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How to Make Tasty Condiments at Home

Bye bye, Heinz.

hot dog with ketchup and mustard held over grill Credit: Flickr user "question_everything"

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If you've somehow never read the back of a ketchup or mustard bottle, let us fill you in on a disappointing fact: most store-bought condiments are full of sugars, sodium, and preservatives.

All of these cheap fillers are substitutes for more interesting, authentic flavors and they not only leave your sauces tasting bland, but make them much more unhealthy than they need to be. Luckily, there's an easy solution: Just make your own condiments. They'll be healthier and taste better, too. And they're sure to be a hit at any backyard barbecues!

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If you're afraid homemade condiments will go bad too quickly, don't be. Even though they lack artificial preservatives, many homespun sauces will last for months at a time months thanks to ingredients (like vinegar) that serve as natural preservatives. For the few that don't, you can simply make smaller batches to use up more quickly.

Ready to try making your own condiments at home? Check out the recipes below—we've covered everything from ketchup to sriracha.


Homemade Ketchup
Credit: Flickr user "nicolesusanne"

Ketchup

Ah, ketchup. Never has the world seen such a ubiquitous condiment. It's paired with fast food everywhere you go, and is the standard at backyard barbecues worldwide. But most commercial varieties are full of sodium and corn sugar, which makes for a boring (if consistent) flavor profile.

For a better tasting ketchup, try out this simple recipe from Instructables. All you need are 12 ounces of tomato paste, 1/2 cup of white vinegar, 2.5 cups of water, and some allspice, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. You can also add agave nectar and molasses to taste, but it's entirely optional.

Instructables recommends toying with the recipe to fine-tune it to your liking, and says it should yield about 16 ounces of delicious red stuff to slather on your burgers.

Get the Recipe: Instructables
Homemade Mustard
Credit: Flickr user "jeffreyww"

Mustard

If you're cooking up hot dogs or kielbasa for a hungry crowd, you can't be without mustard. There might be plenty of controversy surrounding ketchup on hot dogs, but mustard? That's an absolute necessity.

{{amazon name="RSVP White Marble Mortar and Pestle", asin="B000BUB58K", align="right"}} We're sticking with Instructables for this one, too. The site has a great recipe for homemade mustard that requires 1/2 cup of mustard powder, 1/2 cup of water, mustard seeds (whichever kind you prefer), salt, and vinegar. Oh, and you'll need either either a mortar and pestle or a food processor, too.

If you have the mortar and pestle, you can get to mixing right away. Otherwise, the mustard seeds will need to soak in water for 18 hours to be soft enough to grind up in the food processor. Once the seeds are at your desired consistency, combine all the ingredients and then let the mustard sit in the fridge for few days to get rid of its initial bitter taste. Boom, you're good to go.

Get the Recipe: Instructables
Homemade Mayonnaise
Credit: Flickr user "notahipster"

Mayonnaise

Mayo gets a bad rap. It's seen by many as a gross, fat-laden substance, and it's inevitably one of the first things to go in any diet. But honestly, mayo isn't actually that unhealthy—especially if you consume it in moderation and make it at home.

AllRecipes.com has a simple recipe for making mayo by the cup. All it requires is 1 cup of light olive oil, 1 egg yolk, a dash of vinegar or lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and enough water to thin the mayo to the desired consistency. Of course, creating a proper emulsion is the most critical (and most difficult) part of making mayo—you may need a couple tries to get it right. Don't get discouraged!

This mayo will only last five days in the fridge, but since it only yields a cup, it should go quickly.

Get the Recipe: AllRecipes
Homemade Pickle Relish
Credit: Flickr user "homemaking"

(Pickle) Relish

Yes, yes... we know that relish can be made from more than just pickles, but there's no denying that pickle relish is king (in America, at least). Want to make your own? Bobby Flay has a recipe that's so simple it doesn't even require any pickling. Better still, you can make it right on the grill.

Bobby's blend calls for boiling and reducing 1.5 cups of cider vinegar with mustard and coriander seeds until it's syrupy—something he accomplishes by plopping a saucepan right on the grill (because of course he does). When that's done, he adds eight large sour dill pickles, one small grilled red pepper, one small grilled yellow pepper, and one small white onion, all finely diced.

Some sugar, fresh dill, and an hour in the refrigerator round out this homemade concoction.

Get the Recipe: Bobby Flay (Food Network)
Tartar Sauce
Credit: Flickr user "shreveportbossier"

Tartar Sauce

Since we've covered both mayo and relish, it's probably time we talk about this venerable fried seafood condiment. AllRecipes.com has a recipe for tartar sauce that will go perfectly with its equally simple mayonnaise.

To make this one, you'll need a cup of mayo, some homemade pickle relish, minced onion, salt and pepper, and the a dash of lemon juice (optional). Mix it all together, put it in the fridge for an hour, and you'll be ready for a fish fry. Could it be any easier?

Get the Recipe: AllRecipes
Sriracha
Credit: Flickr user "jonathancohen"

Sriracha

We've written about sriracha, performed a taste test of 14 different sriracha sauces, and even scoped out a 30-minute documentary about the stuff. Yep, the legendary Thai hot sauce has become so popular over the past decade that this list just wouldn't be complete without it.

{{amazon name="New Star 26146 Plastic Squeeze Bottle, 12-Ounce, Clear, Set of 6", asin="B009LS6HG8", align="right"}} While you can put all sorts of different spices in sriracha, we recommend starting from this basic seven-ingredient recipe from AllRecipes. It calls for 1 pound of jalapeno peppers, 1/2 pound of red serrano peppers, 4 cloves of garlic, light brown sugar, kosher salt, water, and distilled vinegar.

To start, you'll need to blend everything except the vinegar together, then let it ferment for 3 to 5 days in a "cool, dark location." When that's done, blend it again with the vinegar, strain out all the remaining seeds and bits of pepper skin, and boil it for 5 to 10 minutes. Once it's cooled, it'll be ready to put on whatever you desire (aka everything).

Get the Recipe: AllRecipes
Homemade Hot Sauce
Credit: Flickr user "reid-bee"

Hot Sauce (Tabasco-style)

Sure, sriracha is a hot sauce, but you might also feel the need to keep a more familiar, American-style hot sauce on hand. Good news: The great Emeril Lagasse has an excellent Tabasco-style sauce recipe that you can make in under an hour.

The recipe asks for 20 sliced tabasco or serrano chiles, minced garlic, sliced onions, salt, vegetable oil, water, and distilled white vinegar. Combine everything except the water and vinegar and saute it for 3 minutes. Then add the water and let the whole shebang reduce for about 20 minutes.

Once it's cooled, puree the mixture in a food processor while adding the vinegar, then strain it. At this point, Emeril recommends aging the sauce for two weeks in the fridge. After that, it'll be ready to eat and should last for about six months.

Get the Recipe: Emeril Lagasse (Food Network)
Steak Sauce on steak
Credit: Flickr user "joshmadison"

Steak Sauce

A.1. might not call itself steak sauce anymore, but we all know what it goes best with. And if you'd like to make it at home, Real Simple has a predictably simple recipe that can help make it happen.

All you need to do is whisk together 1/2 cup of your homemade ketchup with Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, hot pepper sauce, your homemade mustard, cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. It'll be done before your steaks are ready to come off the grill.

Get the Recipe: Real Simple
Homemade Barbecue Sauce and rub
Credit: Flickr user "1319photography"

Barbecue Sauce

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We've already done some in-depth reporting on the myriad styles of barbecue sauce out there in this big, beautiful world of ours. But if you want a simple, straightforward 'cue sauce for chicken and ribs, Chow has a solid starter recipe.

The sauce calls for one and a half cups of homemade ketchup, dark brown sugar, 3 finely-chopped garlic cloves, cider vinegar, celery salt, paprika, ground black pepper, water, and Worcestershire sauce.

You simply bring all of the ingredients to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Once it has cooled, enjoy it with your favorite meats for up to two weeks.

Get the Recipe: Chow

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