I Recreated Nara Smith's Famous DIY Condiments To Find Out If They're Genuinely Better Than Store-Bought, And I Didn't Expect These Results

Nara Smith and I do NOT have the same definition of " easy " recipe …

She’s cooking in Chanel, she’s grocery shopping in Dolce & Gabbana! Who is she, you might ask? She’sNara Smith, of course!

Over the past year, the former model and mother of three has become HUGELY popular onTikTok, with over 9 million followers, and captured the attention of millions of viewers per video. Viewers are fascinated by her family, cooking, and association with the “tradwife” aesthetic. From bubble gum to cola, she’s makingeverythingfrom scratch and sometimes even ruffling some feathers in the process — like when she made DIYsunscreenthis summer and was critiqued by doctors and skincare pros.

In avideowith over 26 million views on TikTok alone, Nara Smith did a “pantry restock,” tagged with the#easyrecipeshashtag. In the video, she made four American kitchen staples most of us would just pick up from the grocery store: ketchup, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and last but definitely not least, ranch dressing.

Her ultra-polished, maternal persona is the definition of aspirational…but how doable are her cooking videos, really? And most importantly, is itworththe effort? I decided to find out the only way I know how: a condiment cooking SHOWDOWN.

My apron is on, my hair is tied back, and the condiment ingredients (and their store-bought counterparts) are all assembled; I’m ready to get cooking, Nara-style.

FIRST UP: KETCHUP

This sauce was the simplest of the four to recreate with just three main ingredients and no knife skills or special equipment required.

NEXT UP: HOT SAUCE

Be sure to have your vent hood or kitchen fan on; the vinegar and heat of the peppers is pungent and could irritate your eyes!

NEXT UP: BARBECUE SAUCE

Double, bubble, toil, and trouble!

AND, FINALLY: RANCH DRESSING

This condiment took veryyy little time to make and smelled amazing from the fresh herbs and lemon.

First, you’ll find the overall cost of each store-bought condiment, broken down further into its cost per ounce — I used this to compare the value of the homemade condiments to the store-bought ones.

Before I did that, however, I had to use ALL of my high school algebra skills to determine each homemade condiment’s cost per ounce. Here’s an overwhelming spreadsheet to show you what I did:

Here is a graph summarizing the price per ounce cost differences for each condiment, Nara’s version (purple) and store-bought (yellow):

With the sauces prepared and the cost of each ingredient and condiment weighed out, all I needed to start my saucy evaluation was an accompaniment to these sauces that even Nara Smith would approve of…so I made homemade french fries.

Finally, it was time to taste and decide — once and for all — if Nara is right about making your own condiments.

Here are the standard I took into consideration during my taste tryout :

Overall taste ( out of 5 )

Ease ( out of 5 )

Nara Smith slicing strawberries in a kitchen. She wears a blue, feathery, sleeveless top. The image has engagement metrics and hashtags: #EasyRecipe #homecooking

note value ( out of 5 )

I also rated each condiment’ssimilarity ( out of 5)to the fund - corrupt , but I kept these valuation freestanding from the overall score because a condiment — I ’m wait at you , cattle farm — might try out unlike from the master in a good way . I did n’t want a poor similarity grade to impact the overall score negatively .

🍅 KETCHUP REVIEW:

OVERALL SCORE FOR KETCHUP: 3.7/5

Overall taste perception : 4/5

Ease : 5/5

Value : 2/5

Nara Smith and a man cook together in a kitchen, with Nara chopping vegetables on a wooden board. The TikTok interface shows their video has 995.9K likes and 9,532 comments

law of similarity : 3/5

🍖 BARBECUE SAUCE REVIEW:

OVERALL SCORE FOR BARBECUE SAUCE: 3/5

Overall taste : 3/5

Ease : 4/5

law of similarity : 2/5

A person in a kitchen wearing an off-the-shoulder dress is filling squeeze bottles with a liquid substance over a cutting board

🌶️ HOT SAUCE REVIEW:

OVERALL SCORE FOR HOT SAUCE: 4/5

Ease : 3/5

Value : 5/5

🌱 RANCH DRESSING REVIEW:

OVERALL RANCH DRESSING SCORE: 4.3/5

Overall appreciation : 5/5

economic value : 4/5

FINAL TAKEAWAYS:

If you enjoy cooking, definitely try making condiments like Nara! And if you like ranch, you simply MUST try making your own with Nara’s recipe. If you are a ketchup fan, however, keep your pantry stocked up with the o.g., store-bought version because there’s nothing like it.

With the high overall grudge , Nara ’s ranch dressing is the homemade condiment I was most impressed with , both for its flavor and appearance , which I thought were good than the storehouse - bought ranch and for its competitive price per ounce!I will 100 % percentage follow Nara ’s example and make my own ranch dressing from now on . Are you with me ?

The biggest letdown for me was the homemade barbeque sauce . With Worcestershire sauce and brownish sugar , I cerebrate its flavor would pass the grocery stock version with flee colors , but sadly , the storage - bought one was more balanced , angelic , and lemonlike than the one I made at rest home . Hopefully , no one will make me vacate my chef card for it .

The live sauce was another pleasant surprisal for me . Cooking with spicy peppers can be intimidate for people unfamiliar with them , but Nara ’s hot sauce uses an accessible recipe and straightforward method to introduce you to the world of chilies . With only three ingredients , this homemade hot sauce had a big issue .

Various condiments, including barbecue sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, and ranch dressing, arranged on a kitchen counter with spoons in small jars

My impression about the ketchup are assorted . I preferred the texture of the homemade , but it differed a lot from the smooth , store - bought version we know and love . The same goes for the taste sensation .

Person in a kitchen with various cooking ingredients on a counter, posing with a playful facial expression. Not a celebrity

Three-photo compilation showing a person squeezing tomato paste into a saucepan, adding honey, and then pouring liquid from a measuring cup into the saucepan

Three photos show ketchup being made: whisked in a pot, scraped with a spatula, and then poured into a glass jar

Two images of the author making hot sauce, chopping Fresno chili peppers, and a pot with the peppers, garlic and black peppercorns

Three-step process for making hot sauce: boiling sliced red peppers and garlic, blending the cooked mixture, and pouring the blended hot sauce into a container

Three steps of preparing a barbecue sauce with ingredients including ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and spices being added to a pot

Someone cooking barbecue sauce on a stovetop, then pouring it into a jar

Someone chopping scallions, preparing fresh dill, and then chopping the dill on a wooden cutting board

Three-step process of preparing a herb dip with chopped green onions, dill, and sour cream in a clear bowl on a kitchen counter

Spoons with BBQ sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, and ranch arranged on a cloth, each with blue tape labels showing different taste ratings out of ten

Table showing prices of store-bought condiments: ketchup ($2.39 for 14 oz), barbecue sauce ($2.99 for 18 oz), hot sauce ($5.99 for 5 oz), and ranch dressing ($5.99 for 16 oz)

Summary of ingredient lists for ketchup, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and ranch dressing with respective quantities, prices, and totals

Bar chart comparing cost per ounce of homemade and store-bought condiments that shows homemade is more expensive for ketchup, barbecue, but cheaper for hot sauce and ranch is about the same

Woman in a polka-dot dress chops herbs on a wooden board in a kitchen

French fries on parchment paper surrounded by jars of ranch, hot sauce, BBQ sauce, and ketchup with store-bought condiments in the background

Four jars of homemade sauces (hot sauce, sea sauce, ketchup, and BBQ) with lids labeled in blue tape and a plate displaying samples of each sauce

Four open jars of homemade sauces labeled Ranch, Hot, BBQ, and Garlic BBQ with corresponding samples on a white plate in front

Four jars of homemade sauces with labeled lids on a counter. A white plate in the foreground shows small portions of the sauces for tasting

Two close-up images show French fries with different dipping sauces. In the background, there are fries, ketchup, and other condiments on a table

Left image: Woman in polka dot dress adding salt to a pot. Right image: Woman in apron adding seasoning to a pot of tomato sauce

She’s cooking in Chanel, she’s grocery shopping in Dolce & Gabbana! Who is she, you might ask? She’sNara Smith, of course!#

Her ultra-polished, maternal persona is the definition of aspirational…but how doable are her cooking videos, really? And most importantly, is itworththe effort? I decided to find out the only way I know how: a condiment cooking SHOWDOWN.#

My apron is on, my hair is tied back, and the condiment ingredients (and their store-bought counterparts) are all assembled; I’m ready to get cooking, Nara-style.#

FIRST UP: KETCHUP#

This sauce was the simplest of the four to recreate with just three main ingredients and no knife skills or special equipment required.#

NEXT UP: HOT SAUCE#

Be sure to have your vent hood or kitchen fan on; the vinegar and heat of the peppers is pungent and could irritate your eyes!#

NEXT UP: BARBECUE SAUCE#

Double, bubble, toil, and trouble!#

AND, FINALLY: RANCH DRESSING#

This condiment took veryyy little time to make and smelled amazing from the fresh herbs and lemon.#

Before I share my final results and ratings, let’s discuss the money side of our experiment, Nara’s homemade vs. storebought.#

First, you’ll find the overall cost of each store-bought condiment, broken down further into its cost per ounce — I used this to compare the value of the homemade condiments to the store-bought ones.#

Before I did that, however, I had to use ALL of my high school algebra skills to determine each homemade condiment’s cost per ounce. Here’s an overwhelming spreadsheet to show you what I did:#

Here is a graph summarizing the price per ounce cost differences for each condiment, Nara’s version (purple) and store-bought (yellow):#

With the sauces prepared and the cost of each ingredient and condiment weighed out, all I needed to start my saucy evaluation was an accompaniment to these sauces that even Nara Smith would approve of…so I made homemade french fries.#

Finally, it was time to taste and decide — once and for all — if Nara is right about making your own condiments.#

🍅 KETCHUP REVIEW:#

OVERALL SCORE FOR KETCHUP: 3.7/5#

🍖 BARBECUE SAUCE REVIEW:#

OVERALL SCORE FOR BARBECUE SAUCE: 3/5#

🌶️ HOT SAUCE REVIEW:#

OVERALL SCORE FOR HOT SAUCE: 4/5#

🌱 RANCH DRESSING REVIEW:#

OVERALL RANCH DRESSING SCORE: 4.3/5#

FINAL TAKEAWAYS:#

If you enjoy cooking, definitely try making condiments like Nara! And if you like ranch, you simply MUST try making your own with Nara’s recipe. If you are a ketchup fan, however, keep your pantry stocked up with the o.g., store-bought version because there’s nothing like it.#