Quick, name ten things you can do with ketchup.

I’ll go first: French fries, potato wedges, hash browns. Pasta, omelets, grilled cheese. My husband would probably add a deli sandwich at this point. And you can always squiggle it on top of a hot dog, though that’s clearly not my forte. Then you’ve got the burgers and fritters, tuna patties, and salmon loaf.

Anyway, you get the point. Even if you wouldn’t eat it all of those ways, I bet your husband and kids (with all of their combined food preferences) would.

And the good news is that you can make your own ketchup in less than five minutes.

Of course, you can also make it in more complicated ways, and with two or three times the ingredients. I’m sure those taste good, too. But ketchup is not the kind of thing that I’m willing to invest a lot of time in making. Because if it takes more than three minutes and dirties half a sink of dishes…it kind of loses its appeal.

(Nothing against The Hungry Moose. I’m sure that version is delicious, and if ketchup’s your thing, you’ll love the detail in Jessie’s post. I just don’t see myself putting that much effort into a condiment.)

So this ketchup? All you need is a bowl, a spoon, and a handful of pantry-item ingredients. And almost before you blink, you’ll have it — a nice batch of homemade ketchup ready for the using. Works every time.

Now all I need is a squeeze bottle.

Come back soon to see how I used my ketchup. Hint…it involves those buns. Other hint…it involves cheese.

One year ago: How to skin a tomato

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