Ginger garlic paste is a staple ingredient found in every kitchen worldwide. It is a must for flavor in many everyday appetizing dishes. It can enhance the flavor of something as plain as water just by adding a tiny amount.
Ginger garlic paste is a perfect fit for sauces and stir-fry and definitely adds flavor and aroma to a dish. It is an excellent item for everyday wellbeing. It is great for motion sickness, builds the immune system, and improves respiratory health. Sometimes, your favorite ginger garlic paste might not be available, so you might need to find its substitutes.
Some of the best ginger garlic paste substitutes are minced/grated garlic ginger, ground garlic ginger blend, ginger garlic powder, and allspice.
Let us explore ginger garlic’s flavorful paste and then move on to its substitutes.
What's In The Post
Quick Peek: Ginger Garlic Paste
The following sections tell you what ginger garlic paste is, its flavor, uses, and health benefits.
What Is Ginger Garlic Paste?
Ginger garlic paste is made by processing fresh ginger and garlic. Preservatives like vinegar are added to help the paste stay stable at room temperature. It needs to be refrigerated once opened. Although, because of how foul it smells, you might not be able to keep it there for a long time.
Ginger and garlic paste is easy and quick to use. Cutting or mincing garlic and ginger is time-consuming and leaves your hands with a bad odor after. Using ginger garlic paste is very helpful for all those who are tossing something together in a hurry.
Describing Ginger Garlic Paste: Flavor and Texture
Fresh and chopped garlic tends to burn faster than ginger and garlic paste. This is because being pureed with ginger makes it moister, which allows it to cook through properly. This also releases the luscious scent and flavor of the paste into the dish.
Have you ever got those fibrous little strands stuck in your teeth when you eat something with ginger? How embarrassing must it be to deal with it in public or with some company? The ginger is solely pureed when using ginger garlic paste, which abolishes every fibrous strand.
Uses of Ginger Garlic Paste
When used in the right amount, ginger garlic paste can enhance the taste of any dish. This flavor-enhancing paste has been in the world of cooking for years.
Ginger garlic paste is used as a flavor-enhancing and aroma-inducing ingredient while making a marinade, other pastes, sautéing onions, tomatoes, or other spices, stuffing, tampering, etc.
You can consider ginger garlic paste a delightful ingredient in any recipe: mashed potatoes, roasted veggies or meat, meatballs, or salad dressings.
Why Do We Need To Substitute Ginger Garlic Paste?
Ginger garlic is a must-have ingredient in Indian and Asian dishes. Even various European and American dishes use it to add a spicy and earthy taste and distinct aroma to their cuisine.
There may be times when you might not get a hold of this flavorful ginger garlic paste. It is also not easy to keep this paste afresh for a long time due to its chances of losing its flavor quickly.
You might run out of it and not have the time to pick it up from the store. So what can you do at a time like that? Don’t worry, as there are various substitutes for ginger garlic paste. They give out a similar taste and aroma to ginger-garlic. You’ll surely love it.
So, shall we look at the best ginger garlic substitutes right away?
10 Best Ginger Garlic Paste Substitutes
Now, let’s move to the section you basically came here for. The ten best ginger garlic paste substitutes are as follows:
1. Minced Or Grated Fresh Ginger And Garlic
When used properly, freshly grated or minced ginger or garlic can be used as a perfect for ginger garlic paste substitute. If you carefully follow the prescribed method, we have provided below, burned garlic, or fibrous strands of ginger won’t be a problem.
Peel your ginger and garlic and mince it using a garlic press or grate it using a box grater. Discard the leftover fibrous lumps of ginger as they are not to be used.
The obtained matter needs to be soft and pulpy with natural juices that form almost a paste. If it looks dry, it is recommended to add a little splash of water.
This mixture of freshly grated or minced ginger and garlic can be used as it is and in the same way as ginger garlic paste, making it a perfect substitute for ginger garlic paste.
Want a recipe where you can use minced ginger and garlic. Well, I have just the one for you. Try making grilled Bok Choy with ginger-garlic dressing.
2. Ground Garlic And Ginger Blend
Ground ginger and garlic work perfectly well as a ginger garlic paste substitute if fresh ginger and garlic are not available. They might not have as much moisture as fresh ginger and garlic. But this can be treated with some additional ingredients.
In a bowl, add a reasonable amount of garlic and ginger. The dried form of ginger and garlic is quite strong. Therefore you need to be careful with how much you put in. Now you just need to chop it and add it to your required dish.
Let me tell you a great example of you can enhance your recipe with ground ginger and garlic. Try the recipe for grilled boneless pork chops.
3. Replacing Either Ginger Or Garlic
At times you might have one of the two – ginger or garlic. So what can you do when you are cooking your favorite dish that requires both ginger and garlic? You can substitute either one of them with the following alternatives.
- Various Alternatives to ginger are – ground spices like ground cinnamon, ground mace, and ground nutmeg.
- Alternatives of garlic are – chives, shallot, and cumins.
4. Ginger and Garlic Powder
Ginger and garlic powder are both easily available from grocery stores. You can mix the two to create a smooth paste as an alternative to ginger garlic paste.
You might have to reduce the liquid you add to the recipe because ginger and garlic powders can absorb more water than ginger garlic paste.
The mix of ginger and garlic powder is more flavorful than ginger garlic paste when it comes to flavor. Therefore, you might have to add it carefully to your recipe.
That said, ginger garlic powder is one of the easily available ginger garlic paste substitutes that can guarantee you the flavor of ginger garlic paste.
5. Galangal and Garlic
Let me introduce you to galangal, a very close relative of ginger.
Galangal is a prominently used rhizome in Asian, Southeast Asian, and Indian cuisines. It is also known as Thai ginger or Siamese ginger. It has a sharp fruity taste with subtle hints of piney flavor. It closely resembles fresh ginger, so you can surmise how it looks.
When mixed with garlic cloves, grated galangal is one of the ideal ginger garlic paste substitutes because of the flavor profiles they share.
6. Allspice
You need no introduction to allspice. Still, allow me to bore you with its details.
Allspice is a spice that is prepared from the dried berries of a plant known as Pimenta dioica. Jamaican pepper and myrtle pepper are its other names. It is a prominent seasoning agent used in Jamaican cuisine.
Allspice has an earthy, fruity flavor with subtle hints of bitterness. It can be deemed a mix of nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. So how to use it as a substitute?
Mixing ground allspice with a pinch of salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic can smoothly emulate the flavor of ginger garlic paste, making it one of the worthy options in the list of ginger garlic paste substitutes.
7. Mace and Garlic Flakes
I definitely have to give you a proper introduction to mace, so excuse me!
Mace and nutmeg are two famous spices we know. They are not the same if you ever thought they were. They are siblings as they come from the same tree, Myristica fragrans. Nutmeg is the fruit’s seed, and mace is the seed clearing. (Glad we cleared it all up)
Consider the combination of cinnamon and pepper. That is what mace is. Mace has a mildly sweet and mildly spicy flavor and a leathery texture.
Mace can be mixed with garlic flakes (garlic flakes are essentially dried garlic cloves cut into thin flakes) to create a fine paste similar to ginger garlic paste and used to replace it.
If you are out of garlic flakes, you can simply use minced garlic to create a paste with mace and use it as a substitute for ginger garlic paste in your recipes.
8. Ground Nutmeg and Garlic Powder
So, we are back with nutmeg (no intro needed here). Nutmeg is aromatic and adds a mild, nutty flavor to your dishes.
Ground nutmeg and garlic powder can be amalgamated to form a paste that works as a good replacement for ginger garlic paste. It is only a fine replacement because the flavor will be slightly different from ginger garlic paste.
9. Garlic and Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix
Pumpkin pie spice mix is a yummy blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and ginger. It has a sweet and spicy flavor and is used to perk up the flavor of sweet and savory dishes.
Pumpkin pie spice mix can be mixed with minced garlic, and the resultant paste can be used to replace ginger garlic paste in your recipes.
10. Garlic Greens
Have you ever mistaken something to be a scallion, but you got it all wrong? It must be garlic greens.
Garlic green is simply immature garlic. Before the bulb is formed, young garlic is harvested, and it has a white bulb. The leaves are green in the early stage, and near the time of harvest, they turn brown.
Garlic green has a mild garlic flavor, and therefore, you might require a bunch of them for a flavor close to garlic. Onion, salt and oil, can be one of the last options worth trying to replace ginger garlic paste.
A Short Recap For The Best Ginger Garlic Paste Substitutes
If the list was extensive for you to remember, let me summarize the whole thing for you. Take a look at the points given below!
These ginger garlic paste substitutes are the best in terms of flavor-
- Minced or grated garlic or ginger
- Ground garlic and ginger,
- Galangal with garlic
- Allspice
- Garlic
These ginger garlic paste substitutes are the best in terms of availability-
- Minced or grated garlic or ginger
- Ground garlic and ginger
- Allspice
- Garlic powder
Recipes That Use Ginger Garlic Paste
You name a dish, and you’ll see that ginger garlic is an ingredient in it. Ginger garlic is a widely used ingredient in various dishes. It adds a distinct taste and aroma to even your ordinary dish. It’s one ingredient that most recipes have in common.
Ginger and garlic paste is the key ingredient in every curry dish, like chicken curry. It’s also used in other dishes like korma, dal, tikka masala, or Asian stir fry dishes.
Some Asian recipes that you can enhance with ginger garlic paste are Gordon Ramsay’s beef, vegetable, and rice stir fry, and stir-fry brown rice noodles.
Usually, meat or vegetables are marinated with ginger and garlic paste and other spices. It is also used in the process of caramelization. Ginger and garlic paste is added in the end while frying onions.
How To Substitute Ginger Garlic Paste In Any Recipe
Ginger Garlic Paste Substitutes
Ingredients
- Minced Or Grated Fresh Ginger And Garlic
- Ground Garlic And Ginger Blend
- Replacing Either Ginger Or Garlic
- Ginger and Garlic Powder
- Galangal and Garlic
- Allspice
- Mace and Garlic Flakes
- Ground Nutmeg and Garlic Powder
- Garlic and Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix
- Garlic Greens
Instructions
- Go through the substitutes and see which one seems fit for your recipe.
- Collect your ingredients and use your preferred substitute.
- Use the substitute in the required amount and proceed to make the dish according to the recipe.
Conclusion
Ginger garlic paste is a key ingredient in a variety of dishes. It’s also very commonly used in various cultures and countries while cooking. It adds a distinct taste and aroma to anything you put it in.
But if you’re unable to get a hold of it in the grocery stores, you can always substitute it. There are some great alternatives to ginger-garlic paste that you can use. They taste and smell just the same and add a zinger to your dishes.
Choose a substitute that works best for you, and let me know the results. See you soon with another article!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
When to add ginger garlic paste while cooking?
Ginger garlic paste should be added very early in the preparation. That is, in the cooking process, after sauteing, ginger garlic paste should be added so that its flavors are well absorbed in the dish.
Can I use garlic powder instead of paste?
You can use garlic powder instead of garlic paste. For a teaspoon of garlic paste, use ¼ th of garlic powder.
What should be the proportion of ginger garlic paste?
Ginger and garlic should be used on a 1:1 ratio. For a cup of minced ginger, add a similar cup of grated ginger to create ginger garlic paste.
