Ginger Shots Recipe
Updated: October 14, 2026, By Swasthi Shreekanth
These Ginger Shots are made with fresh ginger, lemon & a few optional ingredients. I share my Mom’s traditional recipe to make these, the easiest way. Growing up my Mom would make these during the monsoon and winters to keep us warm & comfortable. Though she would say it is Ginger Juice, each serving was literally a shot sized.
About Ginger Shot
Ginger Shot is a small concentrated intensely flavored drink made with fresh ginger root. While a dash of lemon juice tones down the pungent flavors of ginger, honey is soothing & adds the required sweetness. A pinch of black pepper improves the flavor profile, adding a subtle heat.
My homemade Ginger Shots are not too spicy and we have been consuming it for decades as a seasonal winter drink for its warming and soothing properties. These taste very fresh and I feel the bottled/ store bought versions don’t come close to the homemade.
On cold days, I prefer to make these shots fresh every morning as it takes only a few minutes and fresh ginger shots taste much better than the refrigerated or frozen shots. My Mom always made them fresh and served at room temperature. I do the same for my family. So making a large batch and drinking them cold is something I’ve not done.
3 methods to make
Here are 3 ways to make Fresh Ginger Shots. Choose based on the number of servings.
- Grate fresh ginger on a grater, add it to a tea strainer and press down with a spoon to extract the juices. Squeeze lemon juice, stir in honey and black pepper if you want. This method is best when making a 1 to 2 servings.
- Blend together ginger and lemon juice in a blender and then strain it. Mix the other ingredients if you want. Go with this one if you are making more than 3 servings.
- Use a slow juicer/ cold press juicer if you want to make more servings to refrigerate.
Expert Tips
- I’m often asked if it is essential to peel the ginger. Peeling ginger before blending will give you a more palatable ginger shot. The skin of ginger is often bitter and very pungent.
- If you feel the taste of the ginger shots is too intense and strong for your palate, try blending your ginger with fruits like orange, strawberries, blueberries or pears instead of lemon.
- You can also use more fruit to the same amount of ginger mentioned in the recipe. Then it will be a fruity gingery drink inplace of a ginger shot. But you get a more toned down version.
- Omit honey if using sweet fruits.
- The leftover ginger pulp can be added to soups and curries.
If you are a fan of ginger, you may also like these Ginger Milk Tea and Fresh Ginger Root Tea.
Photo Guide
How to make Ginger Shots (Stepwise photos)
1. Begin by rinsing the ginger well under running water. Scrub with a vegetable brush and rinse to remove any mud stuck there. Pat dry with kitchen papers or air dry.
2. Peel the ginger root with a spoon or table knife to remove the skin. Since I was making 3 servings, I peeled the full root. If making a single serving shot, peel only an inch of ginger (about 5 grams) keeping the rest intact so it can be used the next day.
3. Rinse and cut the lemon. Make sure you use fresh cut lemon every day.
4. Begin to grate the ginger.
5. I grate only as needed.
6. Place strainer over a cup and transfer the ginger to a fine strainer. Press down with a spoon to extract juice.
7. You will have clear ginger juice. Divide 15 ml juice to each shot glass.
8. Squeeze the lemon.
9. Mix together ginger juice and lemon juice. Ginger shot is ready at this stage.
10. Adding honey and black pepper is optional. I add 1 tsp per serving.
11. Honey takes a while to dissolve with the other ingredients. Stir it well. The color of your ginger shot depends on the kind of honey used.
Enjoy your ginger shot and you may store the leftovers in the fridge for 2 days.
Recipe Card
Ginger Shots Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 inch (5 grams) ginger (fresh peeled root, 1 tablespoon juice)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (more if preferred, fresh cut)
- 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon (2 to 3 whole) crushed black pepper (optional, preferably freshly crushed)
Method
- Rinse ginger very well under running water. Scrub the ginger well with a vegetable brush and rinse thoroughly.
- Pat dry and peel the skin with a spoon or table knife. Dust off all of the peel.
- Using a Blender/Grinder: If you want to make a large batch of ginger shots, add the peeled ginger to your grinder/blender, black pepper and pour lemon juice. Grind until smooth, strain and stir in honey just before serving.
- Manual Method: Grate it only as required to extract 1 tablespoon ginger juice per serving. Usually 5 grams of peeled ginger gives 1 tablespoon juice.
- Place a strainer over a small cup and add all the grated ginger to it. Press down with a spoon and then squeeze it with your fingers to extract every drop of the juice.
- Then squeeze 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to it. Add honey and black pepper. Give a good stir until honey dissolves.
- Consume ginger shot immediately.
- Using a slow juicer is advisable only if you are making at least 4 to 5 servings of the ginger shots else the quantity will be too little for the machine to crush. Run your slow juice. To the chute, add the ginger immediately followed by the lemon juice. Add back the pulp and then pour the collected ginger shot.
- Serve ginger shot immediately.
Notes
- Nutritional values are with honey and black pepper. To make it sugar free skip honey.
- Easier way to clean and grate ginger: Rinse the whole ginger root and pat it dry. Peel approximately only an inch of the ginger keeping the root intact (without chopping it). Grate the ginger as needed and save the root for the next day. Peel only an inch of it when ever need. This way it is easier to grate as the ginger is long.
- Ginger shots are best consumed at room temperature.
- If the ginger and lemon are too cold, leave them at room temperature for a few hours.
Private Notes
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Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
I’ve been trying out these ginger shots and love them. Thank you for showing how to make single serving because I prefer to make them fresh each day to prevent oxidization
Very glad to know you made them Nandini.
I grated 10 g of peeled fresh ginger and only yielded 1/2 a Tablespoon so just mixed that with 1/2 TBsp lemon very small shot barely a TBsp so i had to have 10g for one person???🥴🥹
Hi Martine,
did you use a fine grater? You need atleast 1 tablespoon ginger juice per shot. Yes like you said use more if your ginger doesn’t yield enough juice
If ginger will be chopped and then blended and then juice extracted from the pulp, why peel ginger beforehand?
Your ginger shots can taste bitter when you blend the peel.
Recipe is awesome, I never had fresh ginger shot before and I loved it. Way better than store bought.
Thank you Ana. Glad you like the ginger shots
I loved it so much, thank you
100%
Thank you
Your recipe guide is very informative and clear. I learned what to avoid and of course how to make a ginger shot.
Thanks Anne.
Nice tips
Excellent drink
It is very clear and simple
Lovely
It is perfect!
Thank you for the many variations of this recipe! I finally decided on chucking the whole ginger, cut up lemon and ground turmeric and Blk pepper into a vitamix, per other suggestions. I added a few drops of liquid monk fruit sweetener.
I had to add about 1/2c water to aid blending. I strained the syrupy pulp and drank a bit mixed with more water- just to clean out the blender. Wow! I plan to add water to the syrup and freeze the pulp in cubes for further use. Thanks for your guidance!🔥❤️
So glad it worked for you Jen. Thank you so much for sharing back the way you made it. It’s going to help others.
Nice
Would you make a large batch of these ginger shots and freeze or refrigerate? Is it effective when you are trying to address issues?
Hi April,
Yes you can if you want for convenience. I don’t freeze or even refrigerate and prefer making them fresh each morning because it takes only 5 mins. You may try out frozen/refrigerated as well.
These look amazing! Can I use dried ground ginger to make the shots. Is it going to taste too strong? I want to make a batch & freeze it for my Mum. Any advice pls?
Pooja,
You can make a instant shot by stirring in half teaspoon ground ginger with 2 tbsps hot water. Stir in lemon juice and honey to taste. I am not sure if you can make a batch and store.
This is my go-to recipe for ginger shots. I’ve made this probably more than a dozen times in the last few months. I’ve even turned my Dad onto enjoying this after making him some. Thanks for posting and teaching me how to make such a satisfying wellness shot.
Happy to read this Mel. Thank you so much!
Why do you peel ginger? isn’t it edible? When you say 5 grams, do I need to use only that quantity per serving? Why do you need honey?
For the last 2 weeks, I have been making these ginger shots for my family of 3. Satsuma are in full season now and we are loving them in these shots. Everyone should try and so easy to make!
Satsuma is fantastic! Thank you for sharing back!
Can I use ground turmeric in this ginger shot? How much would you suggest to make 1 serving? What other changes are required? TIA
Hi Nakul,
Yes you can use half teaspoon ground turmeric per serving. It is best to steep it in 2 tablespoons hot water, let cool down slightly and then add the rest of the ingredients. You don’t need to change anything.
My dad gifted me a slow juicer and this was the first recipe I tried. I used oranges and honey is delicious in this. Storing the shots for a week.
We are glad to know! Thank you Krisha for sharing back