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When Travis and I started our candida diet, there was some 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 condiments. You only have to turn a dressing, ketchup, or barbecue sauce bottle over and read the first several ingredients to know it’s not the healthiest thing you could put on your plate – or your burger.
But life without sour cream, salsa, dressings, BBQ sauce, and ketchup?! Sigh.
I started playing around with different ketchup recipes and finally found a winner I tweaked ever so slightly from Nourishing Traditions.
Now we can enjoy ketchup again, and it only makes it better knowing we’re eating a healthy version we all love – except for the starving candida that is. Mwahaha!

When you're trying to cut out sugars, it's hard to find condiments that fit the bill. Try this homemade ketchup recipe and love ketchup again! (Makes 1 quart)
- 24 oz tomato paste
- 1/4 cup whey (drained from homemade or plain yogurt)
- 1 tablespoon Himalayan salt
- 3/4 teaspoons stevia (to taste) (original recipe calls for 1/2 c. maple syrup)
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup homemade fish stock (or fish sauce)
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Combine tomato paste, whey, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic, and fish stock in a blender. Blend well.
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Add stevia at 1/4 teaspoons at a time. Blend and taste after each addition, adding more or less to your taste. Blend well.
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Pour ketchup in a glass jar, leaving about 1 inch of space from the top.
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Screw a lid on and leave it at room temperature for two days before refrigerating.
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.
That is something I always wanted to do….I'd love for you to share this @CountryMommaCooks Link & Greet Party….Starts Friday night @6….
Have a blessed weekend!
Very cool, we try to stay away from HFCS which limits most ketchup brands anyhow. I never thought of making it.
Thanks for linking up to Friday Food on Momtrends.com!
Oooh, I haven't tried the NT ketchup for a while but I'm definitely due. Thanks for this reminder!
BTW, I *believe* you can at least say the whey is yeast-free; the fermenting here is lacto-fermenting and is done by bacteria. 🙂
Hi Paula, What a lovely recipe. I've seen a few ketchup recipes lately but none that are fermented. What a great idea to incorporate fermented foods in a place that no one would think to look.
I'm hosting Whole Food Wednesdays at beyondthepeel.net and it would be great if you swung by and shared! Have a great rest of your week.
I love the idea of homemade condiments. The store bought versions pale in comparison to homemade naturally fermented goodies! Definitely going to give this a try.
I've been wanting to try some homemade ketchup – this looks like the recipe for me. Thanks!
Wow!!! Homemade ketchup!! Sounds awesome… I am your newest follower. I found you on a link party!!! If you would like to check out my blog too. And follow me back. That would be wonderful!! I am kind of new to blogging, but excited to share ideas and recipes. And doing giveaways for Mineral makeup.
-Brooke
for-the-luv-of.blogspot.com
i really need to learn more about fermenting. it's all the rage and apparently an instrumental activity for promoting freedom from our reliance on processed foods. thanks for the inspiration!
I can't wait to try this recipe! I love fish sauce, but I have miso in the fridge at the moment…do you think that would work??
Your ketchup sounds delicious as well as wholesome. Thank you for sharing it with the Hearth and Soul hop.
I've been wanting to make homemade ketchup for so long now, I don't know why I keep procrastinating!
I would love for you to come share this recipe at my Make-ahead Monday Link-up over at Raising Isabella!
http://naturalparentingunnaturalworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/make-ahead-monday-5.html
Hope to see you there!~
Sarah
Hmmm, never tried miso, but you can never tell unless you try!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures' Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back later tonight when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! 🙂
Paula, I REALLY want to make some of this, but I currently don't have any fish stock (I've been too scared to make it, but after reading your blog on how to make it, I'm less intimidated). Do you think I could substitute my chicken stock instead?
I used chicken stock a time or two to make this before I ventured into making fish stock. The fish stock does add a nice touch – not even sure how to describe it – but it can absolutely be done with chicken stock. It just might not have the same. . .zing.
I'd say go for it. You might find you like it better!
This is something I've never done, but I'd love to try! When we are committed to eating right it's amazing the recipes you can find for "illegal" foods.
Such wonderful recipes you have shared with us at Kids in the Kitchen this week. I will save this recipe for when we need it. I have done the candida diet before and it was hard, but so worth it! I often consider going back on it. This is a keeper for sure!
Inviting you the Carnival of Home Preserving on my blog every Friday. Hope to see you there. Laura Williams’ Musings
The most recent edition – http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2012/06/carnival-of-home-preserving-13-come.html – open until Thursday 6/7.
Hi there!
I’m in midst of making this right now & I used fish sauce (as you mentioned could be used in lieu of the fish stock). I only used 1/4 cup, but have found that the ketchup is EXTREMELY salty. I guess I should have left out the T of salt entirely. Anyway, I’m trying to salvage it by adding additional water & sweetner (I’m using honey as we aren’t any special diets & I currently don’t prefer to use stevia). Just wanted to mention that fish sauce & fish stock are probably different in salt levels so the sauce should be added a little @ a time.
Blessings!
Amy,
Thanks for mentioning that – I’ll keep it in mind if I run out of fish stock!
Is there anything that could be substituted for the fish sauce/ fish stock?
I’ve never tried it without either of those. I’m not sure how it would change the flavor. Sometimes the only way to know is to try! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing! I have really been missing ketchup on my candida diet. I don’t do very well on dairy protein, would it be possible to use something else than whey? Thanks again!
The only thing I can think of to replace it with would be apple cider vinegar, but then you’d want to up the stevia as it would be pretty tart.
Thank you, I will let you know how it works out 🙂
Hi there! Interested in making this! Just wondering though- how long can you keep this in the fridge?
We’ve kept it at least a month.