Homemade Ketchup: Fermented & Sugar Free

When Travis and I started our candida diet there was a lot of adjusting to do.

We didn’t mind life without processed foods, especially after reading (and interpreting) the labels. We’d already been avoiding grains, and the thought of eating steaks more often wasn’t too hard to take.

The biggest challenge to our diet came with the need to cut out sugar. Completely. In all its forms.

Why? Because sugar feeds that pesky microscopic organism called candida. And feeding candida is a big no-no. If you want to get rid of it, you need to starve it.

However, the lack of sugar also meant the lack of condiments.

Sour cream, salsa, dressings, BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard – life gets a little hum-drum without them.

You only have to turn a ketchup bottle over and read the first several ingredients to know it’s not allowed. Even ‘healthy’ organic ketchup has sugar, fructose, maple syrup or some other form of sugar. Organic or not, it still wasn’t allowed.

Sigh.

But there’s really something to be said about a hamburger with all the fixin’s. Minus the bun of course

I started playing around with different ketchup recipes and finally found a winner by adjusting one from Nourishing Traditions. We’re all thrilled.

Except for the starving candida that is. Muhahah!

Homemade Ketchup: Fermented and Sugar-Free (egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, anti-candida, low-carb)
makes 1 quart

24 oz. tomato paste
1/4 c. whey (Whey is made from homemade yogurt, so I can’t technically say this is casein, sugar, or yeast free.)
1 T. celtic sea salt
3/4 t. stevia (or to your taste)
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. homemade fish stock (or fish sauce)

Directions:

1. Combine tomato paste, whey, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic, and fish stock in a blender. Blend well.

2. Add stevia at 1/4 teaspoons at a time. Blend and taste after each addition, adding more or less to your taste. Blend well.

Tip: This ketchup is fairly thick, adding a tablespoon or two of water while blending goes a long way in making it more “ketchup-like” without taking away from the flavor. But sure to add the water just a bit at a time though.

3. Pour ketchup in a glass jar, leaving about 1 inch of space from the top.

4. Screw a lid on and leave it at room temperature for two days before refrigerating.

Makes 3 qts. or 64 T. Net carbs are 2.48g per T.

Don’t know where to purchase some of these ingredients? Visit our Whole Food Sources page.

Shared with: It’s A Keeper, Live Renewed, Nourishing Gourmet, The Shabby Nest, Mom Trends, The Girl Creative, The Healthy Home Economist, The Prairie Homestead, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Skip to My Lou, Simply Sugar & Gluten Free, Time-Warp Wife, Real Food Forager, Chef In Training, Rook No. 17, Celebrating Family, Whole New Mom, Far Above Rubies, Vintage Wannabee, Premeditated Leftovers, Women Living Well, Blue Cricket Designs, The King’s Court IV, Frugally Sustainable, The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Milk & Cuddles, We Are That Family, Kelly The Kitchen Kop, The Thrifty Home, This Chicks Cooks, Raising Homemakers, Tip Junkie, Juliecache, GNOWFGLINS, Raising Mighty Arrows, Our Simple Country Life, Food Renegade, Real Food Whole Health, Little Natural Cottage, Real Food Freaks, Comfy In The Kitchen, Country Momma Cooks, Nourishing Treasures, The Modest Mom, Flour Me With Love, Growing Home, Food Corner, Deep Roots at Home, Our Simple Farm, Young Living Oil Lady, 

Tagged as: candida diet, casein-free, condiments, egg-free, gluten-free, low-carb, nut-free, sugar-free, tutorials, yeast-free