The Very Last Thing You Should Do with an Empty Ketchup Bottle Before Tossing It (I Use It Every Day!)

To get closer to zero waste (and save space in my tiny apartment) I try to repurpose basically everything that comes into my home. I’ve been known to put old glass jars to use with my “jar-hopping” technique, I’m a sucker for a grocery item with reusable packaging, and I love creating storage gems out of candles and planters. Oh, another thing you should know about me? I put ketchup on my ketchup. So when I recently learned the most ingenious trick that involves reusing an old ketchup bottle, I knew I had to try it.

Last week, when I finished a squeezable ketchup bottle, I decided to try this Kitchn editor’s husband’s favorite TikTok trick. After cleaning out the bottle, you fill the empty bottle with oil to use while cooking. They typically use vegetable oil, but I decided to try it with olive oil. 

I grab my big bottle of olive oil for pretty much anything I cook, and it can be an involved process (read: more difficult than I’d like) to take the lid off and gently pour out the perfect amount of oil into my pan, bowl, measuring cup, or blender. (I’m more of an eye-baller than a measurer.) Not to mention, the oil tends to get everywhere, causing an oily mess in my pantry that I have to clean up constantly.

But when I filled the cute Heinz bottle with olive oil, everything changed. With just a flip of the cap (which I can do with one hand!) and a squeeze, I have a perfectly portioned, spill-free dollop of my most-used ingredient in seconds. For a little bit, just use a tiny bit of pressure, and for a healthier pour, just squeeze harder. Thanks to the upside-down bottle and silicone valve, there’s no excess oil, and my pantry’s cleaner than ever.

Not only does it feel good to find a second life for otherwise single-use items, but it does actually make the daily task of pouring olive oil a little easier — and not to mention, it takes up less space than my giant olive oil bottle. I’m also a huge fan of Graza Drizzle EVOO (but don’t have it in my budget to splurge on it often), and this simple trick feels like an easy DIY version. And no, the olive oil doesn’t have any essence of ketchup flavor whatsoever!

I can see this working with lots of other ingredients, too, like other types of vegetable or cooking oils, balsamic glaze, chocolate sauce, and even syrup. Whatever you choose to fill your empty condiment bottle with, let this inspire you to rethink empty containers before you recycle them — you might just find a brilliant new use for them!