We Ranked 13 Ketchups, and These Are the Best (and Worst)

When it comes to America's favorite ketchup brands, Heinz wins hands down, according to research conducted by Statista in 2021. But just because more Americans say they prefer Heinz to Hunt's — or any other ketchup brand — does that mean it's really the best brand of ketchup you can buy? To find out, we purchased 13 brands of ketchup, including sugar-free (sometimes called keto ketchup), organic, and low-sodium varieties, then subjected them to a blind taste test. All ketchup brands were tasted straight and with french fries; the results are ranked best to worst.

$4.18 from Walmart

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Best Ketchup Overall

One of the reasons why so many Americans love Heinz may be because Heinz has been making ketchup since 1876 — longer than just about anyone — and has set the standard for how ketchup "should" taste. The primary difference between the brand's Simply Tomato Ketchup and its "classic" ketchup (just two of the 21 ketchup varieties Heinz sells) is the use of cane sugar, rather than high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup, to give Heinz its subtle sweetness. That sugar also evens out the tang of the vinegar just enough to give Heinz Simply ketchup a balance and depth of flavor few can match.

$5.49 from Foxtrot

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Runner-Up

This ketchup comes closest to homemade out of the brands we tried: thick, rich, with a deep red hue and a texture that clings tenaciously to french fries. It's got less vinegary bite than Heinz ketchup, with a fuller, more savory flavor that hints at onion, green pepper, and allspice. One reason for that unique flavor: Unlike most ketchups in this comparison, Sir Kensington's ketchup uses tomatoes, rather than tomato concentrate, as its first ingredient. In fact, Sir Kensington's is all about going back to basics: The company, which launched its ketchup in 2010, produces condiments that are certified by the Non-GMO Project. If you love ketchup but want a little less tang, this is your condiment.

$5.12 from Walmart

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Best Sugar-Free Ketchup

If you're diabetic, following a keto diet, or otherwise need to cut your sugar intake, even condiments are fair game for rethinking. Primal Kitchen, founded in 2015, makes condiments and sauces using all-natural ingredients. There are a fair number of low- and no-sugar ketchups out there, including a few brands in this roundup. This ketchup is the best, although if you're accustomed to a sweetened ketchup, you will notice a difference. Primal Kitchen uses balsamic vinegar, rather than white. This smoothes out that familiar tangy bite, but the ketchup lacks the hints of spice and depth of flavor of our top choices.

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$2.19 from Target

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Best Low-Sodium Ketchup

This reduced-sugar and -salt ketchup from Target's "upscale" brand, Good & Gather, isn't quite on par with our top picks, either, but it was our favorite ketchup from Target or rival Walmart. The overall flavor is balanced, with just enough sweetness that you won't miss the reduced sugar (nor, for that matter, will the extra salt be missed). Although the Good & Gather ketchup wasn't quite as tasty as name brands, particularly when it came time to dunk french fries in our ketchup samples, it would still be just fine on a burger or hot dog laden with other condiments.

Related: We Tried 10 Hot Dogs and You Won't Believe Which One Was Best

$3.48 from Walmart

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We detected a sharper, snappier presence of vinegar in our sample of Heinz's "classic" ketchup than in our top pick, Heinz Simply Tomato, and a very subtle extra sweetness. Otherwise, you'd be hard pressed to tell the two ketchup options apart, making Heinz our top pick of the rest of the pack.

Related: The Surprising History of the Humble Hamburger

$3.24 from Walmart

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From tomato sauce to ketchup, Hunt's is a grocery store staple when it comes to all things tomato. It's the second most popular brand of ketchup, according to Statista, but it's definitely no Heinz clone. This version of ketchup, one of two from the brand we sampled, was the preferred choice, mostly because it was definitely the thickest ketchup of the bunch (making it our go-to for fry dunking) and lacked the funky, powerful spices we detected in the lesser Hunt's sample.

Related: We Tried 25 Popular Hot Sauces — These Are the Best

$1.28 from Walmart

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Imagine a diner. Now, imagine the ketchup in that diner. Great Value, Walmart's house brand ketchup, tastes exactly how diner ketchup typically tastes. The consistency was notably thinner than that of Heinz and other ketchup brands, and the flavor was less intense, though still a balanced mix of sweet, savory, and sour.

Related: Exotic Condiments to Add Zing to Meals

$2.49 from Target

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Target's "other" house brand ketchup had the smoothest mouthfeel of our ketchup samples, but otherwise was very similar to Great Value taste-wise. If you're looking for a cheap bottle of ketchup to take to that potluck or picnic, this is a decent, inexpensive option.

$1.62 from Walmart

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Like your ketchup super-tart and almost too tangy? Then Hunt's original ketchup is the condiment for you. It had by far the most vinegary bite of the ketchups we sampled; too much, in our opinion. The tomato base was rich and savory, though it could have used more sweetness to counter the ketchup's tang.

$2.29 from Trader Joe's

Available in-store only

We're not quite sure what funky flavors we detected in this ketchup. Though tomato-y, it also had a slightly vegetal taste with funky hints of onion and celery powder — and a weirdly sweet aftertaste compared to other ketchup brands. As with all Trader Joe's products, you can only pick this up in stores.

$3.62 from Walmart

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Easily the runniest of the bunch, this G. Hughes ketchup pooled and spread like none of the other ketchups we sampled. Despite being sugar-free, it was surprisingly (though not overwhelmingly) sweet, thanks to the addition of sucralose. The ketchup was little too heavy on the onion powder for our taste, and too thin to cling satisfactorily to fries. 

Curious about other sugar-free condiments? G Hughes — whose namesake is an award-winning pitmaster — specializes in them, offering other staples like BBQ sauce, steak sauce, marinades, and dressings.

$3.62 from Walmart

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What does Heinz ketchup taste like without any sweetening at all? Bright with a hint of bitterness on the back end. "Heinz Lite," as one of our tasters referred to it, was our least favorite of the Heinz ketchup products we sampled.

$1.98 from Walmart

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With its thin consistency and overpowering vinegary bite, this was hands-down our least favorite ketchup. It bore little resemblance to its Walmart brandmate, which we strongly prefer. We'll pass on this ketchup any day.