When you have a large crop of turmeric 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 turmeric:
- Steam it with sage and a winter squash. Butternut squash and pumpkin work especially well in this dish.
- Steam it with cauliflower and garlic.
- Steam it with corn and carrots.
- Sauté it with shrimp and cumin.
- Bake it with chicken and a leafy green. A few ideas for leafy greens that work well in this dish are as follows:
- Add it to hot cereals such as cooked oats, rice, or quinoa. Turmeric can be added either while the grains are cooking — adding it to the pot while they are simmering — or as a topping after they finish cooking. Learn how to make an Interesting Hot Cereal in this article.
- Make a simple soup. A few ideas for simple soup combinations with turmeric are as follows:
- Add it to other soups and broths.
- Toss it with chickpeas and sage.
- Add it to smoothies.
- Add it to pasta salad.
- Add it to egg salad.
- Add it to chicken salad.
- Make a tea. Turmeric tea is best prepared as a decoction.
- Make golden milk with turmeric and cardamom.
- Make a tincture. An herb:solvent weight ratio of 1:5 at 50% alcohol is suggested for a turmeric tincture.
- Dry it to save it for later. See our How to Dry Your Herbs articles here for more information.
- Chop and freeze it as an alternative preservation method.
Further Reading
Growing turmeric? Check out these quick facts like its best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.
Turmeric is also featured in these articles: