Chunky Apple Ketchup

Looking for a unique condiment to add some special flavor to your week? Here’s one: a sweet, fruity ketchup made with fresh tomatoes, apples, and pears. It sounds a little strange, but it’s actually delicious; just try it! Once it’s cooked, it’s almost like a very thick salsa, perfect for topping burgers, pork chops, or chicken breasts.

For this recipe, you can use any tomatoes you can lay hands on. If you feel like mixing a couple different kinds, all the better: it can give the ketchup an interesting flavor. For the pickling spices, you can typically find them sold all together in one jar, but if you can’t, you can mix your own using any recipe for pickling spices that you like (there are plenty, which is great if you’re picky about spices or don’t like certain ones).

To get the flavor of all those spices into the final product, you’ll wrap them in cheesecloth and let them simmer with the ketchup as it cooks. It’s a quick and easy way to get all the flavor without worrying about getting pieces of bay leaf or whole cloves when you go to enjoy your ketchup.

Even with the spices, this recipe is very simple, and thanks to the sweetness of the fruit, it’s very low in added sweeteners (yes, there’s a cup of honey, but it’s such a big recipe that each serving only has a little). If you’re getting tired of ordinary ketchup, why not give it a try?

Chunky Apple Ketchup Recipe

PREP: 45 min. COOK: 1 h.

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Ingredients

• 24 red tomatoes, peeled, and diced;
• 8 apples, peeled, seeded, and diced;
• 2 pears, peeled, seeded, and diced;
• 4 onions, diced;
• 2 bell peppers, seeded and diced;
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar;
• 1 cup raw honey;
• 2 tbsp. pickling spices;
• Sea salt;

Preparation

1. Place the pickling spices in a piece of cheesecloth and tie tightly closed.
2. Combine all the ingredients, including the cheesecloth-wrapped spices, in a large saucepan placed over a medium-high heat.
3. Bring the ketchup to a boil, stirring frequently.
4. Lower the heat to medium and let simmer for about 1 hour, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove the cheesecloth-wrapped spices. Pour into hot sterilized jars. Let cool and refrigerate.