Ketchup has a way of stirring up emotions. Try asking for some on a hot dog anywhere in the vicinity of Chicagoland. Or serving french fries to a child with any other condiment. A faction of people think ketchup is an insult to gastronomy itself, while others won’t eat anything without it.
No matter how you feel, you can’t deny that the condiment aisle would be incomplete without ketchup on its shelves. Ripe, mature tomatoes that are processed, homogenized, and made shelf-stable with vinegar, sugar, and salt are a marvel of industrialization, and about as quintessentially American as food can get.
Heinz has long been the standard bearer of ketchup’s signature sweet and vinegary flavor and smooth, squeezable consistency. But there are many other ketchups in the sea—and we wanted to find the best.
To pick our favorites, we had 27 children (and some grownups) taste 13 nationally available ketchups. We discovered that most of them were fine—nothing we’d turn up our noses at if served alongside french fries or chicken nuggets. But only a few hit the right notes of bright, balanced, and nostalgic.
