Chipotle ketchup changes everything
I was talking to a friend on the phone last night and he asked what I’d eaten for dinner. “Ketchup,” I replied. “And what else?” he said. “And nothing. Just ketchup,” I said, “though I suppose onion rings would have been nice.”
I am in love with ketchup for the first time. And yes, I could be biased because I made it but no matter—I think it’s the best ketchup I’ve ever had in my life.
Have you ever made ketchup? If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat. You get to control the sweetness, the spice and you can even make it fiery if you desire, as I did with mine by adding chipotles.
I make salsa at least once a week and I’ve even been known to whip up mayonnaise or Hollandaise when I had a craving for the good stuff. But for some reason homemade ketchup never crossed my mind. Like most people, I ate Heinz my whole life, until I decided that I didn’t want to eat a condiment made with high-fructose corn syrup. I then switched to Whole Foods’ version, which is made with cane sugar instead. And it’s good. But not as good as mine.
There are countless recipes floating around, but the one thing they all adhere to is the use of vinegar and a sweetener—usually brown sugar—as it’s this combination mixed with the tomatoes that gives ketchup its distinctive flavor. From there, you can do anything you like, making your ketchup as simple or sophisticated as you desire.
For mine, I diced a 1015 sweet onion and cooked it in olive oil until it was just starting to brown. I then added a 28-ounce can of Roma tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and a bit of molasses. I threw in some chipotles for smoke and fire, some cinnamon and cloves for spice and some celery seed for brightness. I let it cook for a couple of hours and then pureed it and let it cook some more. My yield was about a pint, though it could have been more if I hadn’t been constantly spooning it out of the pot to taste.
And yes, I do believe that a spoon is an acceptable vehicle for this condiment. But I have over six pounds of 1015 onions that are just begging to be made into onion rings, and I just know that they’ll go beautifully with my homemade chipotle ketchup.
Chipotle ketchup
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- 3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon celery seeds
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- On medium-low heat, cook the diced onion in the olive oil in a medium-sized pot just until the onions start to brown a bit on the ends.
- Add the tomatoes and their juices to the pot, crushing the tomatoes with the back of a spoon.
- Stir in the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, chipotle chiles, cinnamon, cloves, celery seeds, and salt, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and then simmer uncovered for an hour, stirring occasionally.
- After an hour, puree the mixture, and then continue to cook on low heat until it reaches your desired thickness. Adjust seasonings to taste. Will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Brittany–It is amazing on scrambled eggs–matter of fact I’m eating some right now!
Anon–OK, I confess–I had eaten a few tacos late in the afternoon.
Tommy–Chipotle stew sounds amazing! I’ll have to see if I can find a recipe for that.
Scribbit–You’ll love it!
Farmer Jen–I was surprised at how simple it was to make.
Dreamsanddecor–Baked potato wedges would be awesome!
Tea–I could eat onion rings all day long.
Twobarkingdogs–Yes, or you can put it into a blender or food processor. And this a great way to use bruised tomatoes.
LeeLee–I’ll have to try it the Heinz organic. And I love Hellman’s as well.
Paula–You should try it, you’ll love it!
Megs–I’m sorry you didn’t get your dad’s recipe, but hopefully you can use this as a base to recreate his homemade ketchup.
Ashley–Yay!
Olivia–Rooster sauce is great with ketchup. Heck, sometimes I use it in place of ketchup.
Soctt–Thank you!
Gregg–I know, I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to store bought as the flavor of homemade has so much more depth.
Salasks–Thanks for this recipe–i can’t wait to try it!
I am a homesick Texas too, and like the ketchup post! Hate to say it, but growing up sometimes I ate more ketchup than fish sticks…not to mention mayo and tomato sandwiches…they were called beefsteak you know!
Like the blog…I am blog cruising due to later 40’something 3 AM wake up calls, or just ringing in my ears, lol
I LOVE Chipotles! There is literally nothing like them on earth, definitely the king of chillies if you ask me.
I live in Korea where stuff like that is non-existent – my girlfriend recently brought us back some chorizo from a trip to Germany but now i wish i had of asked her to get chipotles while she was at it!
P.S Still make your flour tortillas on a regular basis!
Oh, that sounds delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Lisa,
I’ve never particularly thought much of ketchup, but chipotle ketchup sounds amazing. I’ve been on a hunt for chipotles in adobo sauce, but am having a hard time finding them.