Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet, tangy, tomato-based condiment seasoned with vinegar and spices, a near-universal American table sauce for fries, burgers, and more.
How to buy
Mainstream brands, with Heinz as the classic reference point, are reliably consistent; check sugar content and ingredient lists if you want to avoid high-fructose corn syrup, since many "simply" or organic lines use cane sugar instead. Thicker ketchup that holds its shape briefly when poured upside down generally signals a well-reduced, less watery batch.
How to store
Unopened bottles keep in the pantry for up to a year past the date. Once opened, refrigerate -- while commercial ketchup's vinegar and sugar make it fairly stable even at room temperature, refrigeration preserves flavor and color longest, typically 6-12 months.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Sweet and tangy with a balanced tomato base, mild spice notes (often clove or allspice), and enough vinegar acidity to cut through fried and fatty foods.
- Texture
- Thick, smooth, and glossy, with no visible chunks or seeds -- pureed completely smooth unlike chunkier salsas or chutneys.
- Aroma
- Sweet and tangy with a cooked tomato aroma and faint warm spice undertones.
How to prepare
- Squeezed on directly — The default condiment for fries, burgers, and hot dogs.
- Mixed into sauces — Blended with mayo for fry sauce or with BBQ spices for a quick glaze.
- Simmered into glazes — Combined with brown sugar and vinegar for meatloaf or meatball glazes.
- Stirred into dressings — A classic base ingredient for Thousand Island and Russian dressing.
Classic dishes
American
- French fries with ketchup — The default dipping sauce for crisp fried potatoes.
- Classic hamburger — A burger finished with a squeeze of ketchup alongside mustard and pickles.
- Meatloaf glaze — Meatloaf topped with a sweet-tangy ketchup glaze before baking.
- Thousand Island dressing — A creamy pink dressing built on mayonnaise and ketchup.
- Fry sauce — A simple blend of mayonnaise and ketchup served with fries.
- Sloppy joes — Ground beef simmered in a tangy sauce built partly on ketchup.
- Cocktail sauce — Ketchup mixed with horseradish for a classic shrimp dipping sauce.
- BBQ sauce base — Many quick homemade barbecue sauces start with a ketchup base.
- Shrimp cocktail sauce — A tangy, horseradish-spiked sauce built on ketchup for chilled shrimp.
- Sweet and sour meatballs — Meatballs glazed in a sauce combining ketchup, vinegar, and sugar.
- Hot dog with ketchup — A classic ballpark topping squeezed down the length of the bun.
- Tater tot casserole — A baked casserole sometimes finished with a swirl of ketchup on top.
- Russian dressing — A tangy sandwich dressing built on mayonnaise, ketchup, and relish.
Japanese
- Omurice — A Japanese omelet-wrapped fried rice dish seasoned and topped with ketchup.
Filipino
- Filipino-style spaghetti — A sweet Filipino spaghetti sauce often built using banana ketchup, a close relative.