Homemade ginger paste cubes

Have you ever cooked with ginger paste? It can be found in a tube sold near fresh herbs, or frozen in little cubes in the freezer section of grocery stores.

It’s super convenient – there’s no peeling or mincing for that 1 teaspoon of ginger the recipe calls for. But for people like us that use quite a bit of ginger, the price is not so convenient.

One package of 20 1-teaspoon cubes is about $4.00, though the price varies by store and region.

Just like the chia tea, I knew there had to be a way to make this ginger paste myself. I paid $3.56 for 1.19 pounds of ginger, which made 32 tablespoons of ginger paste. That’s a significant savings – we’re talking $.04/teaspoon vs $.20/teaspoon.

Making homemade ginger paste is easy; it only took me about 25 minutes from start to finish, not including freezer time. That 25-minute investment will save a lot of time down the road when we are in the middle of cooking dinner.

To start, break off manageable pieces of ginger to work with. Peel each section with a vegetable peeler, then use a small pairing knife to peel corners that the peeler can’t reach.

Rinse off the peeled ginger and cut into pieces no larger than 1-inch cubes. Place in blender with enough warm water to blend, adding more water as needed. Blend until smooth.

Pour the ginger paste into ice cube trays or whatever mold you would like to freeze them in. We use ice cube trays and silicone muffin liners to freeze the ginger in 1-tablespoon portions. If 1 tablespoon is too much for your uses, freeze the ginger paste in smaller ice cube trays.

Freeze the ginger paste cubes until solid, then transfer the cubes to a freezer bag and store in the freezer. When you are ready to use them, you can either microwave a cube or toss it right into the skillet.

Look for some gingery recipes in the future!