Mixing Up Meatless Mondays! Homemade Hot Sauce & Homemade Ketchup

I know on Meatless Mondays I usually do a dinner or a side dish but this time I thought it would be fun to showcase some condiments that you can make from scratch!

These are super easy to make and you probably have most of the ingredients on hand for them. The hot sauce can have any mix of peppers that you want and the ketchup spices can be adjusted accordingly to meet your tastes.






The fries that you see in the picture are sweet potato waffle fries and they are delicious with the homemade ketchup (or any ketchup for that matter, but they aren't the point of the post :) ). As I said, the hot sauce can be made with any combination of peppers and you can leave the seeds in or take them out for less heat. I left all of the seeds in! I used a mix of four banana peppers, 2 habaneros, and 1 jalapeno pepper (which is also why my sauce is so yellow) but the possibilities are endless. This sauce isn't even sneaky spicy, you should just be ready for it if you leave in all of the seeds. But in this house we love spicy food, even my three year old, although he hasn't tried this sauce. 

before cooking  

after cooking

On to the ketchup, this was a fun experiment since I have never made my own ketchup before. I was out of ketchup from the store but I had saved the bottle and so I put the ketchup I made into the squeeze bottle to store it in the refrigerator and that's working beautifully. If there are any spices you aren't a fan of or you think something else would be good then this ketchup is easy change to your tastes. I made a half recipe (the recipe below is half of the original) because it seemed like it would make a lot and I'm not sure that we will eat all of half the recipe within a month but we may come close. So, if you're looking for a fun weekend project these sauces could really brighten up your meals and knowing that you made them makes them that much better! Happy Cooking!

Homemade Hot Sauce
Makes 7-8 oz
- 8 Habanero or other hot chiles
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon agave syrup, honey, or brown rice syrup
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar

1. Wash the chiles and remove the stems, be sure to wear gloves if you have them. Leaving the seeds in will provide a hotter finished product.
2. In a non-aluminum pot bring all ingredients to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
3. Cook until the sauce is tender, about 20  minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from stove and let the sauce cool.
4. Blend the mixture using a blender or immersion blender until it is very smooth. Store sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The sauce will keep about six months.

Homemade Ketchup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ medium onion, chopped medium
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 14-oz can tomato purée
- ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground mustard
- dash ground cloves
- dash teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion to the pan and cook 5-8 minutes until the onion is softened but not browned, stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic and stir. Cook until the mixture is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato purée, brown sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, salt, mustard, cloves, allspice, and cayenne pepper to the pan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer. Stir the sauce occasionally, until it is thickened to the consistency of ketchup, about 45 to 60 minutes.
2. Place the ketchup in a blender and purée the mixture until it is completely smooth.
3. Using the same saucepan (after cleaning it) place a fine strainer on the pan. Pour the ketchup in the strainer force the ketchup through the strainer using a spatula.
4. Taste ketchup and if necessary adjust the seasoning. Pour the ketchup into an airtight jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.


Printable recipe

Hot Sauce recipe from The Recipe Renovator and Ketchup recipe adapted from Serious Eats