Delicious Ways To Use Kimchi (33 Kimchi Recipes To Enjoy) (2024)

Find delicious ways to use kimchi with this list of 33 kimchi recipes, featuring Korean dumplings, fried rice, omelet, and more!

Kimchi is a popular Korean side dish made using vegetables, chili paste, and other spices.

But did you know there are other ways to use Kimchi besides being served as a side dish?

There are many ways to use kimchi, as evidenced by our list of 33 recipes below.

With these ideas, you don’t have to worry about that huge jar of kimchi you have in your refrigerator.

Before we get into any of the recipes below, let’s first understand what kimchi is.

Kimchi can be made using any type of vegetable, and sometimes even fruit, but the most popularly used vegetable for this side dish is Napa cabbage.

Other regularly used veggies that are turned into this fermented side dish include radish, cucumber, carrots, green beans, and kohlrabi.

Aside from chili paste, kimchi makers also add scallions, ginger, garlic, pear juice, and salt into the mix.

These are all rubbed into the vegetables being made into kimchi.

The fermentation process then begins once these veggies are placed in jugs or jars and left to sit for two days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator.

While it’s easy to make your own kimchi, it’s wiser for you to buy ready-made ones that follow safety standards for kimchi.

Some of my favorite recipes that use kimchi include the traditional Soft Tofu Stew and everyone’s favorite Kimchi Fried Rice.

If you have people coming over for dinner, #31 is a must-try.

Now ready to dig into your stock of kimchi and make these dishes–let’s get to it!

Delicious Ways To Use Kimchi

If the Chinese have shumai, and the Japanese have gyoza, Koreans have mandu.

These dumplings can have any type of filling in them, but kimchi is the one ingredient that all mandu variants must have.

Mandu can be steamed, pan-fried, boiled, and cooked the same way you cook gyoza.

Ingredients include: kimchi, ground pork, firm tofu, and dumpling wrappers

There are many versions of this recipe you can try, but let’s begin with this quick and easy one.

This meatless fried rice recipe is good for 4 people.

Pro tip: When you’re planning to cook fried rice, try to prepare the rice the day before and chill it, so it’s easier to work with.

Ingredients include: kimchi, rice, shiitake mushrooms, and onions.

Another way you can serve kimchi instead of straight out of the bottle is to turn it into slaw.

This recipe combines your usual slaw ingredients with chopped kimchi and its juices to create a sweet and spicy dish.

You can use this slaw on burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, and fried chicken to give your meals a Korean twist.

Ingredients include: kimchi, Napa cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, and bean sprouts.

Called Budae Jjigae, this stew is a dish that combines processed meats with ramen noodles and kimchi.

It’s called army stew because it was made after the Korean war using processed meats found in US army bases.

It’s considered the first American Korean fusion dish.

Ingredients include: kimchi, Spam, Vienna sausage, pork and beans, hot dogs, and ramen noodles.

Another marriage of American and Korean flavors that’s bound to wow everyone!

It gives your everyday mac and cheese a different flavor altogether, with notes of sourness and spiciness mixing in with the briny and creamy.

Ingredients include: kimchi, elbow macaroni, gochujang, and cheese.

This dish, which is also called kimchijeon, can be enjoyed at any time of the day and not just at breakfast.

It combines the usual pancake ingredients with kimchi, vegetables, and proteins like tuna, bacon, or squid.

This savory pancake dish can be pulled together in as little as 15 minutes, so it can be made as a quick meal for when you’re in a hurry.

Ingredients include: kimchi, eggs, flour, onions, tuna, and Gochugaru.

If you love Vietnamese rolls, you’ll surely enjoy this dish with a kimchi twist.

This recipe combines crunchy vegetables, creamy avocado, and spicy kimchi.

Ingredients include: kimchi, carrots, cremini mushrooms, avocado, and rice paper.

Here’s one of the ways you can use kimchi when you want a sandwich for a snack or lunch.

This panini uses sauteed kimchi instead of just using it straight from the jar.

Ingredients include: kimchi, carrots, tenderloin, Asian pear, and kaiser rolls

Another quick and easy dish that can be made using kimchi is this one.

It’s a 5-ingredient recipe that can be tweaked with the addition of other fillings.

Ingredients include: kimchi, eggs, cheddar, scallions, and sesame oil.

Chicken and kimchi go great together.

This is probably one of the reasons why this dish came about.

You get a low-calorie meal with this recipe, and if served with cauliflower rice, it’s keto-friendly too.

Ingredients include: kimchi, zucchini, boneless chicken breast, garlic, ginger, and green onions.

In Asian countries, the snacks served alongside alcoholic beverages are more substantial than peanuts.

One example is this dish that combines fried or boiled firm tofu with stir-fried kimchi.

Ingredients include: kimchi, firm tofu, pork belly, chili flakes, and green onion.

Udon with kimchi can be made in two ways–in soup and stir-fry form.

This recipe is the stir-fry one and is one of the quickest and easiest to make on this list.

Ingredients include: kimchi, udon noodles, mayo, soy sauce, gochujang, and any protein.

Called Soondubu Jjigae in Korea, this soup/stew is spicy, filling, and oh-so-satisfying.

It can contain any type of protein you want, plus mushrooms and a whole egg on top.

Ingredients include: kimchi, mushrooms, and any protein.

If you’re looking for an easy soup to make with chicken broth, kimchi, and some eggs, this is it!

This egg drop soup is so effortless to make–it can be ready and on your table in 15 minutes.

You can also add vegetables like carrots and scallions to it if you want.

Ingredient include: kimchi, chicken broth, miso paste, and eggs.

Tired of your usual side salad at dinner?

Why not try this Korean lettuce salad instead?

It’s spicy, fresh, and has loads of umami.

Ingredients include: kimchi, lettuce, fish sauce, white vinegar, and gochugaru.

Looking to satisfy your craving for Korean food without too much effort?

This recipe will do just that with the help of ready-made kimchi too!

Ingredients include: kimchi, fried pork belly, scallions, gochujang, and rice.

If summer rolls are soft and use mostly raw ingredients, this recipe is the exact opposite.

These crispy rolls are similar to spring rolls but use rice paper (the same kind you use for summer rolls).

If you want a non-vegan crispy rice roll, you can always add shrimp, cooked ground pork, or even sliced pork belly to each roll before frying.

Ingredients include: kimchi, rice paper, carrots, vegan cheeses, and gochujang.

For those who love to cook using their slow cookers, like me, this one’s worth trying.

After four hours, you have a delectable dish you can serve on top of rice.

Ingredients include: kimchi, chicken thighs, ginger, sake, chicken broth, and onions.

These stuffed sweet potatoes are great as a side dish or a vegetarian main dish.

If you want to turn this into a main dish that isn’t vegetarian, add some proteins like bacon, ground beef, or sliced grilled chicken to the filling.

Ingredients include: kimchi, edamame, sweet potatoes, spinach, and green onions.

Another way you can combine sweet potatoes with kimchi is by making potato pancakes with them.

Called latkes, these potato pancakes are savory, sour, crispy, and utterly yummy!

Ingredients include: kimchi, sweet potatoes, kale, eggs, flour, and shallots.

If you’ve ordered Korean-style burgers from local burger joints near you, then you’d have noticed that what makes it Korean is the use of kimchi.

This recipe emulates that same thinking and gives beefy burger goodness with that unique Korean flavor that can only come from kimchi.

Ingredients include: kimchi, ground beef, burger buns, cucumbers, lettuce, gochujang, and mayonnaise.

Bibim guksu, as this dish is sometimes called, is a type of noodle salad that uses a variety of condiments in its sauce.

It uses thin wheat noodles called somyeon, but you can substitute this with soba or angel hair pasta.

Ingredients include: kimchi, wheat noodles, fish sauce, gochujang, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and cucumber.

For a quick kimchi fix, this grilled cheese sandwich spruced up with a spoonful of kimchi should do the trick!

The bread used here is sourdough, but you can use other crusty or artisanal bread for this recipe.

Ingredients include: kimchi, crusty bread slices, gruyere and American cheese slices, bacon, and butter.

Another pasta dish that has kimchi in it?

Yes please!

This dish is a Korean version of the creamy and cheesy pasta carbonara, using raw eggs and parmesan for its sauce.

Ingredients include: kimchi, any noodle-type pasta, bacon, eggs, parmesan, and butter.

Another Italian favorite that gets a Korean makeover is pizza.

You don’t need to break out the hot sauce for this pie since it already comes with loads of fiery heat from the kimchi and the gochujang.

For a less fiery version, omit the gochujang.

Ingredients include: kimchi, pizza crust, mozzarella cheese, pizza sauce, kielbasa sausage, and gochujang.

Congee is the Asian alternative to chicken soup and is a comfort food for most Asians.

This recipe is great for those rainy nights when it’s cold outside, and you need something warm but not greasy in your tummy.

For non-vegan versions, you can add any protein you want and chicken or pork stock.

Ingredients include: kimchi, rice, mushroom stock, vegan ground pork, and tofu skins.

Traditional bibimbap usually has beef or pork in it.

This version, however, is vegetarian and uses mushrooms and tofu in place of the meat.

For a non-vegetarian version, sauteed beef or pork can be substituted for the tofu.

Ingredients include: kimchi, pickled radish, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, bean sprouts, and cucumber.

Another slow cooker recipe you can make when you’re on a tight schedule is this one.

Simply drop all ingredients in your slow cooker and come back in 6 hours to a dish that you can use in sandwiches or partner with plain white rice.

Ingredients include: kimchi, pork tenderloin, ginger, garlic, green onions, and chicken stock.

If you love Korean food and you love ramen, what better way to enjoy both than with this dish?

This is another one of the ways to use kimchi that’s quick and easy to do.

Ingredients include: kimchi, ramen noodles, eggs, mushrooms, garlic, and gochugaru.

Want another vegetable dish you can make even more special with kimchi?

This Brussels sprouts recipe is a great side dish to serve with any kind of meat.

Ingredients include: kimchi, Brussels sprouts, sesame seeds, honey, and gochujang.

Tired of your usual buffalo wings?

Why not try this baked recipe that uses oriental spice mixes and flavors?

Ingredients include: kimchi, chicken wings, butter, miso paste, maple syrup, and gochugaru

Let’s add another meaty recipe to this list.

This time, it’s beef with kimchi cooked for at least an hour in beef broth flavored with kimchi.

Ingredients include: kimchi, beef tenderloin, gochujang, mirin, carrots, ginger, and beef broth.

If there are Korean American and Korean Italian fusion dishes, this one can be considered Korean Mexican.

Sweet, spicy, savory, and fresh, this recipe is sure to become a steady favorite in your home.

Ingredients include: kimchi, flatiron steak, gochujang, honey, garlic, and corn tortillas.

The bottom line

This list of 33 ways to use kimchi will come in handy when you have a huge jar of kimchi sitting in your refrigerator.

Start experimenting with these recipes today to discover just how versatile this fermented dish can be.