Bright, spicy, and slightly sweet, ginger enlivens all sorts of dishes. From crispy fried chicken to sweet cookies, check out our favorite ginger recipes.
Ginger is featured prominently in Japanese and Japanese-inspired dishes. Our Japanese-style chicken wings use potato starch to get a crispy crust and are flavored with ginger, garlic, and sansho, the Japanese equivalent of Sichuan pepper. Our kombu and squid fried rice from chef Tadashi Ono is a simple one-pot dish rich in umami and kicked up with ginger.
Steeping ginger in water with sugar yields a flavorful simple syrup to use in cocktails. The Saint is a white-wine based drink with vermouth, lemon juice, and a spicy ginger syrup. Our Japanese old fashioned has the bourbon-Angostura combo typical for the drink, but is sweetened with a ginger simple syrup made with kuru sato, or Japanese black sugar, which has a taste similar to dark brown sugar.
We also love adding ginger to sweet dishes. The bright spiciness highlights all the other flavors of a good dessert. Try our pear pie in which ginger balances the fruity filling and buttery crumble of sweet streusel. Fresh and candied ginger deliver a one-two punch in our decadent chocolate chess pie. And of course, you can't forget gingerbread cookies. Our recipe for this holiday classic calls for cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.
Find all of these dishes and more in our collection of ginger recipes.
Japanese-Style Chicken Wings
Sansho, the Japanese equivalent of Sichuan pepper, adds kick to these sake-and-mirin-marinated wings. A fresh squeeze of lemon brightens them up for serving. Get the recipe for Japanese-Style Chicken Wings »
Razor Clams Fantasia
Colatura, an Italian fish sauce, brings an umami note to this simple appetizer of meaty razor clams. Get the recipe for Razor Clams Fantasia »
“This is just the freshest and most refreshing juice you can drink, ever,” gushes Marcus Samuelsson about his favorite drink at Zanzibar’s night market. Feel free to add the juice—which, when fermented and distilled, turns into rum—to beer for a sweet cocktail, as some Zanzibaris do, or drink it straight, as shown here, with ginger for added spice.
Fonio-Crusted Crab Cakes
Fonio, a variety of millet, gives Pierre Thiam’s West-African-inspired crab cakes a satisfyingly crisp crust. Get the recipe for Fonio-Crusted Crab Cakes »
Sweet and Sour Vegetables with Poached Egg
Ginger, lemongrass, and maple vinegar add a warm base note to this dish, which is packed with root vegetables, and topped with a crisp greens and a poached egg.
Carrot Ginger Dressing
This vibrantly orange dressing was made famous by Japanese-American steak houses. It gets its incomparably clean flavor from puréed carrot and fresh ginger. Get the recipe for Carrot Ginger Dressing »
Spinach and Edamame Egg Drop Soup
A handful of soybeans and fresh spinach lightens up this Chinese restaurant favorite. Get the recipe for Spinach and Edamame Egg Drop Soup »
Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread cookies like these are popular in Sweden during the holidays and can be served plain or decorated with icing. This recipe comes from the 80-year-old Vete-Katten bakery in Stockholm.
Sesame Noodles
A garnish of chopped peanuts and slivered cucumber and carrot add crunch to the silky, savory Chinese-American noodle dish. Get the recipe for Sesame Noodles »
Pear and Ginger Pie with Streusel Topping
Fresh ginger gives the filling of this pear pie a warming kick of spice, balanced by the buttery crumble of sweet streusel.
Before brewing this spiced ginger soda, it is important to sanitize all tools and equipment. See this site for more information, and find champagne yeast and 1-liter EZ cap beer bottles at Midwest Supplies.
Ginger Syrup
Infused with ginger and black pepper, this syrup makes a great homemade ginger beer: Just mix one part syrup to three parts soda water. Get the recipe for Ginger Syrup »
Chocolate Ginger Chess Pie
A decadent mix of chocolates and ginger ups the ante on a classic Southern pie. Get the recipe for Chocolate Ginger Chess Pie »
Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies
This recipe, from Gluten Free Girl & The Chef blogger Shauna Ahern, appeared in our 2012 Cookie Advent Calendar. Shauna says: “Every year when my mother made her pillow-soft molasses cookies, I just sighed with happiness at the holidays. But by the time she was ready to hand over the baking, I could no longer eat gluten, and she couldn’t find that recipe. So I fiddled and baked until I came up with these.” Get the recipe for Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies »
The Black and Stormy
This recipe for a modified Dark and Stormy uses fresh ginger juice for a kick of refreshing heat.
The Saint
This white wine-based cocktail from Brooklyn, New York’s Café Moto starts off summery, with the aromas of fresh basil and mint and an effervescent topper of club soda. Get the recipe for The Saint »
Cold Peach Soup
Puréed canned peaches form the base of this delicate soup, which is thickened with tart Greek yogurt and spiced with fresh ginger. Get the recipe for Cold Peach Soup »
Ginger Curry Candied Almonds
Sweet, salty and just a little spicy, these glazed almonds are a popular addition to holiday gift baskets and party spreads. Always make more than you think you’ll need as it’s hard to resist snacking on them when they’re still warm. This recipe comes to us from Marisa McClellan, author of Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round. Get the recipe for Ginger Curry Candied Almonds »
Sweet Potato Honey Fries with Curry-Honey Sauce
An aromatic combination of spices elevate the humble sweet potato oven fry to something truly special. Get the recipe for Sweet Potato Honey Fries with Curry-Honey Sauce »
Steamed Fish with Ginger and Scallions (Ging Zheng Yu)
You can use a bamboo steamer instead of a wok or skillet to steam the fish for this simple Taiwanese favorite. For a Chinese New Year tradition, save some of the fish for the next day to represent an abundant year.
Grilled Ginger-Marinated Flank Steak
Honey adds a contrasting sweetness to this savory grilled steak suffused with ginger, lime, and garlic.
These yellow-hued shortbread cookies from chef Chris Tan are inspired by spicy English gingerbread, as well as Dutch and Indonesian ginger cookies.
Seared Scallops with Wasabi-Ginger Butter
After discovering that fresh whole wasabi plants were available in the United States, Adrian J.S. Hale found all kinds of innovative uses for them, such as this butter-rich sauce in which the pungent heat of the wasabi root, or rhizome, is balanced by the delicate earthiness of the leaves for a mild heat and slight bitterness that accentuate the sweet flavor of plump pan-seared scallops. Get the recipe for Seared Scallops with Wasabi-Ginger Butter »
Garlic and Red-Miso Porterhouse
A marinade of red miso, ginger, and garlic gives this steak a crisp, flavorful crust and a juicy interior. Get the recipe for Garlic and Red-Miso Porterhouse »
Soy-Braised Kabocha Squash
Braising—with a healthy dose of soy—is one of our favorite ways to bring out the texture and flavor of winter squash.
Kombu and Squid Steamed Rice
This one-pot sticky rice dish from chef Tadashi Ono combines sweet squid, spicy ginger, and shredded seaweed. It makes for a surprisingly satisfying, simple meal thanks to the complex layering of savory, spicy, and subtly sweet flavor.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart with Gingersnap Crust
Creamy pumpkin filling over a ginger cookie crust provides a comforting balance of sweetness and spice.
Chinese Spicy Garlic Eggplant (Yu Xiang Qie Zi)
Steaming eggplant, as opposed to deep-frying it, lightens this fragrant stir-fry adapted from a recipe in Grace Young and Alan Richardson’s The Breath of a Wok (Simon & Schuster, 2004). Get the recipe for Chinese Spicy Garlic Eggplant (Yu Xiang Qie Zi) »
Indian Curd Rice
This creamy spiced rice is a staple dish of the Pongal harvest festival in Southern India. Get the recipe for Indian Curd Rice »
Shrimp Satay (Satay Udang)
Ground macadamia nuts enrich this spicy Singaporean-style shrimp satay. Get the recipe for Shrimp Satay (Satay Udang) »
Balinese Tuna Satay (Satay Lilit)
This Balinese-style tuna satay is adapted from Janet De Neefe’s Fragrant Rice. Get the recipe for Balinese Tuna Satay (Satay Lilit) »
Grapefruit and Seafood Ceviche
Grapefruit juice, fiery jalapeño, and fragrant ginger transform shrimp, scallops, and calamari into an aromatic, spicy salad. Get the recipe »
Seared Scallops with Steamed Brussels Sprout Leaves
Seared Scallops with Steamed Brussels Sprout Leaves
Chai Iced Tea
This full-flavored chai has plenty of kick, thanks to the addition of black pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, and plenty of other warming spices.
Malaysian Pan-Seared Snapper with Garlic and Chiles (Chuan-Chuan)
A blend of garlic, ginger, and chiles adorns this simple pan-fried fish adapted from a recipe in James Oseland’s Cradle of Flavor (W. W. Norton & Company, 2006). Get the recipe for Malaysian Pan-Seared Snapper with Garlic and Chiles (Chuan-Chuan) »
Braised Sea Bass with Burdock
A quick rinse in boiling water purifies the fish and concentrates its flavor in this dish from New York chef Tadashi Ono.
Writer VK Sreelesh’s in-laws live in the south Indian state of Kerala, along the Malabar Coast, where people’s diets are heavily influenced by the area’s abundant supply of seafood. One of his favorite dishes is this fried bullseye fish, seasoned with turmeric and chile powder and fried in coconut oil. While small bullseye fish or sardines are traditionally used, salmon, shrimp, or snapper, as we’ve used here, also work.
Strawberry Chile Syrup
Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, and red chile flakes add complexity and polish to this versatile syrup, made by macerating strawberries with sugar and spices. We love using it in cocktails and drizzling it over pancakes and ice cream for an extra kick of flavor.
Chicken Satay (Satay Ayam)
These fragrant chicken skewers are infused with traditional Indonesian spices like lemongrass, garlic, and ginger. Get the recipe for Chicken Satay (Satay Ayam) »
Sho' Nuff Noodles
We first fell in love with these lightly spicy lo mein noodles when chef Marcus Samuelsson dropped by our kitchen to test drive some recipes for his Harlem restaurant, Streetbird Rotisserie. Laced with oyster sauce, ginger, and yuzu kosho and tossed with pickled mustard greens, the dish is a medley of sweet, tangy, spicy, and sour. Get the recipe for Sho’ Nuff Noodles »
Watermelon Radish, Ahi Tuna, and Snap Pea Salad
At Los Angeles’ Lemonade restaurant, crunchy radishes, snap peas, and medium-rare seared tuna are tossed in a ginger-soy dressing for a crisp and colorful entrée salad.
Mussels Tostada with Russian Salad and Chipotle Mayonnaise
Mussels Tostada with Russian Salad and Chipotle Mayonnaise
Bacon and Shrimp Fried Rice
Bacon adds smoky dimension to this stir-fry. It’s easily adapted to whatever leftovers you have in your fridge—roasted pork or chicken, egg, seafood, or just about any kind of vegetables. Get the recipe for Bacon and Shrimp Fried Rice »
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