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Ketchup and mustard are the ultimate duo found in just about every fridge. But while most of us reach for the store-bought squeeze bottles, it turns out that healthier versions of these condiments can be made at home in minutes with a fresher taste and far less waste.
That’s exactly what vegan cheese pioneer and cookbook author Miyoko Schinner sets out to prove. Through her YouTube channel, ‘The Vegan Good Life with Miyoko,’ she often shares simple recipes that swap packaged staples for simple, homemade versions. In a recent video, Schinner shows viewers how to make traditional ketchup in just 30 seconds and a tangy yellow mustard in under 10 minutes.
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“These are recipes from The Homemade Vegan Pantry, and they come together literally in either seconds or minutes,” she says, adding, “They’re so much cheaper to make, you’re not buying all those plastic bottles.”
Making the ketchup
For Schinner, ketchup is all about harmony. She starts with canned tomato paste as the base, then layers in sugar, vinegar, and salt. “Ketchup is sort of a balance of sweet and acidic and salty,” she says while stirring the mixture together. She notes that anyone looking to avoid sugar can swap it with maple syrup or even monk fruit.
Schinner stresses the importance of adding liquid gradually to avoid lumps, before thinning the mix with water until it reaches that familiar smooth consistency. Once ready, it goes into a squeeze bottle for easy use.
The recipe is also highly customizable. “You can add some smoked paprika to it, make it a little bit smoky. You could add garlic to it, you could add some truffle oil and have truffle ketchup,” Schinner says.
Her granddaughter, a devoted ketchup fan, is a key taste-tester. “My four-year-old granddaughter loves ketchup…I made my own, and I put it in the squeeze bottle here and served it up, and she never knew the difference. Finally, her mom told her, and she said, ‘Grandma, your ketchup is good.’”
Cooking the mustard
The second recipe takes slightly longer, but still only about 10 minutes from start to finish. Schinner mixes white distilled vinegar, water, and apple cider vinegar with mustard powder, turmeric or paprika for color, garlic powder, and a pinch of cornstarch for texture.
She then transfers the mixture to the stove. “We’re going to cook this for about 8 to 10 minutes until it’s nice and thick and put it in a squeeze bottle,” she explains. Cooking, she adds, mellows out the sharp bite of the mustard while letting the spices blend.
As it cools, the mustard thickens further, creating the perfect condiment for hot dogs, burgers, or sandwiches. Schinner notes that the type of mustard powder can affect the texture, with some varieties giving a more stone-ground finish. “It’s created more of a stone-ground mustard texture, not as smooth. I think it tastes really good,” she says.
By the end of the video, Schinner has two squeeze bottles ready to go: homemade ketchup and mustard, just as you’d find at a ballpark, but fresher, cheaper, and minus the disposable plastic. “That’s done. Okay, ketchup and mustard – the perfect topping for any ballpark hot dog or even your own homemade sausage,” she says.
With these recipes, you can put together the most basic condiments at home in minutes. For anyone looking to cut down on store-bought products and embrace DIY vegan cooking, this duo is the perfect place to start.
Find more of Schinner’s healthy plant-based recipes on her YouTube channel.
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