Say Goodbye to High Fructose Corn Syrup and Creepy Preservatives

Condiments take up a lot of room in our fridge. What are all those crusty containers? It’s time to take control of the fridge (and diets) in our lives, and make our own condiments!

Remember the last time you were at a fancy restaurant, and you were wowed by their fresh, homemade ketchup? Why not make your own? Most condiments require only a few ingredients and a blender or whisk. I did some research and found recipes for six condiments that you can easily make yourself.

1. Ketchup

Say goodbye to ketchup filled with high fructose corn syrup. This simple ketchup recipe below from Epicurious originally came from Gourmet magazine. Or try this version from tiny morsels food blog for more complex flavor and less brown sugar.

Yield: Makes about 2 cups

Active time: 20 minutes

Total time: 3 hours

Ingredients

  • 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes in purée
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Purée tomatoes (with purée from can) in a blender until smooth.

2. Cook onion in oil in a four quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about eight minutes. Add puréed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, and salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about one hour (stir more frequently toward end of cooking to prevent scorching).

3. Purée ketchup in two batches in blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Chill, covered, at least two hours (for flavors to develop).