13 Popular Ketchup Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

There's no American condiment that's as beloved as ketchup. This thick, gloopy sauce is a staple at summer barbecues, where it's smothered on top of fresh-from-the-grill burgers or hot dogs. It's also a must-have pairing for fries and a staple ingredient for a homestyle meatloaf glaze. But how do you select the right ketchup brand for your needs, and is there a difference between generic ketchup and varieties in fancy glass bottles? And, can you really taste the difference between a ketchup made with high fructose corn syrup and one made with sugar? 

I set out to answer these questions and review some of the most popular ketchup brands on the market to determine which are worth stocking in your fridge. The bottles in this roundup are all sourced from grocery stores in the southern Rhode Island area, and were tasted independently and with a side of tater tots to evaluate the overall flavor, consistency, and value. I looked for a ketchup with a price tag that justified its quality, and options that offer a balance of sweet, tart, and umami notes to satisfy a variety of uses in the kitchen. 

I would describe Primal Kitchen as a premium brand. It touts an array of dairy-free products made without artificial additives. Though you can make dairy-free Alfredo sauce with white beans, I could see why you may want to spend a little more for Primal Kitchen's pre-made version. However, ketchup isn't something I'd spend extra cash on for an upscale version — especially if a cheaper brand does the trick. 

I chose to sample Primal Kitchen's organic unsweetened ketchup, which retailed for a few dollars more than the run-of-the-mill brand-name ketchups. This Primal Kitchen bottle was the only completely unsweetened ketchup variety that I came across, and it tasted exactly like tomato paste — not like the beloved condiment it was supposed to be. The flavor was earthy and wholly tomatoey, but it didn't offer the complexity and balance of other products that I sampled. There was no acidity or natural sweetness, just umami, with a texture that resembled canned tomato paste. 

The usability of Primal Kitchen's ketchup is very, very limited. Tater tots and fries could probably forgo sweetened ketchup, but it's essential for some people's palates, not to mention a classic meatloaf recipe. This variety's low utility and paste-like texture earned it a low spot on this list. 

Nature's Promise is Stop & Shop's in-house natural foods brand. A bottle of this ketchup was more expensive than the regular product, but it had a similar ingredient list: tomato concentrate, sugar, and vinegar. The difference, though, was that Nature's Promise's ingredient list was entirely organic. Although organic food may be priced higher than conventional products, some consumers can justify the price because of the ingredient list. This ranking focused entirely on taste and texture, so I didn't rank this (or any other ketchups) higher solely because they're made with organic ingredients. 

After trying the regular Stop & Shop brand ketchup, I was admittedly nervous to sample one that could potentially be just as sweet. As expected, this brand was equally as much of a sugar bomb. But I didn't experience that unpleasant acidic burst that hindered the regular Stop & Shop brand in the ranking. I also placed this brand slightly above the original Stop & Shop bottle because the texture was slightly thicker and easier to scoop onto the tater tot. But, it needs more salt to balance out the sweetness before it'll even come close to some of the top-ranking brands in this roundup. 

Hunt's is a brand often associated with canned tomato products, so it's no surprise to see that it has ventured into the world of ketchup, too. It offers classic tomato ketchup sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, as well as a line of tomato ketchup sweetened with cane sugar. I sampled the former of the two products for this ranking. 

If you were blindfolded, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Hunt's and Heinz. The flavor is almost identical, but the one thing I noticed that was different about this bottle was that it had a slightly more orange color and thinner texture. It doesn't seem that this difference impacted the taste of this ketchup brand too much. But, this did make it slightly more difficult to dip with the tater tots, since the ketchup kind of slid off to one side and flopped back into the bowl. I would also have liked to taste a stronger tomato flavor rather than an overwhelmingly sweet profile. 

Aldi doesn't just offer plain ketchup; it also offers an affordable organic variety under its Simply Nature brand. This ketchup is made with organic sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. The major pro behind this brand is that it offers an organic product at a comparatively lower cost than the other brands I sampled. Plus, the overall quality of this ketchup was fantastic, considering its price. 

It had a much more balanced sweetness than several of the other sugar-based ketchup brands that I sampled, which placed it higher than Stop & Shop and Hunt's. The thickness wasn't as tantalizing as Heinz and Great Value, though, so it earned a well-deserved spot in the middle of the pack. The affordability and organic ingredient list also nudged this product forward in the ranking to surpass brands like Hunt's and Woodstock. A thicker texture and darker color would have won me over a little more, but it was relatively easy enough to scoop up the ketchup on a tater tot and enjoy. 

Heinz is undeniably the king of ketchup. The brand offers standard ketchup, as well as variations flavored with jalapeño, pickles, and chipotle, along with salt-free and sugar-free varieties. I chose to sample its OG product, which is made with tomato concentrate, high fructose corn syrup, salt, and onion powder. 

When I sampled this product, I thought it was just like the ketchup I remembered from my childhood. It was definitely sweet but not overwhelmingly sugary on the first bite. I would imagine that this is a ketchup aimed at younger audiences, because it lacked complexity in flavor and acidity. The price was more expensive than some of the brands on this list, but it certainly wasn't the most costly. I would call the original Heinz product a standard, run-of-the-mill ketchup that's easy to like, but doesn't offer anything in the way of adult flavors or complexity.

Moreover, the best thing about this ketchup was that it was super easy to dip with. So, I imagine it could be used on fries that are drizzled with malt vinegar or some other acidic element to help round out the flavor of the entire bite. 

Market Pantry is one of Target's in-house grocery brands. This ketchup is made with high fructose corn syrup, and tasted very similar to Heinz, Great Value, and Burman's. Overall, the color, texture, and consistency was similar to several of the other higher-ranking brands, which earned it a spot near the top. 

I liked the overall balance of acidity and sweetness in this condiment. It had a light flavor, it was subtly sweet, and featured slight (but not overpowering) acidity that really complemented the flavor of the tater tot. It was easy to pick up this ketchup on the tot, too, but lacked the same thickness as Great Value and Heinz. The price of the Market Pantry bottle was also more expensive per ounce than Great Value, but this was, overall, a solid condiment with a classic ketchup flavor. If the bottles were priced slightly lower, I would place them on par with Great Value. But for now, second place will suffice. 

For this roundup, I selected ketchup brands available in southern Rhode Island, where I currently live. There aren't any Whole Foods or Trader Joe's locations near me, so I ended up selecting products that were available at my local Walmart, Aldi, Stop & Shop, and Target. These products represent a wide array of dietary preferences, including sugar-free and organic varieties, as well as a wide range of price points. 

I sampled each ketchup first by the spoonful to assess the flavor on its own, before dipping into it with a tater tot. I chose this tasting vehicle because it has a rather neutral flavor, without any spicy or meaty undertones that would skew the ketchup's profile. I ranked ketchup brands with well-rounded sweetness, balanced acidity, and high ease of dipping at the top of this list. I also factored in the overall value of the product to consider if the extra cost was worth the experience of eating it.