Don’t bother with buying flavored ketchup, use this quick and easy recipe to kick up that popular condiment however you like.
Ingredients
1 Cup Ketchup
⅛ Cup Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar (Optional)
Hot Sauce
Directions
This recipe is about as simple as it gets. Mix all four ingredients together and the pepper ketchup is ready to use!
I use the fine grind pepper because it mixes well with the ketchup. It adds a nice boldness and a hint of smokiness, and once you taste ketchup mixed with black pepper, you may never go back to the regular stuff. Course ground or cracked pepper can be used, but that throws off the balance to a degree, taking over the flavor. Still, feel free to experiment and see what you prefer.
The ground pepper thickens up that ketchup some, so that is why I add the apple cider vinegar. It thins it back out and adds a little bit of zing. You may add your hot sauce first to see if you need it, though, because a thinner sauce like Tabasco will serve the same purpose.
Adding the black pepper alone adds some heat to the ketchup, but I like to amp it up more with the hot sauce. The amount depends on the heat and the flavor you want. Start with a teaspoon, and adjust from there. (Unless you are using something like Dave’s Insanity Sauce, then one drop at a time!) A chipotle hot sauce will add more smokiness, something like Tabasco will add more tang. Sriracha will give it an Asian zing, but not add much heat. Basically, I just look at what I have in the pantry and decide the heat level and flavor profile I am looking for, and then just tinker until I like the taste! Here are a few suggestions:
Huy Fong’s Sriracha: 2 teaspoons will deliver Mild to Medium heat.
Cholula: 1 to 2 teaspoons will deliver Mild to Medium heat.
Tapatio: 1 to 2 teaspoons will deliver Medium heat.
Tabasco: 1 to 2 teaspoons will deliver Medium to Hot heat.
Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot: 1 teaspoon will deliver Hot heat.
Dave’s Insanity Sauce: 1 to 2 drops will deliver Hot to Fiery heat.
This recipe is basically just a template, so feel free to experiment as you see fit.