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Ketchup is the perfect partner to french fries, fried chicken, and countless finger foods for adults and children. You’ll find ketchup accompanying burgers, sausages, sandwiches, quiche, and just about every other meal out there. If you’ve got a taste for tomato sauce, it’s something that typically gets added to all your favorite foods.
Choosing healthy ketchup is vitally important because many unhealthy brands roam the market filled with loads of starch and preservatives. However, when it comes to healthy, tasty ketchup, two brands immediately consider Heinz and Hunt’s. Both are famous for their top-quality condiment, and fans of each brand may be tempted to try the other.
We’ll be taking you through a comparison of Heinz vs Hunts so that you know which is better. Read on to discover which is the winner.
Heinz vs Hunts Comparison
| Heinz Ketchup | Hunt’s Ketchup | |
| Origin | 1869, Pennsylvania | 1888, California |
| Ingredients |
Ripe Red Tomatoes, Distilled Vinegar, Cane Sugar, Salt, Onion Powder, Spices
|
Vine-Ripened Tomatoes, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Citric Acid, Red Pepper |
| Nutritional Value | 15 Calories, 7% Sodium, 2% Vitamin A, 2% Vitamin C, 4g Carbs, 4g Sugar | 18.8 Calories, 8% Sodium, 5.7g Carbs, 3.8g Sugar |
| Taste | Slightly Vinegary Balance Of Tomatoey Sweetness With Perfectly Balanced Flavor Profile | Prominent Vinegar Taste Delivering A Slightly Sweet Tomato Sauce |
| Consistency | Thick, Silky, Pourable | Thick And Pourably But Thinner Than Heinz |
Heinz Tomato Ketchup is the world’s most popular ketchup, proudly retaining 80% of Europe and 60% of the U.S.’s market share. Heinz Organic and Simply Heinz are loved by millions of fans worldwide and are both based on a single basic recipe that’s been around since their establishment. Let’s see what makes Heinz such a trusted brand, a beloved condiment.
- Origin
Heinz originated as the H.J. Heinz Company in 1869. Although founded in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania by Henry’ The Pickle King’ John Heinz, The Heinz Company is today headquartered in Pittsburgh. In addition, Heinz has food-processing and distribution networks established across China, Africa, Central and East Europe, and the Pacific Rim.
- Ingredients
Heinz contains zero artificial sweeteners, no GMO ingredients, and omits high-fructose corn syrup by default as a part of its recipe that’s lasted almost 150 years relatively untouched. Instead, the Heinz Company includes tomato concentrate pressed from ripe red tomatoes, distilled vinegar, sustainably sourced cane sugar, salt, onion powder, and an array of spices.
While listed as ‘SPICE’ on the ingredients of everyone’s favorite ketchup bottle, the blend is suspected to allspice-spice, mustard, cloves, coriander, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, and bay leaf in minuscule amounts. The exact spice mix is a closely guarded trade secret.
- Nutritional Value
When breaking down the nutritional content of Heinz to a single teaspoon serving, you’re taking in just 15 calories. There’s also 7% of the Recommended Dietary Intake of sodium, 2% of the RDI for Vitamins A & C, just 4 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of carbs.
- Taste Test
In almost every blind taste test competition held, Heinz ketchup is instantly recognized. Heinz delivers a striking balance of sweetness without excessive acidity or too much of a sour taste.
A bottle of Heinz has a flavor that’s one-of-a-kind, proudly producing ketchup based on a natural recipe that’s stood the test of time for almost 150 years. The taste loved globally uses a recipe that leans on a higher concentration of vinegar than most tomato sauces.
Despite this base, Heinz is cooked to the point where sweetness takes prominence. Ripe tomatoes and a higher volume of tomato solids are also used to produce their famous kitchen, leading to a taste that’s truly irreplaceable to many.
Even the aroma of Heinz ketchup is distinctive and instantly recognized by fans. Yet, it remains supremely grounded in tomatoey sweetness, with hints of every natural flavor coming through in an unbeatable balance.
- Consistency
Heinz Ketchup is the thickest but smoothest ketchup around, as confirmed by numerous independent tests and studies. Few sauces can compare to the dense, rich pourability of Heinz, nor the balance of flavor. It fuses wonderfully with sauces, stews, and other dishes where the ketchup is added while cooking.
Hunt’s is all-American ketchup originating and produced in California. After several changes to its recipe, Hunt’s is proudly all organic and free from GMOs and additives. So let’s take a closer look at the favorite ketchup of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes and many other tomato sauce lovers.
- Origin
Hunt’s has been in establishment since 1888 and was originally founded as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co. Two brothers named Joseph and William Hunt started up Hunt Bros. in Sebastopol, California. Today, Hunt’s is owned by the American packaged food enterprise Conagra Brands, Inc., and has an international reach.
- Ingredients
Hunt’s uses a tomato puree listed as a blend of water and tomato paste with a minimum salt content of under 2% cooked up with onion powder, garlic powder, citric acid, and red pepper. Up until May 2010, high fructose corn syrup was featured in Hunt’s recipe, but it has since been removed.
Today, Hunt’s is a 100% natural ketchup made from California-grown vine-ripened tomatoes with no additives, zero preservatives, and non-GMO ingredients only.
- Nutritional Value
Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup cites its nutritional information according to portion control packets. A single teaspoon serving using the same 17-gram measure as Heinz equates to 18.8 calories, 198 mg sodium which is 8% of the RDI, 5.7 g carbohydrates, and 3.8 g sugar. This makes Hunt’s higher in salt, equal in sugar, and higher in carbs than Heinz. You also only get trace elements of calcium and Vitamin C.
- Taste Test
Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup is a far more acidic sauce than Heinz. While a level of sweetness is there, a sourness is left as an aftertaste which isn’t there when opting for Heinz. This being said, Hunt’s have put together a well-rounded alternative with slightly less depth of flavor.
It tastes like tomato but with less complexity and richness than you’d expect but tons of flavor nonetheless. Unlike Heinz, Hunt’s isn’t the ketchup commonly recognized in blind taste tests, although individual results will vary. While not a clear indication of the taste and quality, it is safe to say that Hunt’s has a more generic ketchup taste than Heinz’s distinctive flavor.
- Consistency
Hunt’s is thick ketchup but considerably thinner than Heinz. However, it remains thick and goopy instead of being runny and watered down like cheap alternatives. The texture and overall consistency match Heinz but don’t quite pull off the same degree of dense silkiness.
Heinz vs Hunts—What’s the Difference?
When it comes down to the results of a finite, qualitative study, unfortunately, Hunt’s had the worst results. Hunt’s scored the worst out of eight samples tested, spanning Hellman’s, Sir Kensington, Whole Foods 365 Organic, Heinz, Organic Heinz, and French Annie.
In addition, flavors were more vinegar while being described as “very monotonous” and even “quiet” compared to other leading brands.
Popular cooks and critics The Kitchn Hunt’s drew feedback calling Hunt’s out for having a “sour taste” that was nonetheless “delicious.” They also noted that Hunt’s tasted like a fake version of Heinz. However, after flawlessly recognizing the imposter, most blind taste testers immediately identified Heinz and praised it for the excellent balance between sweet and slightly sour.
So Who Takes The Crown Between Heinz vs Hunts?
Heinz Organic Ketchup took second place in a SeriousEats contest, whereas Hunt’s placed fourth for its vinegary taste. Epicurious placed Heinz Organic atop its list of best kinds of ketchup, testing thirteen in total without Hunt’s even getting a mention. Uproxx put Heinz Organic third and didn’t rank Hunt’s either.
When one observes popular opinions across the board, Heinz emerges as the clear winner. So, if you’re looking for a classic, shiny, sweet tomato sauce, go for Heinz standard or give Heinz Organic Ketchup a try for an even greater taste sensation.
In A Nutshell
Hunt’s may be cheaper. It also pours well, and it’s all-natural. Hunt’s Ketchup has even been around for a similar period of time as Heinz. However, despite the similarities, there’s no true comparison that we can make.
Heinz Ketchup is the number one favorite in most countries, delivering a balance of flavor that can’t be beaten. Even in terms of affordability, Heinz is competitively priced, granting unbeatable value for money and a taste sensation that is really hard to replace with any other tomato sauce. The only time we’d say try Hunt’s instead is if you’re very fond of sour-tasting ketchup.