Quick Pickled Ginger

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Updated Oct 06, 2023

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There’s no doubt you’ll be making this quick pickled ginger constantly. Not only is it great for adding a fresh, punchy bite to meals, but it’s also one of the greatest superfoods beaming with endless benefits!

A little bowl of quick pickled ginger with chopsticks

Pickled Ginger Benefits

From personal experience, I can honestly say that a pickled ginger a day keeps the doctor away. This recipe came to fruition when I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent. Bloated, unhappy digestion, tired, you know what I’m getting at. And my go-to solution for any sort of tummy symptoms is always ginger.

There’s so many beneficial things about ginger, but a few key points are that it’s a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredient. Plus it aids with digestion and detoxification. A seriously powerful superfood!

But instead of blending it into ginger shots or Jamu juice, for this recipe you’ll consume it in whole, raw form. Bonus – when it’s pickled it becomes an even better probiotic. So long story short, after enjoying this pickled ginger recipe, I was back to feeling as good as new!

Ingredients for quick pickled ginger recipe

Pickled Ginger Ingredients

Pickled items follow a pretty basic formula with vinegar, sweetener, salt, and hot water (like my quick pickled red onions). Once you’ve got this down, I guarantee you’ll be pickling all sorts of things! But for this ginger version, I have a few notes.

First, see if you can find young ginger rather than mature ginger. If not, don’t worry – just take a look at the notes below!
Secondly, rice vinegar is the traditional ingredient used. But you could always sub apple cider vinegar if you’re grain-free.

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

Young Ginger vs Mature Ginger

I mention above to use young ginger for this recipe because it’s less pungent, fibrous, and tough compared to mature ginger. But the reality is that it’s hard to find young ginger (and often can only be found certain times of the year).

If you can’t find it, try to at least get bigger pieces of ginger (I find better options at Japanese markets) as it’s easier to thinly slice. You can always increase the sweetener a bit if it’s too spicy, but I like it spicy!

And if you’re wondering… why is some pickled ginger is pink? The answer is simple. You’ll usually find pink pickled ginger in sushi restaurants that use very young ginger with pink tips. And when pickled, the pink tips color the entire batch. But truth, some other establishments fake this look with additional food coloring.

How To Make Pickled Ginger (aka Gari or Sushi Ginger)

You’ll first peel and thinly slice the ginger with either a vegetable peeler or mandoline. I prefer a peeler as you can slice it more thinly, though it does take a bit longer.

And whether you prefer to slice with the grain or against the grain, that’s totally up to you. I find that it doesn’t make much of a difference.

Sliced ginger on a plate for quick pickled ginger

How to Store Pickled Ginger

Container wise, I’m using my favorite Weck Jar. But any small glass container will work as long as it can be sealed tightly! Once you’ve found one, add all the ingredients to your jar and stir it up until it’s nicely mixed together.

This will sit at room temperature for about one hour, then refrigerate it for at least 4 hours to give it enough time to pickle!

Pouring water into a jar of quick pickled ginger

Helpful tip: Always use fresh utensils when taking the ginger out of the jar! This will make sure you don’t introduce any new bacteria into the container, and make it last longer in the fridge.

A close up of a jar of quick pickled ginger

Ways to Serve Pickled Ginger

Of course, this is a must-have when eating sashimi or any type of sushi. But there’s plenty of other ways to enjoy pickled ginger! Here’s a few notes to spur up some ideas.

Stir Fries: Although fresh ginger is typically used in Asian stir fries (like my garlic ginger bok choy), you can also dice up pickled ginger.
Protein Bowls: Depending on the flavors happening in your protein bowl, a small spoonful of pickled ginger is always welcome. This will go great with baked salmon or chicken bowls of some sort.
Drinks: You can add this to hot teas or even cocktails!

And how do I most often eat this recipe? Plain! I literally just take some chopsticks or a fork to the jar and remove a few pieces of the pickled ginger to enjoy throughout the week. It really does keep my tummy happy!

Storage Tips

From a meal prep standpoint, this is a great ingredient to have on hand to jazz up your meals. Just store the jar or container in the fridge for up to 2 months!

More Ginger Recipes

I say grab a few extra pieces of ginger while you’re at the market. They work beautifully to create these delicious recipes:

If you love ginger, this pickled version is a no brainer. So give it a try and let me know your thoughts in a comment below!