This homemade chili ginger garlic paste is made with fresh serrano peppers, garlic, and ginger, then frozen into convenient portions for adding bold flavor to curries, soups, stir fries, marinades, and more. It’s ready in just 15 minutes and can easily be multiplied based on the amount of peppers you would like to preserve.
The Easiest Way to Preserve a Bunch of Hot Peppers!
If your garden is overflowing with serrano peppers, this homemade chili ginger garlic paste is one of the easiest ways to preserve them. Fresh serrano peppers, garlic, and ginger are blended into a flavorful paste that freezes beautifully, making it easy to add bold flavor to curries, soups, stir fries, marinades, and roasted vegetables throughout the year.
Freezing chili paste in small portions means you’ll always have fresh flavor ready whenever you cook. Instead of letting extra peppers go to waste, you can preserve your harvest in just a few minutes using a blender or food processor. I used serrano peppers for this batch but any hot peppers will work here!
Chili Ginger Garlic Paste as a Flavor Booster
Just 3 ingredients blended together yield a super flavorful freezer-friendly condiment that can instantly add flavor to so many dishes! This homemade chili ginger garlic paste is a great way to use up extra serrano peppers from the garden without lugging out your canner or watching them go to waste before they’re eaten. Since you’re making it yourself, you get to control the heat level. Leave all the seeds in for a spicier version or remove all of the seeds and veins for a more mild, all-purpose chili garlic paste.
My Favorite Ways to Cook with Chili Ginger Garlic Paste
The flavors in this frozen chili paste work well in curries, stir-fries, soups, noodle bowls, and even fried rice. There’s no need to thaw the cubes before using them! I simply pop them in with my other aromatics at the beginning of the recipe or add them to the broth of soups and curries to build flavor. They can be used in place of garlic and ginger in pretty much any recipe that you like!
Try using some of this chili ginger garlic paste in place of the garlic and ginger in this pumpkin tofu curry (my favorite!). Or, use some of this paste in place of the garlic in these 15-minute noodles for an extra flavor boost that doesn’t add any extra time. I love using some of the chili paste in my coconut milk braised collard greens. Since the paste has a bit of heat, I like to omit the red pepper flakes, ginger, and garlic from the recipe and use the paste instead along with the other spices.
Equipment Needed for This Recipe
- A cutting board and knife to prepare your chilis, garlic, and ginger
- A blender or food processor to blend everything into a paste
- An ice cube tray or mini muffin tin for portioning and freezing your paste
- A freezer bag or jar to store your paste in the freezer
How to Make Homemade Chili Ginger Garlic Paste in Just 15 Minutes (or less!)
Wash your chosen peppers well (I used serrano peppers) then remove the stems and slice the peppers in half long ways. This is your opportunity to decide how spicy you want your paste to be. Leave in all the seeds and veins for the spiciest option, remove about half for a medium version, and remove all of them for a mild version. I like doing this with a grapefruit spoon (below) because it makes it so easy! If you want to avoid irritating your hands, make sure to wear gloves when handling the chili peppers.
Peel the garlic (I like to go with a simple smash for each clove) and peel the ginger then roughly chop each. Put everything into a small blender or food processor along with a little water and blend until smooth. Portion into your ice cube trays, then freeze. Easy peasy!
Chili Ginger Garlic Paste
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegan
Description
This homemade chili ginger garlic paste is made with fresh serrano peppers, garlic, and ginger, then frozen into convenient portions for adding bold flavor to curries, soups, stir fries, marinades, and more.
Ingredients
- 18–20 serrano peppers
- 8–10 garlic cloves, peeled
- 4-inch piece of ginger root, peeled
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
Cut your peppers in half lengthwise. Remove as many of the veins and seeds as you want depending on how spicy you’d like it. My peppers were quite hot so I ended up removing most of the veins and seeds. Roughly chop the ginger root and garlic cloves.
Add all of the ingredients to a small blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Portion the paste into an ice cube tray. Place the tray in the freezer and allow it to freeze overnight.
The next day, remove the tray from the freezer and remove your frozen cubes of chili paste. Add your frozen cubes to a freezer safe bag then squeeze as much air out of it as possible before sealing. Place that bag into a second freezer bag (double bagging will help deter freezer burn) and seal. Label with the date and your contents.
When you want to use the paste, you can either use it directly from the freezer or thaw it first in the fridge.
If kept frozen, the chili ginger garlic paste will last 6-12 months.
Notes
- You can use whatever hot pepper you like here in place of the serranos. Jalapenos, Fresno peppers, and habaneros are all great options. Use what you like!
- My peppers were quite hot so I ended up removing the veins and seeds. Pro-tip: If you happen to have a grapefruit spoon, it’s perfect for this task!
- This yields about 1 heaping cup of paste depending on how large your peppers are (my serranos were on the smaller side). Divided into a standard ice cube tray, this makes around 8 to 16 cubes depending on how big the compartment is for each ice cube in your tray.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Category: condiment
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