I Tried 10 Different Ketchup Brands and the Winner Was Absolutely Shocking

With warmer weather comes grilling season , and with grilling comes condiments . I mean, what would burgers or hot dogs be without ketchup, mustard, mayo and more? And Americans are serious about their condiments, especially when it comes to ketchup.

When I moved to Pennsylvania, in the heart of Heinz country, I soon realized that brand loyalty runs deep and it's not up for debate. Around here, Heinz isn't just ketchup, it's a regional treasure. I recently taught a class of fourth graders about entrepreneurship and how to build a business. When I asked them to name brands from Pennsylvania, they immediately said "Hershey" and "Heinz."

Curious to see if the local favorite could hold its own against the competition, I decided to do a blind taste test to find the best ketchup. I bought all the brands I could find at stores near me and ended up with 10 different ketchups, ranging from big names to store brands, and put them head-to-head in a blind taste test.

Read on for all of the juicy details and to find out which ketchup was named the king of condiments—it'll probably surprise you.

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How I Tested These Ketchups

Each ketchup was first sampled on its own, then with crinkle-cut French fries. I was looking for that classic sweet-and-savory flavor with balanced acidity, a good tomato presence and the perfect consistency. It couldn't be too runny or too thick.

I've never tasted this much ketchup in one sitting, and honestly, I'm not a huge fan of ketchup to begin with. My taste buds may never be the same, though, because I found a few that I want to have again! And, luckily, I didn't do this taste test alone. Four of my kids and my husband joined me in this quest for the best.

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10 Popular Ketchup Brands, Ranked Worst to Best

10. Primal Kitchen Organic Unsweetened Ketchup

Price: $9.99 for an 18.5-ounce bottle

This ketchup had a great consistency, but it was an immediate no. It tasted so much like vinegar that I had to double-check the bottle to make sure I didn't accidentally pick up a pickle-flavored ketchup.

I tried it a few times, and it is nothing like ketchup, in my opinion. Even my youngest daughter, who loves pickles, disliked this ketchup. If you like a vinegar flavor, however, this may be the one for you! At nearly $10 for the bottle, it's also quite an investment, so also keep that in mind if you decide to give this brand a try.

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9. Great Value Tomato Ketchup

Price: $1.94 for a 32-ounce bottle

This Walmart-brand ketchup is the one I grew up eating, and at less than $2, it's a great bargain. After trying the others, I think this is why I don't (or didn't) like ketchup. It's watery and tastes more like tomato soup than a condiment.

8. Weis Quality Tomato Ketchup

Price: $1.99 for a 24-ounce bottle

Weis is my local chain of grocery stores, so I thought I would give this option a try because some store brand products can be hidden gems and they're almost always a good deal. Unfortunately, this store-brand ketchup was watery and a little too sweet for my tastes. I like ketchup to have more acidity to it.

7. Market Pantry Tomato Ketchup

Price: $1.39 for a 20-ounce bottle

Market Pantry is one of Target's many private-label brands and I was curious to see how it would stack up to the rest of the contenders. The texture was on the thicker side, and it had more acidity and less sweetness than some of the other ketchups. Essentially, it was the opposite of the Weis store-brand ketchup, but I would have preferred a more balanced flavor.

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6. Nature's Promise Organic Tomato Ketchup

Price: $3.39 for a 38-ounce bottle

This ketchup was thick, but not overly so, and on the sweeter side, but not nearly as bad as the Weiss ketchup. It wasn't my favorite ketchup, but it was decent. However, there were other, more balanced ketchups on the list that were cheaper, too, which is how this one end up in the middle-ish of the pack.

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5. Burman's Ketchup

Price: $2.29 for a 38-ounce bottle

This Aldi-brand ketchup definitely scored points for value. This large bottle was less than $2.50! The ketchup had a strong tomato flavor with a good amount of sweetness (maybe a little too much sweetness), but it was just a bit too thin, so it lost points on the texture front.

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4. Hunt's Tomato Ketchup

Price: $3.40 for a 13.5-ounce bottle

People like Hunt's because of its bold, zesty flavor and thick consistency. My only issue with this brand is that it has just a bit too much tanginess for my liking. Much like the Market Pantry and Weis-brand ketchups, this one was the opposite of Burman's ketchup.

3. G Hughes Sugar-Free Ketchup

Price: $4.12 for a 13-ounce bottle

I like the sugar-free sauces from G Hughes, so when I saw this ketchup, I had to give it a try. This one is a bit of an outlier because it's more like a BBQ sauce than a ketchup, but the flavor was so good I had to rank it in the top three. This sauce would go great with fries, hot dogs or even grilled chicken. My husband said it reminded him a bit of A1 Sauce, but with more tomato flavor. One thing to note: This sauce is sweetened with sucralose (the ingredient in Splenda), which is a plus for some and a minus for others.

2. Heinz Tomato Ketchup

Price: $3.48 for a 32-ounce bottle

The local fan-favorite narrowly missed the top spot. Going into this taste test, I really didn't expect Heinz to be one of my favorites, but I can see why it is. This ketchup had a great balance of tart-sweet flavor and thick consistency—it was hard to find anything I didn't like about it. In the end, it was just slightly edged out by our top pick.

1. 365 by Whole Foods Market Tomato Ketchup

Price: $6.56 for a 24-ounce bottle

I was very surprised that this ketchup won because I have tasted several items from the 365 by Whole Foods line and they often don't make it into the top three. This was a classic ketchup with a thicker consistency. The selling point for me, though, was the slightly smoky aftertaste. It's full of flavor and it ended up being the favorite—no contest—for my entire family.

Digging a Little Deeper Into the Data

As you might imagine, when six different people taste ten different ketchups, the rankings aren't going to align perfectly. I was pleased (and surprised) that all six of us ranked the same brand in the top spot, but it was interesting to see how some of the other members of the tasting panel (AKA my family) ranked the rest of the bottles.

My husband had a very different list from mine. His list, going from least to most favorite, was Great Value, Primal Kitchen, Hunt's, Weis, Market Pantry, Heinz, Nature's Promise, Burman's, G Hughes and 365 by Whole Foods.

Our kids also had different ideas of what made the "perfect" ketchup, but they all chose the 365 by Whole Foods as the very best, and they all enjoyed Heinz and G Hughes.

As you can see, even in the same kitchen, taste preferences vary wildly. Heinz did well, but none of us crowned it the ultimate winner. It looks like Heinz has some serious competition!

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I Tried 10 Different Ketchup Brands and the Winner Was Absolutely Shocking first appeared on Parade on May 24, 2025