How to make condiments from scratch

Instantly upgrade any meal with homemade condiments. Relish the goodness that is your own spin on sauces, pickles, jams, salsas and, of course, mayo.

Barbecue sauce Source: Mark Roper

Slathering a sauce (or even a couple) on your sausages instantly turns a humble ingredient into a meal. All the better if it's a condiment you've made yourself. There's nothing quite like the flavour, texture and boast-factor of homestyle sauce, pickle or jam.

One of the best things about finding a good recipe for homemade condiments is you get to mix them up a little. Add more spice, sub out a herb that's not to your taste, or put more oomph into your chilli sauce.

However you choose to make them, you'll feel like a bonafide chef when you rock out your own home brand at your next gathering. Remember to pause gallantly for the guaranteed oohs and aahs when you tell 'em you made it from scratch.

The creamy

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Hummus makes this

If you've got 10 minutes, you've got hummus. Source: It's Suppertime / VICELAND

There's a secret to getting your hummus extra creamy - iced water and lots of tahini.

Mayo dream away

Homemade mayonnaise is a delicious dollop - and so satisfying to make. Source: Getty Images / Manuela Bonci / EyeEm

Is there anyone or anything that doesn't love mayonnaise? We've not come across them. The secret to success is room temperature ingredients and start mixing slower than you're probably comfortable with. Nope, even slower than that!

Blend your hollandaise

Hollandaise lifts boring ol' eggs and potatoes to a dish you'll find yourself making way too often. Source: Desiree Nielsen

A 'true' hollandaise can be rather fussy on the stove, requiring endless stirring and watching. This hollandaise recipe uses a blender to whizz the whole thing together in moments.

Goddess on hand

Green Goddess dressing is particularly scrumptious with any kind of seafood. Source: Brett Stevens

A creamy green goddess dressing is a muse indeed. It will inspire you to create all kinds of salads, bowls and roasts. It's one of the easiest dressing to change up, too. Try adding some anchovies or chilli for an extra kick.

The spicy

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Love and kisses, XOXOXOXO

XO sauce is a collection of the most prized ingredients from around China. Source: Destination Flavour China

A little of this Hong Kong staple goes a long way - especially when it's the Liaw family XO sauce recipe you're making. It's an intense spicy, sweet, smoky, salty sauce that's also packed full of umami flavours. Basically, it's the bee's knees.

Gochujangling

Hot pepper paste is a fermented mix of chilli, glutinous rice flour, soy bean flour, malt flour and seasoning. Source: Brett Stevens

Korea's peppery answer to... pretty much any question. This stuff gets slathered onto bibimbap and dakgangjeong by the truckload. Making your own is a labour of love, but one worth bottling.

Bite-size chilli

This is Adam Liaw's go-to sauce for any chicken dish. Source: Adam Liaw

Anything you're not drizzling with XO will benefit from a slather of this chilli sauce. This is exactly when making your own condiments from scratch comes into its own - feel free to add more or fewer chillies to your dish to get just the right amount of bite for you.

Pineapple heats up

Use this as a great base recipe for making spicy sauces from any excess fruit. Source: Murdoch Books / Cath Muscat

Cornersmith's hot sauce ought to be on everyone's scratch list. This version uses pineapples, but you can swap in the equivalent fruit from peaches, plums, or green tomatoes.

The hotties

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In a chilli jam

Cover your jam with a layer of oil and it will keep in the fridge for around six months. Source: Petrina Tinslay

You won't find a more versatile condiment than chilli jam. Works in soups, stir-fries and blended with coconut milk to make a quick curry. It's even good over vanilla ice cream (we kid you not).

Mustard make this one

This is a Dijon-style mustard with a little more horsepower. Source: Alan Benson

There's the sharp hit of chilli heat, and then there's the slow burn of mustard seed and horseradish. Make your mustard and leave it for a few days before you use it. That's how the burn rises.

Hot, hot, hot

We'd make this one for that colour alone! Source: Pati's Mexican Table

Habanero chillies ensure that the sweetness of the fruit never gets out of hand in this mango habanero hot sauce. Slather it on your tacos, burritos and quesadillas, but save some to add some kick to your Bloody Mary chaser.

Burn it down

Enough mucking around, it's time to go nuclear. Source: Amy Brown

When you want to up the fire, you need Judy Cole's extra-hot Liberian chilli sauce. Judy says this volcanic sauce will "take you to Africa and back again!"

The chutneys

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Coriander loves mint

This chutney / dip / sauce / relish goes with pretty much everything. Source: Essence of India

Fair enough, the poor unfortunates who think coriander tastes like soap probably aren't going to go for this one. But for those of us who love the fresh, zingy flavour of the world's most commonly used herb, get onto this coriander and mint chutney, pronto.

Date your chutney

The tamarind in this recipe adds sourness to the sweetness of the dates. Source: Sharyn Cairns

Give your sandwich a sweet kiss of tamarind and date chutney and reap the rewards of a saucy condiment. A chutney like this works particularly well with roasted ham, bacon, and other pork dishes.

Salsa special

Get your corn chips ready for dunkin'. Source: fStop

While salsa isn't technically a chutney, it is kind of like a fresh version. The freshest chopped veggies, lemon juice instead of vinegar and plenty of spice from onions, garlic and cumin. Spoon this over your breakfast eggs for a bright start to the day.

The sweets

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Apple of your aye

A couple of spoonsful of this on your roast pork is pure heaven. Source: Pixabay

A good apple sauce recipe comes in handier than you might think. You can switch out cane sugar for a few spoons of apple puree, like swirling it through plain yoghurt to cut through the tartness.

Tomato the line

Matt Evans' family only ever calls this sauce “dead horse” - Aussie rhyming slang at its best. Source: Alan Benson

Tomato sauce has eye-watering amounts of sugar involved, but it's all worth it for the big flavour hit. Surely tommy sauce must be the most used condiment in Australia?

Barbecue good taste

Feel free to double or triple the recipe, add or subtract the ingredients of your choice, until you make the sauce of your dreams. Source: Mark Roper

This barbecue sauce could just as easily go into the 'spicy' category, because it's got a decent kick to it. However, in the end we couldn't separate the tomato and barbecue sauces with good conscience.

Jammin' on

Making your own jam is one of the most satisfying things you can do in the kitchen. Source: Benito Martin

Every fruit, every jam - they all taste better when you make them yourself. Start with this blackberry jam recipe and work your way through the list.