15 Korean Vegetable Side Dishes

August 21, 2016

A collection of 15 delicious Korean vegetable side dishes (banchan) you can make at home!
15 Korean vegetable banchan dishesHere’s a collection of easy and healthy Korean vegetable side dishes (banchan, 반찬)! Mostly vegan! While these are staple dishes on the Korean table (bapsang, 밥상) that are enjoyed year round, they are certainly better with summer’s abundant fresh vegetables.

This comprehensive list covers many Korean cooking techniques (blanching, steaming, braising, and stir-frying) for vegetables and typical seasonings used for different vegetable side dishes. Whether you’re looking for a simple side dish or two for your Korean grilling, or an array of side dishes for other Korean meals, these banchan will complement just about any main dish!

If you make a few of these side dishes and have some left over, make bibimbap or tofu bibimbap. 

1. Kongnamul Muchim (Seasoned Soybean Sprouts)

Kongnamul muchim (Soybean Sprout Side Dish)

 
2. Sigeumchi Namul (Seasoned Spinach)

Korean spinach side dish

 
3. Oi Muchim (Spicy Cucumber Salad)

Oi Muchim (Spicy Cucumber Side Dish)

 
4. Hobak Bokkeum (Stir-fried Zucchini)

Hobak bokkeum (stir-fried zucchini)

 
5. Gaji Namul (Steamed Eggplants)

Gaji Namul (Eggplant side dish)

 
6. Sukju Namul (Seasoned Bean Sprouts)

Sukju namul (seasoned bean sprouts)

 
7. Oi Bokkeum (Stir-fried Cucumbers)

Korean side dish stir-fried cucumbers

 
8. Watercress Namul

Watercress namul

 
9. Mu Saengchae (Spicy Radish Salad)

Mu Saengchae (Korean Radish Salad)

 
10. Gamja Jorim (Braised Potatoes)

Gamja jorim (Soy braised potatoes)

 
11. Putbaechu (Young Cabbage) Doenjang Muchim 

putbaechu doenjang muchim photo

 
12. Mu Namul (Stir-fried Radish)

Mu namul (radish side dish)

 
13. Sesame Broccoli 

Sesame Broccoli

 
14. Gaji Bokkeum (Stir-fried Eggplants)

stir-fried eggplants

 
15. Mu Saengchae (Sweet and Sour Radish Salad) 

Musaengchae (Sweet and sour radish salad)

 

See here for a complete list of side dishes.

Filed Under: Recipes, Side Dish Tagged With: , , 23 Comments

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  1. Caroline says:
    August 24, 2016 at 12:35 pm
    Fantastic!
    Reply
  2. Li-Yong says:
    September 2, 2016 at 8:41 am
    Hi Hyosun As usual love this! Here in Singapore, many of the Korean restaurants serve a crunchy lotus root in creamy sesame dressing and also a cold beige opaque'ish jelly (not quite sure what the infusion is). Do you by chance have the recipes for these, or are these localized Singaporean ban chan? Thank you so much! Li-Yong
    Reply
    • 114425park says:
      April 11, 2018 at 8:51 pm
      The jelly is a Korean dish, and can be made a multitude of things, depending on the color, but is essentially just bean jelly, often seasoned due to the fact that it has little flavor on its own.
      Reply
  3. Bob Mahoney says:
    October 3, 2016 at 7:14 pm
    Thank you very much
    Reply
  4. NisrinHedar says:
    April 7, 2017 at 10:24 pm
    awesome... now I can make it at home. Thank you so much.. Can I save oi muchim at fridge? Thank you
    Reply
  5. Person says:
    May 16, 2017 at 5:30 pm
    WHERE IS THE KIMCHI?!
    Reply
  6. Gigi T says:
    November 15, 2017 at 9:47 pm
    Hi! It's a nice post btw. I'm gonna work in South Korea next year and wondering if i happen to buy some side dish from gwangjang market and store it in refrigerator, how long those banchan will last before it becomes stale? Thankyou
    Reply
  7. Mary says:
    December 23, 2017 at 6:05 pm
    I have tried 4 of these side dishes so far. Wonderful and so tasty!
    Reply
  8. Rakyan Widhowati says:
    January 12, 2018 at 10:04 am
    Dear Mrs. Hyosun, I'm Indonesian and really enjoy your Korean recipes on your blog! They're delicious at all! I tried some of them ^^ anyway, how long can I keep my sigeumchi namul in my fridge? Is it still fresh if I keep it for 2-3 days? Thank you ^^
    Reply
  9. Ginny says:
    January 18, 2018 at 12:48 pm
    Great looking veggies
    Reply
  10. Nicole says:
    March 18, 2018 at 5:40 pm
    Do you have a recipe for the soy braised black beans? I don’t see them as often when I eat at Korean restaurants but it’s one of my favorites.
    Reply
  11. 114425park says:
    April 11, 2018 at 8:51 pm
    Where's the Kimchi?!
    Reply
  12. Letty says:
    June 6, 2018 at 6:37 am
    My family is beginning to like korean dishes especially my youngest daughter who is a k-pop fanatic...anyway, where can i get the ingredients of each side dishes and how to prepare it? Thank you so much....kamsahamnida!
    Reply
    • Hyosun says:
      June 6, 2018 at 10:41 pm
      If you click on each one of these, you will find the ingredient list for the dish. You can find some of the ingredients in your local grocery store or a Korean/Asian market. Hope you try making some of these and enjoy!
      Reply
  13. Stephen Bernard says:
    August 23, 2018 at 7:17 pm
    I love your website. Two weeks ago, I made your traditional kimchi recipe for the first time. It turned out very salty, I believe because I didn't rinse off the initial salt thoroughly. Otherwise, it's good. I don't want to waste it, so here's what I thought I could do: Chop up the salty kimchi 'ears', make another batch of kimchi with chopped napa cabbage and mix it with the salty batch, reducing the overall salt level. Is there a better way to save the salty batch?
    Reply
  14. Chris J says:
    November 10, 2018 at 10:30 pm
    Seems to me that a lot of Korean dishes flavor profiles include -Sesame seeds or sesame oil -garlic -soy sauce The hard part is finding different banchan to make that don’t all have the same flavor profile...
    Reply
    • Hyosun says:
      November 12, 2018 at 11:14 pm
      That's the beauty of Korean cooking. It creates all sorts of different tasting dishes with a few simple seasoning ingredients highlighting the flavors and textures of the vegetables used. Also, try the ones that use doenjang (fermented soybean paste) and/or gochujang (chili pepper paste) to season the vegetables.
      Reply
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