The Easy Ketchup Upgrade You Probably Haven't Thought To Try

Ketchup has a few very famous friends: mayonnaise, hot sauce, mustard, and pickle relish to name a few. Sweet, a little tangy, and full of nostalgic flavor, as a condiment, it's one of a kind, yet it's still plenty ripe for experimentation. When we ranked popular ketchup brands, the American classic Heinz came out on top thanks to its pleasantly sugary, familiar flavor. However, if you've ever desired a savorier tomato condiment, there's a super simple addition that will improve your ketchup: black pepper.

Have you ever visited your local burger joint, ordered a side of fries, and found them not quite salty enough? A simple trick is to add more salt to your ketchup (where it will integrate better than just salting your fries). Adding black pepper is an equally straightforward and effective way to spice up the stalwart sauce. The ubiquitous spice, whether freshly cracked at home or in an upscale restaurant or poured from a packet at a greasy spoon, gives ketchup a savory spin with a vivid, tongue-tingling finish. Flavor-wise, the blend is similar to match-ups like sweet pickles and spicy mustard or zingy steak sauce on a peppery filet mignon. If you're tentatively tempted to try it, a few shakes of black pepper mixed into your ketchup will give you an idea of what the combination can be. But true enthusiasts seriously douse their dose of ketchup, almost with a 3-to-1 ketchup-to-pepper ratio. Super sweet ketchup can stand up to a lot of other strong flavors and that includes a copious amount of black pepper.

While there are some foods we wouldn't add ketchup to at any cost, some combinations are newly approved when a lot of black pepper is involved. Of course, anything you'd usually eat with ketchup, like burgers, fries, tater tots, onion rings, chicken nuggets, etc., would taste delicious with a punch of pepper. So will other dishes like sweet potato fries, fish sticks, fried polenta, and especially meatloaf (as both a baked-on glaze and a condiment). 

While ketchup might not be the first condiment you think of when you're eating cheesy dishes, black pepper ketchup is a game-changer. Particularly for mild cheeses like cheddar or mozzarella, black pepper ketchup can add some welcome sweet heat and complexity. Try the piquant condiment as a dip for your next grilled cheese or batch of mozzarella sticks. And lastly, ketchup on eggs might be considered controversial by some, but black pepper is usually a given. Combining the two makes for the ultimate breakfast condiment. Your scrambles, frittatas, omelets, breakfast sandwiches, and fry-ups (sausages and potatoes included) will all benefit.