The best ketchup is tangy, sweet, and delicious on just about anything. Not long ago, there was a time when people in the culinary world acted like ketchup was beneath them. This might’ve been the worst time in food history. Restaurant menus and signs would say things like, “No ketchup allowed!” and “Do not ask for ketchup.” The implication was that ketchup is trashy and it would ruin their food. Totally false! Ketchup doesn’t ruin food; it enhances it.
Ketchup is obviously popular, but it’s still underrated. Like, most people can probably agree that it tastes great on fries, but no one really thinks about just how nuanced and complex ketchup is—it’s sweet, salty, and umami all at once. Some researchers have even said it hits all five tastes (sour and bitter, too). Ketchup is a flavor explosion in your mouth. That’s what I love about it!
We tried bottles and bottles of the best ketchup brands to find out which you should buy the next time you’re at the grocery store. Go ahead and catch up on the best ketchups out there.
- Brooklyn Delhi Curry Ketchup
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Does Brooklyn Delhi Curry Ketchup remind me more of a chutney than a ketchup? Yes. Does that bother me? No! It’s still delicious! The label asserts that it’s flavored with roasted garlic, chilies, and ginger, which sing in every single taste. This ketchup is great on fries, but I’m convinced you could put this on almost anything and it would be delicious. Eggs, dosa, avocado toast, lentils—anything that could use a spiced, aromatic punch would be tasty paired with this ketchup.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Amazon
- Tapatio Spicy Tomato Ketchup
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This tastes like Tapatio mixed with ketchup, but better! This ketchup is a little spicy and super tomatoey, and would work just as well on a chicken quesadilla as it would on a burger. I brought a bottle of this Tapatio Ketchup home because I genuinely think it’s among the best ketchup you’ll find at the grocery store right now.
Credit: Liv Averett / Tapatio
- Trader Joe’s Organic Ketchup
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After tasting all sorts of products from TJ’s, I can confidently say that the Trader Joe’s Organic Ketchup is one of the best pantry staple products they sell. This ketchup is sweet, sweet, sweet and there is nothing wrong with that. I might not dip a sweet potato fry in these, but this ketchup would add the perfect sugariness to a regular french fry, Making it one of the best ketchup brands to buy.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Trader Joe’s
- Hunt’s Classic Tomato Ketchup
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In my humble opinion, Hunt’s unfairly lives in the shadow of Heinz ketchup, but not everyone agrees. Hunt’s Classic Tomato Ketchup Is a favorite of many, including Mythical Kitchen’s Josh Scherer. He finds Hunt’s “really well balanced” and “a little on the sweeter side,” which he enjoys. I found that Hunt’s tasted more natural because you get the flavor of actual tomatoes. The best way I can describe it is that Heinz is banana-flavored candy and Hunt’s is a banana. Both are good, but they’re different! Still, Hunt’s makes one of the best ketchups at the grocery store.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Amazon
- Signature Select Tomato Ketchup
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I am convinced that the Signature Select ketchup factory is directly next door to the Heinz ketchup factory. They taste and look eerily similar. Of course, it doesn’t have that same star quality that a brand like Heinz has, but Signature Select ketchup is wonderfully tangy, sugary, and chemically red. If you have a hankering for Heinz but the direct deposit has not hit your bank account yet, go for this Signature Select tomato ketchup. It’s the best ketchup on a budget.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Safeway
- Whataburger Ketchup & Whataburger Spicy Ketchup
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Whataburger is a beloved Texas-based fast food chain that is known for their brand-specific sauces. I was screamed at by Sporked followers for not trying it during our first ketchup taste test back in early 2022. Now I have tried it, and I am here to report that it’s good. In fact, the bottled version is just as delicious as what they serve at the restaurant! I love both the regular and spicy versions of Whataburger ketchup. My favorite element of this famous fast food sauce is how tangy it is. Their ketchups blew me out of the water with their vinegar-y twang. It makes sense, though. The acidity of these ketchups would cut through a fatty burger perfectly.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Heinz Chipotle, Habanero, and Jalapeño Ketchup
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Heinz’s new line of spicy ketchups is phenomenal. I couldn’t choose just one to add to this list—they all deserve a spot among the best ketchups. The chipotle is smoky. The habanero is really spicy. The jalapeño is nice and fruity. They’re all so good, and they’re different enough that I think you should have all three of these ketchups on hand at all times. My favorite? I can’t pick. It would be like asking someone to pick their favorite child. For me, singling out a Heinz spicy ketchup would be a more difficult decision!
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Red Gold Tomato Ketchup
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Red Gold also makes a perfect ketchup. It’s very, very similar to Heinz in both taste and texture, but to me, Red Gold tastes like it’s made with tomato paste rather than tomatoes. It’s very savory and the flavor is a little more concentrated. This ketchup has a cult following and I understand why. It’s great. I would eat this or Heinz any day of the week. It’s definitely one of the best ketchup brands you can buy.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Heinz Tomato Ketchup
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I cannot emphasize enough how blown away I was by the fact that Heinz ketchup was so much better than any other ketchup we tasted. Sporked editor-in-chief, Justine Sterling, warned me as we headed into the taste test that Heinz would reign supreme, but I was skeptical. “How much better could it be?” I thought. I thought wrong! This had a ketchup taste that felt too good to be true. It was bright and zippy and a little sweet. This is what you think of when you think of ketchup.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Walmart
Most Unique
Best Brand Collab
Best Sweet
Josh Scherer’s Pick
Best Heinz Impersonator
Best Tangy
Best Spicy
Best Cult Favorite
Best of the Best
Other ketchup we tried: O Organics, Heinz No Salt Added, Good & Gather, Good & Gather Organic, Heinz Organic, Heinz No Sugar Added, Heinz Simply, Primal Kitchen Ketchup, Great Value Tomato Ketchup, True Made Foods Veggie Ketchup, G Hughes Ketchup, First Street Ketchup, Annie’s Organic Ketchup, Signature Kitchens Ketchup, Stonewall Kitchens Country Ketchup, Sir Kensington’s Ketchup
Best Yellow Mustard
Now that you know all about the best ketchup, it’s time to stock up on the best yellow mustard. We tasted that, too!
Writing this as I dip my tater t…. I mean “Potato Puffs” from Aldi into some Aldi ketchup, which is acceptable ketchup but not great. I wanted to see if it was ranked at all by Sporked lol. I usually have Heinz, but Earth Fare’s ketchup is the best I’ve ever had. It would have been hard to get your hands on it for this test though considering they shut down so many stores and only have a few open now.
Since 1874, when H.J. Heinz invented ketchup it pretty much cornered the condiment market. At the time, the public was sceptical of dressings and such because people were getting sick from suspect ingredients in amber glass containers. Heinz offered their ketchup in clear glass bottles with ingrediants listed on the label. They were also the first factory in history to be completely run on electricity.
Choose the best ketchup is difficult but choose the best ketchup packaging is easy.
https://www.allpackchina.com/ketchup-packaging/
Where’s the original article? All the comments on this article are referencing the original and it feels a little weird that the first ranking list has apparently gotten wiped off the internet. I really wanted to compare your opinions when i saw the update.
I really want to know all the ketchups tried because I’m disappointed to see that Red Gold is not on this list. I don’t know if it’s because Red Gold is more of a Midwest thing, but it definitely deserves to be up there. It’s not too sweet, doesn’t taste too fake, and the tomatoes are grown by local farmers. If Red Gold wasn’t used, there definitely needs to be a re-rank.
You HAVE to try Portland Ketchup Co. and Camdens Ketchup. They will be 1 and 2 for sure
Highly recommend you try out True Made ketchup if you want something without added sugar. It’s as good as Heinz, in my opinion…. maybe not the same mouthfeel, but I have actually come to prefer the lack of sicky sweetness.
Aldi Brand!
Hunt’s is also my favorite. Heinz is okay, but Hunt’s tastes more like tomato. I like tomatoes. I want my ketchup to taste like them. 🙂✌️
I wanted to see Whataburger Ketchup on here so bad.
I started looking for a fancier ketchup after watching Rhett and Link talk about the vinegar-y taste making ketchup have a better bite. Now, I have been a vinegar hater for my whole life! I can’t even go back to Hienz because Whataburger ketchup is so vinegar-y that even Heinz tastes too sugary sweet! I need that bite! Do I like vinegar now?? Who am I??
If you haven’t tried Hunts Thick and Rich you have to try it. It’s like a completely different thing, but from the first taste it was the best ketchup I have ever had. It’s hard to go back to any other ketchup after having it and I say that as previously Heinz family.
Have given up on ketchup. Pizza sauce’s so much better
Ya’ll need to order a bottle of whataburger spicy ketchup. You will never go back. My wife hates ketchup with a passion and loves Whataburger Spicy Ketchup
What about Geffen? Got some on the clearance rack and was pleasantly surprised!
What about French’s Ketchup? It’s the 2nd best selling ketchup in the U.S. & Canada and it went unranked? (also it happens to be my favorite)
Sir Kensington’s is woefully missing from this list!
Hunts All Natural is my go to. I don’t like ketchup that tastes like pure sugar.
I cant believe Sir Kensington Ketchup is not on this list. And….AND near the top. Josh man you’re slippin!
I do love Sir Kensington, it is great for when the sweetness of Heinz would overwhelm other flavors.
Was this a blind taste test? I used to be a Heinz guy but we did a blind test in my house and were shocked that we all preferred Hunts. It literally is much more natural tasting.
Try Maggi Indian Ketchup, it’s incredible.
My favorite is Heinz too but they make a version called Heinz-Simply which replaces corn syrup with cane syrup and that is my favorite of the Heinz brand line.
I have been using Heinz Organic Ketchup, seems similar, it might use beet sugar? since the ingredients just say organic sugar. It is definitely everything good about their regular product but just a little better.
I haven’t had it in a while, but I remember really liking Red Gold when I had it at a restaurant.
As someone who doesn’t like ketchup (never have) Hunt’s is what I buy for recipes that call for ketchup as an ingredient. My husband doesn’t seem to mind.
I’d like to know all the brands you test also! Mainly because I can’t believe 78 Red ketchup didn’t win. So I have to assume you didn’t taste it. 🙂 They also make a spicy version.
Very close, but you guys missed red gold. I did my own independent taste test a few years ago with Heinz, Red Gold, Great Value, Trader Joe’s, Kroger, French’s, Helman’s, and Hunts. The number one spot was by far Red Gold. Heinz was a firm second though. After those two, ketchup is mostly the same and you are probably best just going with the cheapest you can find.
Heinz is the best, I’ve tried so many ketchups in my 43 years of life and I always go back to old faithful. I no use the no sugar added, which reminds me more of the Signature Selections. Also just like to add that 90 % of store brand foods are the actual brand name, they get them wholesale/auction type deal ( kind of like how dollarstores get their inventory) and that’s why sometimes you’ll get a store brand and be like oh this tastes exactly like Heinz but the next time ( next batch) will taste like the Hunts. https://www.moneycrashers.com/name-brand-vs-generic-products-grocery-store/
I would have agreed completely with the ketchup ranking 2 years ago, But then I discovered Red Gold. I think it should be added to the ranking.
As a Pittsburgh-er, I was ready to revolt if Heinz wasn’t on the top of this list! And am pleased that my cities intense brand loyalty is not misplaced.
Whataburger ketchup, you can buy it online or at selected stores, It is the best.
I need a barbecue sauce one of these. Also Heinz or nothing Pittsburgh represent!
It’s coming! Keep your eyes peeled!
I had to go and google what kind of ketchup McDonalds used back in the day. (Heinz, btw.) I’d never thought about it before, but apparently old-school McDonalds ketchup is king and I’m super nostalgic for it.
Nope, Whataburger ketchup is the absolute best. So good and popular in fact, that the fast food chain commercialized it and sells it in supermarkets.
I’d love to see different coffee mate creamer rankings!
This is great! I’d love to see rankings for sugar-free/ no-sugar-added options for diabetics!
Portland Ketchup needs to be on the list. As a self-proclaimed ketchup addict, this list feels incomplete without my favorite ketchup of all time. Could be the best organic or best unique or even best overall.
Please do Mayo I need to know if the Dukes hill I’ve chosen to die on has a bunch of other dead people on it.
Oh, mayo is coming (and I’m with you on the Duke’s hill)!
Duke’s is the BEST. It’s got a nice tang to it.
I like the ranking of the product but It would be nice to show the Ingredients on the product too so people know which one to get. People will check the nutrition label before buying the product for themselves.
Well, at least we agree on the ketchup.
I’m still not dipping my scrambled eggs in that. Hash browns, yes, but eggs and Cholula are bae and no one will convince me otherwise.
Totally nailed it.