crazy flavorful Greek ketchup
Better than ANY ketchup you’ve ever tasted, this “Greek ketchup” is completely sugar and corn syrup free and honestly puts all other to shame. Seriously!
I first tasted this in the small town of New Prokopion on the island of Evia. It was January, rainy and a chilly 50 degrees when we tucked into a neighborhood tavern for a bite. I ordered fried potatoes which came to the table with a small dish of what I assumed to be regular, old ketchup. Wrong!! This was better
than any ketchup I’d ever tasted!! Ok, a lot of exclamations points for ketchup but kid you not, I was scooping out the very last drops with no embarrassment whatsoever.
So many yummy of flavors of Greece in one little bowl, I had to get the recipe. Full disclosure here – my spoken Greek is rudimentary and my pronunciation has been openly laughed at so you can understand how much I wanted this recipe when I tell you I approached the chef myself to ask for the secret. After a painfully long and broken request, the taverna owner graciously shared the ingredients. Here is his recipe with measurements converted:
Ingredients
- 2 cups roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup roasted red bell peppers
- 4-5 cloves roasted garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt/pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in mortar and pestle, mash well. Its best not to use a blender or food processor because the mixture tends to liquefy when combined too quickly.
mash with mortar and pestle
Mashing by hand gives you the flexibility to choose a chunky almost salsa-like consistency, or a smoother more ketchup-like texture. It’s up to you, mash until you’re happy with it. Season to taste and there you have it – Greek Ketchup!
Depending on what you’re eating with it, you can add your favorite herbs for yet another layer of flavor.
It’s amazing with fried potatoes but I guarantee you’ll find yourself putting it on everything.
greek ketchup with oven potatoes
It’s incredible on a veggie burger or soy hotdog and even tossed with pasta – my favorite! Let me know your favorite ways to use it. A healthy, delicious alternative to store bought condiments, I promise, this simple spread will instantly Greekify any dish and will not disappoint.
Thanks so much for this! I’ll try it asap.
This morning I woke up thinking of the scrambled eggs were served at an open air restaurant on the waterfront of a small island that for the life of me I can’t recall the name of. Scouring the map I still haven’t found it, but anyway there was nothing like the crude, chunky, earthy taste of this “ketchup”, especially as it mixed with the feta in the eggs.
I had to at least scramble some eggs this morning with some parsley and feta, then try some Heinz on it … not good. In fact, I scraped as much of that HFCS-loaded stuff off and continued on. But now am eager to try your recipe — thanks again.
I know you’re going to love this ‘ketchup’, you described it perfectly! I honestly haven’t had a store bought ketchup in the house for years now, there’s just no comparison. Please let me know how you like it 🙂
In this recipe, is the red pepper a capsicum and if so how many would make up a cup? I’m so glad you convinced the chef to give you the recipe 🙂
Roasted bell peppers – just clarified that above, thanks for asking! I measure a 1 cup (dry measure) scoopful of chopped roasted red peppers. Hope this helps and yes, so glad the chef was kind enough to share 🙂
Hi Kiki, how long can this be kept/stored?
I’ve kept it, covered in the fridge, for a little over a week and it’s just fine! honestly, it never last that long at all 🙂