15 Easy Kimchi Recipes

It’s kimchi making season in Korea! Here’s a collection of 15 easy kimchi recipes you can make right now and all year round. Making good authentic kimchi at home is much easier than you think. This list has something for everyone and every season! 

In late fall, Korean households make a large batch of traditional napa cabbage kimchi (배추), also called pogi kimchi (포기김치), to last through the winter and early spring. Also, it’s very common to make a few other kimchi varieties during this season. This annual kimchi making event is called gimjang (김장, also spelled kimjang). I grew up watching my mother make kimchi with over 100 cabbages for her gimjang. Her friends in the neighborhood would rotate their gimjang schedule to help each other. Most people don’t make that much kimchi anymore, but the tradition of gimjang continues.

Here, I’ve collected 15 of my easy kimchi recipes! There’s something for everyone and every season! You’ll find kimchi recipes with or without gochugaru (red chili pepper flakes), vegan kimchi, kimchi made with other vegetables such as radishes, scallions, cucumbers, etc. These kimchi recipes feature pretty much all you need to know about how to make the most common kimchi types!

1. Traditional napa cabbage kimchi (or pogi kimchi)

This napa cabbage kimchi is the most common kimchi in Korea. To help you start making kimchi at home, I came up with a recipe using one napa cabbage. 

2.  Vegan kimchi

Vegan kimchi that’s as good as the traditional version!

3. white kimchi (baek kimchi)

Made without gochugarau, this traditional white kimchi is light and refreshing! 

4. Mak kimchi (easy kimchi)

Cut up the cabbage, salt, rinse, and mix with the seasoning! Simple, right? That’s what this easy kimchi recipe is about. 

5. Baechu geotjeori (fresh kimchi)

Getjeori is a kimchi that’s made to be eaten fresh without fermentation. It’s a quick, delicious kimchi you can enjoy right after making it! 

6. Yangbaechu kimchi (green cabbage kimchi)

Can’t find napa cabbage where you are? Try this kimchi recipe made with a head of your normal green cabbage. It’s light, crunchy, and refreshing!

7. Kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi)

Kkadugi is the most common kimchi that’s made with Korean radish. Simply cut the radishes into cubes, salt for a short time, and then mix with the seasonings. Easy!

8. Chonggak kimchi (ponytail radish kimchi)

Chonggak kimchi is made with a small variety of white radish with long leafy stems, which is firmer and crunchier than the large varieties. 

9. Quick Dongchimi (radish water kimchi)

Dongchimi (동치미) is a mild water-based kimchi made with a small variety of white radish called dongchimi mu. 

10. Nabak kimchi (water kimchi with napa cabbage and radish)

Nabak kimchi is a type of water kimchi that’s made with thinly sliced radish squares and other vegetables. It is easy to make, yet deliciously refreshing! 

11. Pa kimchi (green onion kimchi)

This easy kimchi made with tender green onions (also called scallions) is a favorite of mine!

12. Buchu kimchi (garlic chives kimchi)

This kimchi made with tender garlic chives (buchu – 부추) is one of the easiest kimchi variety to make! 

13. Oi sobagi (stuffed cucumber kimchi)

Cucumbers are salted and then stuffed with a seasoning mix. Oi sobagi is crisp, crunchy and delicious!

14. Kkaennip kimchi (perilla leaf kimchi)

Kkaennip kimchi is a traditional way to preserve fragrant perilla leaves to be enjoyed during the off season. 

15.Bok choy kimchi

Geotjeori (fresh kimchi) is typically made with napa cabbage. This one is made with tender baby bok choy, cheongyeongchae (청경채) in Korean.