Homemade Ketchup Recipe: Healthy, Easy & Naturally Sweetened

QUICK SUMMARY

This healthy homemade ketchup blends organic tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, a little natural sweetener, sea salt, garlic, onion, allspice, and water in about five minutes, with no high-fructose corn syrup or refined sugar. It keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks and works as a dip, in salad dressings, barbecue sauce, and sweet-and-sour recipes.

Tomato paste is also the smartest way to get the lycopene in tomatoes, because cooking frees it from the plant cells, so paste can deliver more lycopene than fresh tomatoes.

My Homemade Ketchup is a healthy pantry staple that’s much healthier than store-bought. You can use it in so many ways! We enjoy it in salad dressings, barbecue sauce, and as a dip.

I created this recipe when I had no access to healthy ketchup. Necessity truly is the mother of invention!

There are so many healthy options on the market, but they can be expensive. It’s always nice to have an easy, do-it-yourself version!

Make Homemade Ketchup

This recipe comes together in just minutes. It’s as simple as blending a few ingredients. The best part? You can store it in the fridge for up to two weeks! I love doubling this recipe since my kids use a lot of it.

Healthy Homemade Ketchup (Vegan)

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Author Mama Z

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Servings

2x4x6x

Ingredients

• 1 6-8-ounce can organic tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon organic maple syrup OR raw honey OR Christmas Cookie Blend OR 2 tablespoons organic coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
• 1 teaspoon organic garlic granules OR 4 cloves organic garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon organic onion powder
• 1 serving (⅟16 teaspoon) organic powdered stevia OR 1 dropperful plain liquid stevia
• ¼ teaspoon organic allspice
• ⅔ cup purified OR distilled water
• ⅛ teaspoon organic ground cayenne pepper (optional)

Supplies

• Blender OR food processor
• Glass jar for storage

Instructions

 

• Place the tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, stevia, allspice, purified water, and cayenne pepper (if using) in a food processor or blender. Blend until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Store in the fridge for up to 3-4 weeks in a tightly covered container

Christmas Cookie Blend (Vegan)

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 7 minutes minutes

Author Mama Z

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Servings

2x4x6x

Ingredients

• 6 ounces organic coconut sugar
• 11-16 ounces organic date sugar (based on your available container sizes)
• 6 ounces organic maple sugar

Supplies

• Gallon-size Ziploc bag
• Blender
• Glass jar for storage

Instructions

 

• Place the coconut sugar, date sugar, and maple sugar in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. Shake to mix thoroughly.
• Place mixture in a blender and blend until powdery. I prefer milling this recipe in a Vitamix dry goods container. I start blending on one, then slowly increase until the mixture is fully blended. Then, I open the blender, stir, and repeat the process. The final color of your product will differ based on the brand of sweetener you use. Use in place of regular sugar in all your favorite baked goods. Store in a glass jar.

Notes

Whenever possible, we recommend using organic, non-GMO ingredients.

Step One: Blend Ingredients

Place the tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, your sweetener of choice (maple syrup, honey, or Christmas cookie blend), sea salt, garlic granules, onion powder, stevia, allspice, purified water, and cayenne pepper (if using) in a blender. Blend until the mixture reaches the desired consistency.

Taste and adjust as needed. If your family likes a sweeter ketchup, add a little more of your sweetener. If you like it tangier, add a splash more apple cider vinegar. If you want a smoky barbecue-style flavor, add a pinch of smoked paprika.

This recipe creates a pantry staple that can be used in my Homemade French Dressing, as a dip for sweet potato fries, or in my Sweet and Sour Chicken.

Healthy Condiment Ingredients 101

This recipe uses basic pantry ingredients to create a healthy condiment. You probably have most of these things in your kitchen already! Feel free to add and subtract ingredients to fit your family’s preferences.

For example, some of our Natural Living Family members love adding a little ground mustard, while others substitute fresh onions for onion powder. Get creative!

Organic Tomato Paste: This simple ingredient creates thick ketchup that rivals any store-bought version. Tomato paste is just cooked-down tomatoes, so you get all of the fantastic benefits this fruit offers.

Cooking tomatoes down actually makes their lycopene easier to absorb. A 2026 review explains that heat and chopping break open the tomato’s cell walls, and eating it with a little fat helps the body take it up, so processed tomato products such as sauces and pastes may deliver more lycopene than fresh tomatoes. (1) The landmark study here came from Germany in 1997: volunteers who ate tomato paste absorbed 3.8 times more lycopene than when they ate the same amount from fresh tomatoes. (2)

Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar: A splash of vinegar gives our homemade ketchup just the right amount of tang. When purchasing ACV, get the kind with the “mother.” This kind of vinegar often has a cloudy substance on the bottom of the bottle.

Apple cider vinegar has earned its place in the kitchen. A 2025 review of 25 clinical trials with 1,320 adults found that apple cider vinegar lowered fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, and total cholesterol. (3)

Sweetener: One of my best cooking hacks is to use multiple kinds of sweeteners. This gives recipes a full-bodied flavor! In this recipe, our primary sweetener is organic stevia. Stevia is a great natural sweetener that’s free of calories and blood sugar friendly.

We also use another type of sweetener. The recipe card lets you choose Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup, organic raw local honey, or Christmas cookie blend, and organic coconut sugar works too. We’ve had great success with all of the above!

Reality check: the goal is not to make ketchup taste like dessert. The goal is a familiar family favorite with a balanced sweet-tangy flavor and far less sugar than many conventional options.

Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt: Traditional table salt undergoes a rigorous harvesting process that strips it of trace minerals. These minerals help your body to thrive! We recommend using Colima sea salt because it’s hand-harvested. This process keeps the good stuff intact!

If you don’t have sea salt on hand, you can always use pink Himalayan salt.

Organic Spices: A great blend of spices gives this ketchup a traditional flavor. We use garlic powder, onion powder, and allspice. You may not associate allspice with ketchup, but the earthy flavor pairs well with tomatoes.

If you like a little spice in your life, you can add a little cayenne pepper.

Purified or Distilled Water: The quality of your tap water depends on where it came from and how it has been treated. (4) We recommend filtering your water to avoid all the junk! Many excellent in-home filtration systems make purifying water a breeze.

Benefits of Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a must-have in any kitchen. They’re versatile, easy to use, and delicious in sauces, soups, dressings, casseroles, and dips. One of the main ingredients in this recipe is tomato paste, which is simply concentrated tomatoes.

But tomatoes aren’t just a convenient pantry ingredient. They’re full of God-given plant compounds that nourish the body. The most famous is lycopene, the carotenoid that gives red tomatoes their beautiful color.

Tomatoes Can Improve Your Heart Health

Red tomatoes can improve your cardiovascular health. That one should be easy to remember!

It turns out that lycopene, the compound responsible for a tomato’s red hue, promotes better heart health. A 2026 umbrella review pulled together the meta-analyses of tomato and lycopene trials in adults and found high-certainty evidence that tomato lycopene lowers blood pressure. Results on cholesterol were mixed. In the researchers’ words, “Daily intake of 5-30 mg lycopene, equivalent to one or two raw tomatoes, appears beneficial.” (5)

Lycopene also helps reduce oxidative stress, which contributes to heart problems and is brought on by an overabundance of free radicals. A 2023 meta-analysis of 34 randomized trials found that lycopene significantly lowered malondialdehyde, a blood marker of oxidative damage. (6)

A 2022 review of the research concluded that growing evidence supports lycopene’s beneficial role for the heart, the lining of the blood vessels, and the blood vessels themselves. (7)

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and we have to use the natural gifts God gave us to fight back with daily habits that support life: real food, movement, rest, prayer, and stress relief. (8)

Application: Use this homemade ketchup anywhere your family would normally reach for a bottle from the store. It’s a small swap, but those small swaps add up when you’re building a lifestyle of Biblical health.

Tomatoes Can Boost Your Eye Health

Our society is technologically advanced, and while this provides us with many benefits, it also puts a lot of strain on the eyes. If you’re one of many people who spend hours in front of blue-light screens every day, you may want to listen up.

Tomatoes contain beta-carotene, which your body turns into vitamin A, and your retinas depend on vitamin A to turn light into the signals your brain reads as sight. (9)

Lycopene appears to protect the eyes, too. In a 2025 study of 1,478 American adults age 50 and older, those with the highest blood levels of lycopene had 63 percent lower odds of age-related macular degeneration than those with the lowest, and higher beta-carotene levels went with less cataract. (10) That is one more reason to enjoy tomatoes regularly and to support good vision health.

Tomatoes Can Improve Your Skin

One little-known fact about tomatoes is that they can help you look your best. In a landmark 2011 randomized controlled trial, 20 women ate 55 grams of tomato paste with olive oil every day for 12 weeks. Compared with women who took olive oil alone, their skin showed less UV damage and built more procollagen, the building block of collagen. (11)

A 2024 review of 21 intervention trials reached the same conclusion: tomato and lycopene reduce skin reddening from the sun and help prevent sun-related skin aging. (12)

The antioxidants in lycopene attack free radicals that can prematurely age delicate tissue and cause stress to skin cells. No matter how clean your environment is, you can’t totally eliminate free radicals. Including bioactive foods, however, can help reduce their effects and keep you looking (and feeling!) your best.

These wonderful benefits come from tomatoes in their simplest form, not doused in sugar like so many store-bought ketchups.

Homemade Ketchup FAQs

Is homemade ketchup healthier than store-bought ketchup?

Homemade ketchup can be much healthier than store-bought ketchup because you control the ingredients. This recipe uses tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, natural sweeteners, mineral-rich salt, and spices instead of high-fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, artificial flavors, or unnecessary preservatives.

How long does homemade ketchup last?

This homemade ketchup lasts up to two weeks in the refrigerator when stored in a clean, airtight glass jar or container.

Can I freeze homemade ketchup?

Yes, homemade ketchup can be frozen in small portions. Use a freezer-safe container, leave room for expansion, and thaw in the refrigerator before using. Stir well after thawing to restore the texture.

Can I make homemade ketchup without honey?

Yes. The recipe card offers maple syrup or Christmas cookie blend in place of honey, and coconut sugar works too. For a lower-sugar version, rely mostly on stevia and use just a small amount of your preferred natural sweetener for depth of flavor.

Can I use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato paste?

This recipe is designed for tomato paste because it gives the ketchup a thick, smooth texture without long cooking. Fresh tomatoes contain more water, so they would need to be cooked down first before using.

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