 |
| My sugar free ketchup simmering on the stove |
Good Morning! You are about to learn another little tidbit about me (whether you care or not, LOL.) I'm a closet Doris Day fan. My favorites might be Please Don't Eat the Daisies and The Thrill of it All! but I'd really be hard pressed to choose because I love most of them (there are a couple clinkers in there over the years that I don't care for).
I didn't grow up watching these movies in our family home, so the first time I saw The Thrill of it All! was after I was already in my early twenties. It was the first time I realized anyone could make their own ketchup.
And I wanted to make it too.
After that, I did start to garden, grew my own tomatoes and started to make and can my own ketchup, tomato juice and the best-ever Homemade Salsa. All thanks to Doris Day!
Today's recipe is for Sugar Free Ketchup. I don't can this and I don't typically use my homegrown tomatoes. For this version, I make enough for one bottle at a time, use tomato paste and I keep it in a recycled ketchup bottle clearly marked "Sugar Free". Play with this recipe! After you make this, adjust the spices a little bit to what you like. Add a little more of this, a little bit less of that until you get the sweetness and spices to what you love. You may never go back to 'regular' store bought ketchup again.
Sugar Free Ketchup
12 oz. tomato paste (be careful for sugar - try Contadina or the newer Hunts without sugar added)
** You can also use 1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste and 1 - 8 oz. can tomato sauce (I like this flavor combination!)
approximately 6 oz. water (rinse the tomato paste/sauce tins with a bit of water swirled around and pour it in the saucepan)
1/3 c white vinegar
4 T sweetener of choice
1 T salt (I use less but it's up to you and your tastes)
1 t onion powder
dash of; allspice, ground cloves and tiny dash of cinnamon
1/8 t garlic powder
Whisk together. You can serve this or refrigerate it immediately or you can simmer it. If you have time, simmer in a saucepan over medium low heat at a low bubble for about 20 minutes. This thickens it and I think improves the flavors just a bit. But if you don't have time or don't want to, you don't have to simmer. Just put it in a mason jar with a lid or recycle a ketchup or other dressing bottle.
This will make about 1 3/4 - 1 1/2 cups or so of ketchup depending on if you simmer it and how long as that tends to reduce it and thicken it a bit.
