Fans Are Loving Trader Joe's Frozen Ginger

We've all been there: A recipe calls for a one-inch knob of ginger, so you cut off what you need and then watch the rest of the root shrivel on the countertop until you inevitably have to throw it out. We say to ourselves that we are going to make tea with it or maybe a simple syrup, but days pass and the poor ginger becomes no longer usable. To avoid wasting this flavorful root, The Kitchn recommends grating the leftover pieces into small portions and freezing them. The frozen flavor bombs can then be added to soups, stir fries, and even smoothies. 

Although this is an easy and low effort trick, it may not be quite convenient enough to convince us to actually do it. Per usual, Trader Joe's does the extra work for us and sells packs of pre-grated frozen ginger cubes. And people are raving about these potent morsels on social media, so thank you, Trader Joe's, for realizing that when it comes to cooking, the limit to our laziness does not exist.

The advantage of Trader Joes' huge following is that shoppers are always eager to share the best food hacks and helpful reviews about new products — to the benefit of us all. Unsurprisingly, there is an entire Subreddit (r/traderjoes) for fans of the store to divulge their favorite recipes, tips, and more. While it's not officially affiliated with the brand, nonetheless it's an endless source of information related to TJ's. One of the products that fans love across the board and have posted about a lot is the frozen ginger.

One shopper started a thread dedicated to the flavorful cubes because they were frustrated with microplaning ginger, and they found that this product provided an elegant solution. "I love this product and just made incredible chicken miso ramen so much better [because] of two cubes of ginger in the broth," the author of the post said. "I love the ginger because I only buy ginger if I need it for something specific but sometimes I want to throw something together like a ramen or a stir fry and I'm like OH YES I DO HAVE SECRET GINGER," another Reddit user added. And one pondered, "Yes! I wish they made other frozen herbs. Flash-frozen basil to throw in pasta? Yes please!" Count us in for that idea!

On another Reddit thread, a shopper bought the frozen ginger by mistake and sought advice for the best ways to use it. "I love it for my curries like panang, red, and green. It's similar in concept to minced garlic so I'll usually throw it in while I'm sautéing chicken or simmering a sauce," recommended one person. The possibilities really are endless.