This Candy, Tangy, and Savory Canadian Spice Mix Belongs in Your Pantry

Ketchup powder belongs subsequent to Nanaimo bars and Céline Dion within the pantheon of nice Canadian cultural exports. I first fell in love with ketchup powder whereas visiting my brother-in-law in Vancouver, the place the brick-red spice mix is a standard flavoring on potato chips. I smuggled a shaker throughout the border once I returned to the US, and began testing different purposes: Chex combine, fries, blended nuts. Mixed with tangy cultured butter, ketchup seasoning made a popcorn that appeared chemically engineered to set off my mind’s pleasure facilities. I have not made popcorn some other approach since.

I will admit there’s a picture downside to appropriate: To many, ketchup is a logo of culinary immaturity–of style buds that by no means grew up. However ketchup’s highest calling is its potential to improve flavors, not masks them. Think about the Lexington barbecue custom, the place a small quantity of ketchup helps spherical out the prickly edges of Carolina vinegar sauce. The key parts of ketchup—salt, sugar, vinegar, tomato—cowl 4 of our 5 primary tastes. That makes ketchup powder a surprisingly versatile pantry participant. It is helpful in way more than simply snacks. More and more, I attain for ketchup powder any time I would like the four-legged stool of salty, candy, bitter, and umami with out the gloopy, syrupy base.

The place to Purchase Ketchup Powder

Ketchup flavoring has made some inroads in america in recent times—Dealer Joe’s launched a Ketchup Sprinkle in 2023 (although it is since disappeared from cabinets), and Doritos re-released a “tangy ketchup” taste chip this summer time. However the shakers aren’t but ubiquitous on US grocery retailer cabinets. Happily, the powder is straightforward to supply on-line. 

Whereas formulations differ barely from model to model, the bottom ought to embody salt, sugar, tomato powder, vinegar powder, and granulated onion (some blends add garlic to the combination). Double-check that vinegar powder is on the components listing before you purchase it, since just a few manufacturers depend on simply citric acid or lemon juice—it is what offers the spice mix its signature tang.

Easy methods to Use Ketchup Powder

Ketchup powder is nice for way more than topping snacks and stealth seasoning your scorching canines round Chicagoans. 

As an entry-level taste increase: Strive including a few teaspoons to your favourite dry rub (it is particularly good on ribs) or to your seasoning mix for potato wedges and French fries. As a result of the powder is designed as a ending mix—one thing to be shaken liberally over popcorn and chips—it’s onerous to overdo it.

To spice up ketchup-based dishes: Unsurprisingly, ketchup powder can also be a good way to maximise taste in dishes that already embody bottled ketchup. The seasoning can increase taste in Lexington-style crimson coleslaw with out altering the feel of the dressing, or amp umami in a meatloaf combine with out including moisture, harmonizing the inside of the loaf with its glaze.

As a flavor-deepening secret weapon: When you’re snug with ketchup powder, the world is your oyster [sauce]. In my home, the powder has turn into a sneaky technique to deepen flavors in every kind of sauces and stir-fries. Strive including just a few shakes to candy and bitter pork, Sichuan-style eggplant, or Chinese language scrambled eggs with tomato. It may possibly add depth to the spice mix in an American beef stew, or increase shade and acid in a bhindi masala. 

For daring, snacky dips: Subtlety shouldn’t be required. Take a cue from Canada’s ketchup chips and take a look at mixing it with bitter cream for the beginnings of an “all-dressed” chip dip. 

The facility–and powder–is in your red-stained fingers.

September 2025