Simple Uses for Wild Ginger

When you have a large crop of wild ginger from the garden or farmstand, you don't have time to casually include it in complicated recipes or to frantically figure out how to use it up before it goes bad without getting sick of it. You want to make the most of your harvest and to actually enjoy it.

Here at Plant to Plate, we like to keep things simple! Here are some of my favorite ways to use or preserve wild ginger:

Use it as a substitute for ginger. Wild ginger can be used as a substitute for ginger in a variety of soups, sautés, and other dishes.

Sauté it with garlic and mizuna or another leafy green.

Sauté it with eggplant, jalapeños, and onions.

Add it to other sauté and stirfry dishes.

Roast it in sesame oil with beets and/or carrots.

Make a simple soup with wild ginger, carrots, and turmeric.

Make a simple soup with wild ginger, carrots, beets, and onions or another allium.

Add it to other soups and broths.

Add it to egg dishes such as quiches and scrambles.

Add it to baked pastas and other casseroles.

Add it to hot grains such as rice, amaranth, or buckwheat.

Make a creative hummus with wild ginger, chickpeas, strawberries, and your nut butter of choice.

Make a tea. Wild ginger tea is best prepared as a decoction.

Make a tincture. An herb:solvent weight ratio of 1:2 at 75% alcohol is suggested for a fresh wild ginger root tincture. An herb:solvent weight ratio of 1:3 at 50-75% alcohol is suggested for a fresh wild ginger root tincture.

Dry it for later use. See our How to Dry Your Herbs articles here for more information.

Chop and freeze it to save it for later.

Further Reading

Growing wild ginger? Check out these quick facts like its best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.

Wild ginger is also featured in these articles:

Quick Facts: Growing Wild Ginger