Bottom Line: These two spicy ketchup varieties from Melinda’s have a kick and the mini bottles are worth buying for the convenience.
When it comes to the spicy ketchup that you see for sale in the store, I usually pass on that because I prefer to make my own and that can be a ton of fun because of all the flavor and spice possibilities (see my recipe for that here.) But around Christmas time last year, Walmart put displays in its stores with several small-size bottles of hot sauce and condiments for a buck each, and among those were Melinda’s Jalapeno Ketchup and Ghost Pepper Ketchup. For that price, you can’t miss, so I bought several bottles (and yes, I am only just now getting around to reporting on them).
These are each 4 oz and good for several uses, and they certainly are handy to have at the ready. I have several at my office and also a couple in a to-go container with several sauces, seasonings, and condiments. (What, you don’t have one of those prepared for road trips?) These two types of ketchup may not be quite the same thing as making your own, but they are convenient and worth buying for a buck or two.
The Jalapeno Ketchup has a good tomatoey taste with a nice richness and it is not overly sweet. There is just a little bit of the jalapeno flavor, enough to make itself noticed, but the chili is mostly there to kick things up. Not that this one is too hot, though, as it only comes in around Mild on my scale, but it still has a bit of a bite.
The Ghost Pepper Ketchup has a nice richness to it, though not much of the flavor of the chili it is named for. It is also pretty salty, more so than the Jalapeno ketchup, or maybe it is just higher in vinegar. It has a fair amount of tartness, but it does have enough sweetness to help balance that out. At first, it does not seem that hot, but the more you eat, the more that builds up. It gets to beyond Medium on my scale, and close to Hot.
I haven’t checked Walmart recently to see if they are still selling these small bottles because I stocked up around Christmas. But if I see them again, I will still pick some up. I’m not going to shell out the money they want for the bigger bottles (between four and six bucks), but the small size is worth it at the right price for the convenience.