of the sugar. I used clear gel and added roughly twice as much as your recipe called for and got a texture I liked. Thank you so much! I have found my recipe for kechup!
Thanks for sharing! Our grandma’s recipe is definitely for a thin ketchup so we are glad you tweaked it to make it the way you like it!
It was a thinner than I expected after whisking in the cornstarch and sugar. I ended up adding tomato powder for additional thickening to get the consistency I wanted.