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Ground ginger

Spices & seasonings · Ground spices

Ground ginger

Dried ginger root ground to a pale powder: warm and peppery, for baking, spice blends and rubs.

Also called: dried ginger, sonth, zencefil tozu

A kind of spices

35 recipes with it

Read the full spice guide: flavour, history and how to use it

Photo: 경빈마마, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-2.0)

What it is

Ground ginger (sonth) is dried ginger root milled to a beige powder. It is hotter and more earthy than it is fresh and lacks fresh ginger's juicy, citrusy brightness, so the two are used differently: ground ginger in gingerbread, spice blends and dry rubs; fresh ginger (listed with vegetables) in stir-fries, curries and ginger-garlic paste.

Zingiber officinale

How it’s used

  • Gingerbread, ginger biscuits and cakes
  • Tandoori and other masala blends
  • Kashmiri curries (sonth)
  • Rubs and marinades
  • Spiced drinks

Characteristics

Taste
Warm, peppery, slightly sweet.
Sold as
ground
Cooking uses
Mainly a seasoning, Suitable for baking

Storage

Cool, dry and dark. Airtight jar away from light; best within a few months for flavour.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
335 kcal
Protein
8.98 g
Carbohydrate
71.62 g
Fat
4.24 g
Fibre
14.1 g
Sugars
3.39 g

USDA FoodData Central: Spices, ginger, ground.

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Fresh ginger — About 1 tbsp grated fresh per ¼ tsp ground in cooked dishes; not ideal in dry baking.

Related ingredients

Recipes with ground ginger

See all 35

23 more

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