A collection of easy, delicious Korean vegan recipes for your healthy eating!
Happy New Year! For those of you who are looking for Korean vegan recipes, here’s a collection of easy, delicious recipes! From kimchi to noodles, this list features a nice variety of recipes for your Korean vegan table! Even if you are not on a vegan or vegetarian diet, these recipes will help you add more plant-based foods to your diet for a healthy New Year.
If you think Korean food is all about BBQ meat and fried chicken, think again! Traditionally, Korean cuisine relies heavily on grains, legumes, and vegetables. Meat was scarce, so our ancestors didn’t eat so much meat as we do in modern days.
Also, Korean temple cooking is entirely plant-based, using seasonal ingredients which are mostly grown in temple grounds or harvested from fields and mountains.No meat or seafood allowed! Due to the long history of Buddhism in Korea, temple cuisine (사찰음식) is deeply incorporated into traditional Korean cuisine.
For these reasons, so many classic Korean dishes are naturally vegan (or vegetarian) or can easily be veganized!
This list doesn’t include all the vegan banchan included in my15 Korean Vegetable Side Dishes. Check them out as well! They are very easy to make and will complement just about any main dish!
1. Vegan Kimchi
2. Beoseot Gangjeong (Sweet Crispy Mushrooms)
4. Oi Muchim (Spicy Cucumber Salad)
5. Gamja Jorim (Braised Potatoes)
6. Zucchini Dumplings (Hobak Mandu)
7. Hobak Buchim (Zucchini Pancake)
9. Tofu Gimbap
11. Tofu bibimbap
12. Deulkkae Soondubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew with Perilla Seeds)
13. Jangajji (Vegetable Pickles)
14. Beoseot Jeongol (Mushroom Hotpot)
15.Stir-fried lotus roots with peppers and mushrooms
More vegan recipes
Mu Doenjangguk (Radish Soybean Paste Soup)
Miyeok Muchim (Seaweed Salad)
Oi Naengguk (Chilled Cucumber Soup)
Dongchimi (Radish Water Kimchi)
Nabak Kimchi (Mild Kimchi in Broth)
Ueong Jorim (Braised Burdock Root)
Oiji (Korean Pickcled Cucumbers)
Yeongeun Jorim (Sweet Soy Braised Lotus Roots)
Doraji Namul (Sautéed Bellflower Roots)
Chwinamul Bokkeum (Stir-fried Aster Scaber)
Danpatjuk (Sweet Red Bean Porridge)
Hobakjuk (Pumpkin Porridge)
Kongguksu
This vegan recipe roundup was originally posted in January 2019. Here, I’ve updated it here for 2021.
Lea says
Thank you for these! I recently moved across the country and I don’t get to have my grandmother’s Korean food anymore so I am really excited to try these to cure some homesickness.
craig wier says
Lovely new site…
mio says
Thank you very much for these wonderful recipes.
I tried #4 and #7 tonight – both were so delicious. The recipe instruction is also very clear as well. I appreciate your taking your time to prepare them.
I plan to make rest of the items on this page!
Adhira says
this was really helpful for me cause I am a vegetarian (vegan) and I also got know more about korean food
Huiying Chin says
I love all your recipes!! Thank you for making these super yummy vegan versions of my favorite korean side dishes
liz says
I’m so excited to find this page. I’ve been happily making your Hobak Gochujang Jigae without the crab for a couple of years now. I’ll explore these now happily too. Thank you!
Bkhuna says
This is the year where I have begun the journey of eating more plant based food into my diet. I lived in the Tokyo metropolitan area for 11 years when I was in my 30’s and was much healthier. I also made frequent trips to Korea and fell in love with the food.
Unfortunately, in the last 20 years, my diet and my health issues have deteriorated to the point that I’m an overweight Westerner with high blood pressure, gout, and type 2 diabetes.
I was inspired to do something about it when I watched the documentary “Miso Hungry”. I remembered back to the healthier times when I enjoyed the many varieties of tofu, seaweed, miso, pickles and fish.
Thank you for these recipes. I look forward to trying each of them and incorporating them into my life.
Ae3nn says
While some of these recipes are vegan, quite a few are vegetarian but not vegan. Vegetarian refers to dishes which don’t contain any meat. Vegan means that they don’t contain any animal products, including eggs, milk, and honey.
Hyosun says
Hmm which ones have eggs, milk, and/or honey? The only thing I meant to correct for a vegan recipe was hobak buchim, but forgot to do before posting this. It’s been corrected to omit the egg for a vegan version. Please let me know the specific ones you see so I can fix any mistakes. Thanks.
AE3nn says
That was the one I noticed. Glad it has been corrected!