All the deliciousness of the stem ginger in syrup, with zero sugar! This easy homemade preserved ginger is sweet, spicy AND healthy, unlike the store bought jars. Perfect for eating and gifting, and the ginger syrup works great to give keto drinks and cocktails some guilt-free zing 🍸
I first found about preserved ginger while aimlessly browsing at supermarket shelves (a favorite pastime) and was super curious about it.
I love the peppery taste of ginger, added as a spice to food, especially stir-fries. The zestiness of ginger tea and the flavor that it lends to cakes and gingerbread cookies. The thin slices of gari made to eat in between sushi and sashimi. Ginger ale! The list goes on.
Ginger is not only incredibly unique in taste, but also a “superfood” – which is great, because the list of supercheap non-carby superfoods is far from exhaustive. If the hundreds of articles online are to be believed, ginger alleviates health conditions that range from motion sickness to menstrual cramps and even kills bacteria and fungus. Pretty magical stuff.
The store bought stem ginger in syrup is crazy delicious, but the sugar, man… no can do. So, I bought it out of curiosity, tasted it and loved it but the jar has remained sadly in the fridge for maybe a year now?
And there the sugary stuff is going to remain, to be used as a weapon when the day comes, because I thought, how hard can it be to DIY a keto version of this? Not hard at all! It just takes some time and 3 ingredients only: water, keto sweetener (xylitol or allulose are preferred), and ginger!
Erythritol is a fantastic keto sweetener and it could be used, but it can cause some crystallization in the syrup, because of its properties. For this reason, it’s best to use allulose or xylitol.
How to choose fresh ginger
- Pick ginger with smooth and shiny skin, not shriveled and pruny. The skins should also be on the thinner side, and you can test this by scratching the surface with your nail, it is good if it easily peels off. Imagine that you’ll have to remove this skin later…
- The root piece should feel heavy for it’s size, as an indication that it’s still full of moisture and not drying up.
- The freshest ginger will snap when broken. Try to tear an arm off. If it offers resistance, feels elastic or if it starts bending before it breaks, don’t buy it.
Cheap as it is, I went ahead and bought almost 1 kilo of ginger root and decided to just wash and peel all of it all at once, and keep what I was not going to use prepped and frozen for another time. Big mistake.
I peeled the whole kg of ginger by vigorously brushing the roots under water, which sounded easier than trying to use a knife or peeler, as they are full of nooks and crannies. Still, it took a crazy long time. And all the rubbing made the the spicy vapors so strong in the kitchen that my nose and eyes started burning. I think I got high from it because I swear I started seeing some odd shapes in the pieces. For example,
and there were other way less pretty and NSFW shapes too. I’ll leave it to your imagination 😁
How to make stem ginger in sugar-free syrup
It doesn’t get any easier: Just add all ingredients to a pan and bring it to a boil, stirring until the sweetener is completely dissolved.
Then, bring down the heat to very low, cover the pan, and let it simmer until the ginger gets softened. You can check this by piercing a piece with a fork. It should go through without much resistance.
How long to boil ginger
It took about 4 hours of simmering to soften this batch, which was my first. I know… 😕 Yours might get done sooner, so check as you go. Ginger roots will have different textures to start with, so some will take longer boiling time to soften than others.
It’s important to keep an eye on the level of water throughout the cooking time, as you don’t want it to dry out. Add a little more water when needed, boiling so not to bring down the temperature which will elongate the cooking time.
Extra tip: Freezing raw ginger
I’ve read around that if the ginger is frozen before cooking it will soften faster. I have a full bag of washed and chopped ginger sitting in the freezer now, and after we finish with this jar I’ll try again with the frozen one to test if the cooking time will be reduced or not.
Update: I found out what happened to my frozen ginger after 6 months… it turned into mush. Really, if I lightly squeeze the ginger in between my fingers, I juice it! So, freezing the ginger definitely works for softening it, but 6 months might be a tad too long…
If you’ve made this this keto friendly preserved ginger and would like to try it in a recipe, go and check out our gingerbread and walnut rum cake!!
Preserved Stem Ginger in Sugar-Free Syrup
The super easy, keto friendly homemade stem ginger is deliciously sweet and spicy! It's great in recipes, cocktails or by itself as a healthy sweet treat!
Ingredients
- 300 grams fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into one inch pieces
- 1 liter of water
- 200 grams keto baking sweetener
Instructions
1. Add all ingredients to a large pan and bring it to a boil, stirring until the sweetener is completely dissolved. Bring down the heat to very low, cover the pan, and let it simmer.
2. Check the the pan for the water level at about every 30 minutes. If the water is not covering the ginger pieces anymore, add more boiling water.
3. Simmer until the stem ginger gets softened. You can check for doneness by piercing one with a fork.
Notes
Freezing the ginger for a few days before using will make it soften faster.
Allulose or xylitol are the preferred sweeteners, as erythritol might cause some crystallization in the syrup - but that's ok.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 25 gramsAmount Per Serving:Calories: 20Total Fat: 0.2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 76mgCarbohydrates: 4.5gNet Carbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0.5gSugar: 0.4gProtein: 0.5g
Nutritional information is provided as a guideline only. Different brands of ingredients may have different nutrition facts. If you are doing a very strict form of keto, such as for medical purposes, please do remake the calculations using the nutrition facts from the labels of the ingredients you selected. Net carbs calculated exclude carbs from insoluble fiber and the sugar alcohol erythritol.
Copyright Pris Frank for LikeHotKeto. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link to this recipe instead 🙂
What a great idea ! Have loads of ginger sitting in the fridge, gonna try this out !
Go for it Meesha! The longer the ginger sits in the freezer, at least, the softest it gets and the less time you need to cook in the syrup.
What a great recipe! I love ginger, but have been having a tough time finding a recipe for this. Thanks so much!
Thanks Anissa! I’m happy to be of assistance 😉
I am a huge fan of condiments and little preserved goodies to keep on hand for salads and snacks. This ginger is easy to make and great on so many things!
True that, Sharon! The preserved ginger is not only great by itself, it’s a versatile addition to dished and drinks as well.
Yum, I love ginger and pickling it sounds wonderful.How long will it keep for?
It’s good for about 6 months, as per my experience Janelle. It can get a little cloudy from some erythritol crystallization, but the taste remains the same.
I love ginger so this is right up my alley. Thanks for sharing!
🙂