What says summer more than ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and relish sitting on a table beside a couple of bags of hotdog and hamburger buns? Nothing at all. That is summer, and these are the quintessential summer condiments. Today, I am going to show you how to make them for yourself.
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That is right, by the end of this post, you might have to change your name to Heinz, Hellmann, or French because you are going to be a condiment master. Now let's toast some buns, grill some burgers and fry some fries because you are going to want something to put these delicious homemade condiments on. Let's get to it!
How To Make Homemade Ketchup
What Is Ketchup?
When we think of ketchup, we think of tomato ketchup. It has dominated the ketchup scene for over a century. However, ketchup does not have to be made with tomatoes. Say what? Yeah, I know. Crazy, eh? There are, in fact, lots of other types of ketchup, including mushroom ketchup, which is popular in the UK and banana ketchup, a classic Philippine condiment.
What is even crazier is that tomato ketchup did not come into existence until almost a full century after mushroom ketchup became popular in the UK. Ketchup has a long and interesting history that I encourage you to read about in this expansive article from History. For our purposes today, ketchup is tomato ketchup. And we are going to learn to make it at home. Let's take a look.
Making Homemade Ketchup
Homemade ketchup really is just a slightly sweet and acidic sauce made using tomatoes as the base. Now, we could cook some tomatoes with vinegar and sugar, and I guess that would technically be ketchup, but it probably would not taste all that great. So, we need to add some extra flavour.
To do that, we start by sauteing some onion and garlic. As usual, you can find the full measurements in the printable recipe below. Once the onions soften and the garlic starts to brown, brown sugar is added and left to cook for about a minute. Next up, cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar are added. The ketchup is seasoned with salt, pepper and cinnamon. Next, the tomatoes are added, and the whole thing gets pureed.
The sauce cooks for a while, then ground clove and tomato paste are added. The ketchup is left to simmer before being passed through a fine-mesh sieve. That is all there is to it. If you are a fan of making sauces from scratch, you will also enjoy my guide to tomato sauce.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 tablespoon sliced garlic
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 796 ml can tomatoes whole, crushed, or puree
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- a pinch of ground cloves
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
Instructions
- Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the oil, onion, and garlic. Cook just until the onions start to soften and the garlic starts to brown.
- Add the brown sugar and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
- Pour the cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar into the pot and add in the cinnamon, pepper, and salt. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and purée.
- Bring to a boil, add the cloves, turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes or so.
- Add the tomato paste and cook, until a spoon dragged across the bottom of the pot leaves a line for more than 5 seconds.
- Pass the ketchup through a fine-mesh sieve.
- Refrigerate for up to a month.
How To Make Homemade Mustard
Mustard is not only great on hotdogs and burgers but also for dipping sausages into, for glazing ham, and as an addition or base for other sauces. It is also, by far, the easiest condiment on this list to make. Like ketchup, mustard has a pretty interesting history that you should check out here. In the meantime, here is how to make your own homemade mustard.
Homemade Mustard
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together mustard powder, turmeric (for colour), salt, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne (leave out if you do not like hot mustard). Once the dried ingredients are combined, add vinegar and water. Whisk. You have just made mustard. You can eat it right away, but it is best if it sits in the fridge overnight.
Variations
You can use this homemade mustard recipe as is, or you can use it as a base to create your own mustards. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Add a tablespoon or two of mustard seed for grainy mustard
- Use flavoured vinegar like raspberry or champagne to change the flavour
- Add honey to make honey mustard
- Use beer instead of water for a richer, more complex flavour
I could go on all day because you really can make countless types of mustard with simple additions or alterations to this main recipe.
Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne optional
- 2 tablespoon white vinegar
- 3 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the mustard powder, salt, turmeric, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.
- Add the vinegar and water to the bowl and whisk.
- For best results, store the mustard in the fridge overnight before using it.
- Keep the fridge for up to a month.
Notes
How To Make Homemade Mayonnaise
If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you probably have a pretty good idea of how to make a vinaigrette. Well, mayonnaise is a vinaigrette but made using egg as the binder to hold the liquid and oil together. That is it.
As with the mustard above, you can use this base homemade mayonnaise recipe as it is, or you can add to it and make it your own. Some of my favourite additions are chipotle and lime, sriracha with fish sauce and a bit of extra sugar, roasted red pepper, or even sundried tomato. For even more inspiration, check out my 7 flavoured mayonnaise recipes.
Make Homemade Mayonnaise
Break an egg into a bowl. Add sugar, salt, vinegar, and lemon juice, then whisk. While whisking, add a few drops of oil. Whisk in a few more drops of oil. Repeat this two to three more times. Then, while whisking, add the remaining oil in a slow, steady stream until it has all been incorporated. Whisk in a little bit of water. Adjust the seasoning with salt, sugar, and lemon juice as needed. That is mayonnaise!
The Oil
It is important to use a neutral oil like canola or grapeseed. By neutral, I mean one that has little to no flavour. The reason is that there are very few ingredients in mayonnaise, so the bulk of the flavour will come from the oil. If that oil has an off or strong flavour, so will the mayonnaise.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Break the egg into a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer.
- To the egg, add the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Whisk until fully combined.
- While whisking, slowly add the oil a few drops at a time. Wait to add any more oil until the first addition has been incorporated into the eggs.
- Repeat the process 2 to 3 more times, then you can begin to add the oil, in a slow steady stream until all of the oil has been incorporated into the egg mixture.
- Whisk in the water.
- Taste the mayonnaise and adjust the seasoning with sugar, salt, and lemon juice as needed.
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
How To Make Homemade Relish
The final homemade condiment that we are going to learn to make today is relish. Like with ketchup, relish is not one thing. You can make relish out of cucumber, which is the most popular, but also out of zucchini, corn, peppers, and any other vegetable you could probably imagine. Today, we are going to make the classic cucumber relish.
Homemade Relish
Mince some cucumber and green pepper. Put them in a pot with sugar, cold water, white vinegar, salt, cornstarch, and mustard seed. Stir until the cornstarch is incorporated. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool, and serve. Easy peasy.
To make other types of relish, follow the same process but substitute the cucumber and green pepper for other ingredients like corn and red pepper. If you enjoy quick pickle-style condiments, my quickle recipe is another great one to have in your back pocket.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup diced English cucumber
- ½ cup minced green pepper
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup cold water
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients in a medium pot.
- Stir to dissolve the cornstarch.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes stirring every 2 minutes or so.
- Let the relish cool to room temperature then store the fridge for up to a month.
Why You Should Make Your Own Condiments
You might be thinking that this was an interesting post but that you will never actually make your own ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, or relish. To that, I say poppycock! Do it! Even if you only do it once, you will be able to say you did, and you will be happy you did.
Now, I do not expect you to throw away the store-bought versions of these condiments; goodness knows I am not going to. But, knowing that you can make them if you want to is kind of empowering. Maybe you will never make ketchup, mayonnaise, or relish again, but maybe you fall in love with making mustard. I have been saying for years that we are due for an artisanal mustard craze. Maybe you will be the one to start it.
Making your own condiments is one of those kitchen projects that genuinely changes how you think about flavour. Once you taste homemade ketchup or fresh mayonnaise, the store-bought versions just do not hit the same way. Even if you only try one of these recipes, I think you will be glad you did.
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