Candied Ginger Recipe
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Make your own homemade candied ginger, also known as crystallized ginger! The flavor is WAY better than store-bought, much fresher and more vibrant. It will bring your baked goods to life, plus they’re fabulous just to snack on! PLUS there’s the additional bonus of an amazing ginger simple syrup you’ll get at the end of the cooking process that is phenomenal in drinks!
Have you ever come across a recipe calling for candied ginger but passed because you didn’t have any, couldn’t find any in the store, or just didn’t want to bother trying to find it? Or have you thought about making it yourself but weren’t sure how or figured it would be too much work? Well this is for you!
If you like candied ginger just wait until you’ve tried homemade. The flavor is worlds better – so much fresher with a stronger, more vibrant flavor. And if you don’t care for candied ginger, you’ll be converted once you’ve tried it in a few recipes. It adds such a great to a variety of baked goods.
Because it’s so fresh, and you know the source, you can also reap the health benefits of ginger, something that’s been used medicinally for centuries. And while you obviously want to eat candied ginger in moderation because of its sugar content, if you’re going to indulge your sweet tooth this is a much better alternative than straight up candy, right?
How to Use Crystallized Ginger
Candied ginger (aka crystallized ginger) is not only a yummy snack on its own, it’s a versatile ingredient that will liven up so many dishes. Here are just a few ways that you can use your homemade crystallized ginger:
- Added to banana bread, and Lemon Zucchini Bread
- Baked into cakes, cupcakes and muffins (see my Preserved Lemon Ginger Pound Cake)
- Added to Scottish Shortbread, ginger snaps, sugar cookies, Whole Grain Molasses Cookies, and Cornish Fairings
- Added to pear and apple crisps (see my Pineapple Mango Coconut Crumble with Candied Ginger)
- Baked into waffles and pancakes (see my Whole Wheat Sourdough Waffles)
- Stirred into Healthy Homemade Granola
- Stirred into Homemade Greek Yogurt
- Sprinkled over ice cream
Candied Ginger Recipe
Let’s get started!
Generally you want to use young, small ginger roots because they’re less woody/more tender. But medium-sized will work just fine as well. I recommend organic if possible.
Peel the ginger and slice it thinly and evenly. You can either do it by hand or use a mandolin. I highly recommend the Swissmar Borner Mandolin.
If you slice it paper thin the result will be crunchy crystallized ginger, but you also don’t want it too thick. 1/8 is thick is about right. You’ll need about 1 pound of sliced ginger.
Place the sliced ginger in a medium-sized pot and cover with water and just a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the ginger water and then drain the sliced ginger (you can also keep the ginger water for tea or a tonic).
Place the reserved ginger water and sugar in the pot.
Add the sliced ginger, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for about 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
The mixture will become somewhat thickened as the sugar turns to a syrup. Simmer until a candy thermometer or instant read thermometer reads 225 degrees F. You don’t have to use a candy thermometer but it sure makes it a lot easier than guesswork.
Once the ginger mixture has reached 225 F drain the ginger immediately while hot. Use a colander over a bowl so you can collect the drained syrup. Don’t discard that syrup. This recipe produces a delicious by product: GINGER SIMPLE SYRUP! Add a teaspoon or two to your drinks for a refreshing ZING!
Lay the ginger slices out on a large cooling rack over a cookie sheet, separating the individual slices the best you can (this is the more tedious part of the process). Let the ginger sit for 2 hours so they’re sticky but not wet (you want the sugar to be able to adhere without dissolving).
Toss the pieces in a bowl of sugar to coat all sides. Lay the crystallized ginger back on the cooling rack to sit overnight to dry. Note: If you’re in a place with high humidity you can also dry these in a food dehydrator or in the oven on the very lowest temperature setting (you may need to keep the oven door cracked open).
Store the crystallized ginger in an airtight container in a dark, cool place. Because it’s cooked and sugar and then coated with sugar, it will keep for several months.
This makes roughly 2 cups of homemade candied ginger.
Enjoy!
Be sure to also try my Homemade Candied Orange Peel (or lemon, grapefruit and lime)!
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Candied Ginger Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh ginger root , preferably young/smaller roots, sliced about 1/8 inch thick (by hand or use a mandolin – it's much easier)
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- extra sugar for coating
Instructions
- Place the sliced ginger in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the ginger water and then drain the ginger slices.
- Place the sliced ginger back in the pot with the reserved ginger water, sugar and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until the temperature on a candy thermometer reads 225 degrees F.Drain the ginger in a colander over a bowl to catch the syrup (see Note).
- Lay out the ginger slices on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet, separating the slices the best you can. Let cool for 2 hours (you want them sticky but not wet so that the sugar will adhere without dissolving).Toss the ginger slices in a bowl of sugar so they are coated all over. Place the ginger slices back on the cooling rack to sit overnight. Note: If you're in a very humid area you can dry the candied ginger in a food dehydrator or in the oven set to the lowest temperature (you may need to crack the oven door open.)
- Store in an airtight container in a dark, cool place. Will keep for several months. It can also be frozen for at least 6 months.This makes roughly 2 cups of candied ginger.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet June 5, 2015
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Strangely, I have been unable to find candied ginger in stores this Christmas, and I need some for my Christmas cake. I used the ginger root I had in the freezer and it worked brilliantly. I will be making my own from now on. Thank you for a terrific recipe.
Awesome, Lizzy, I’m happy you enjoyed them, thank you!
Turned out fantastic! The syrup is delicious as well. I think I’m going to buy a mandolin slicer for the next batch. I’m not very uniform in my slicing, but I do enjoy the chewy thick parts as well. The recipe was bang on. Good stuff! Although, I hit the temperature needed after only 20 minutes. But, directions were right. I think a candy thermometer is best for this one. Thank you for the wonderful recipe to satisfy my ginger cravings. :)
Awesome, Kris, thank you so much for the feedback!
My ginger is still very wet after drying over night. Help!
The temperature in the room as well as humidity level will play a role in how long it takes to dry. You can put the tray in the oven and let it dry at very low heat. If your oven doesn’t go very low you can crack the oven door open.
I probably don’t have an awesome thermometer, because mine never reached 225F (at one point it even went down from 220F to 215F) and eventually I realized the syrup was getting super thick, so I drained the ginger and the syrup became solid! Maybe a visual cue would help… When I bake some caramel to pour over a cake, I can tell it’s ready by the size of the bubbles, maybe a cue like that would help those of us with no helpful thermometer! :D
Anyways, I added some ginger water to my hard syrup and heated gently until I had a syrup again, so it’s all good. And after emptying the pan, I cooked some pears in it, delicious mix of flavours!
I just made this. I had.8 lg of pared ginger. Accidentally used only one cup of sugar (conflated two recipes) and the 1/2 cup water. it candied up just fine, but had VERY little syrup left.
seems like I needed more water to sugar ratio to get the syrup.Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Theresa, the sugar itself dissolves into liquid so having used only half of the sugar called for was the problem in not having enough syrup.
perfect!
Someone else mentioned boiling with more water–i added additional sugar because i needed 3 cups of simple syrup and I also did 3 lbs of cut ginger using the medium blade on the mandolin. The crystallized ginger is a big hitcwith my family.
I made it like this, reserved the syrup and used the ginger syrup on baklava. Not even a crumb left!!! Keeper!!!!!
Fantastic, Rochelle, thanks so much for the feedback and brilliant idea using the syrup for baklava!
I’m curious why we’re boiling the ginger first, draining, then adding some of the water back with sugar… like why would I not just mix all the stuff at the beginning and simmer until it’s the right temp? Seems like Boiling then draining in the first step is just gonna make it so it has less ginger flavor…
It’s probably because raw ginger is hot, spicy even. The first round cooks the ginger and probably takes away some of the bite while also giving you a cup of ginger water to cook with the sugar round. I imagine if you want it to still be spicy in the end you could skip the first step, but if you want a sweet final product, follow the recipe.
I’ve made this twice with 3 pounds of ginger and greatly increased the water and sugar. Turned out phenomenal. I’m making some tonight to give as gifts. The ginger syrup is so good in tea. I also increased water to get a lot of it. It’s especially good in green tea but also delicious with black tea.
Fantastic, Samantha, thanks so much for the feedback!
Fantastic recipe! How do I store the simple syrup?
Thank you, Tiffany! I keep it in a sealed glass jar in the fridge just so it lasts even longer.
Is it necessary to make the Syrup with such a high concentration of sugar?
Hi Moira, yes, the sugar to water ratio is what enables it to become syrup that enables the “candied” effect of the ginger as opposed to a thin watery liquid. The high sugar concentration is also necessary to act as a preservative.
Am I missing the sugar amount? I’ve scrolled the recipe several times without finding the sugar measurement. Please display the ingredients more prominently.
It states 2 cups of sugar
Can I do this with dried ginger
Excellent ! I tried it this morning, worked like a charm. I used smaller quantities, no problem. I may, later today, chocolate dip some and taste how the chocolate and ginger combine, Thank you for an excellent and adaptable recipe. John Anthony Unsworth.
Fantastic, John, I’m so glad it was a success, thank you for the feedback!
I don’t have a candy thermometer and 35 minutes are too much and my ginger burned. I guess you need more water or less time.
Same problem. Mine also burned, and I followed the recipe to the letter. So disappointed in this recipe.