Homemade Kimchi Recipe

Are you a kimchi lover who’s wondered how to make kimchi at home? I’m walking you through my easy process for making your own kimchi! As a lover of all things fermentation, I’ve perfected this beginner’s kimchi over the years. It has easy-to-find ingredients, step-by-step photo instructions, and dozens of five-star reviews. Let’s ferment!

At its core, kimchi is fermented cabbage. But it’s so much more. It’s spicy and umami and sour and perfect for adding zing to everything from fried rice to tacos!

But making kimchi is anything but a mystery. It’s truly so easy! After years of making it for our family, I’ve developed a method for making kimchi that’s straight-forward, using ingredients that can be found in most Western grocery stores.

Kimchi origins and benefits

Kimchi has been a staple of Korean cuisine for over a thousand years, originally developed as a way to preserve vegetables through the cold winter months when fresh produce wasn’t available. What started as a practical necessity became a defining part of Korean food culture, with regional and seasonal variations passed down through generations.

Beyond its cultural significance, kimchi is a fermented food, which means it naturally develops beneficial bacteria during the fermentation process! The tangy, slightly funky flavor is a byproduct of the same fermentation that makes it good for gut health.

Kimchi…but make it vegan

Traditional kimchi isn’t vegetarian. Most authentic kimchi recipes include fish sauce, which adds umami taste.

To make this kimchi plant-based, I tried two variations without fish sauce: in the first, I simply omitted it, and in the second, I used miso paste instead. Both vegan kimchi variations were delicious, and the recipes are included below!

Key Ingredients

This is just an overview–jump to the recipe for full instructions!

• Napa Cabbage: Otherwise known as Chinese cabbage, this will form the base of the kimchi.
• Non-Iodized Salt: Aim for iodine-free or kosher salt (iodized salt may prevent fermentation and can lead to a metallic taste).
• Korean Pepper Flakes: Otherwise known as gochugaru. Find it online or check out your nearest Asian supermarket. If you’ve looked everywhere and can’t find gochugaru, you can sub hot paprika powder (but I recommend giving gochugaru a try if possible).
• Garlic, Ginger, Green Onions: Our flavor makers! You only have to be in the general vicinity of kimchi to know it contains garlic. That smell 😅
• Sugar: Just a dash of sugar is enough to kickstart the fermentation, giving the bacteria something to “feed” on.
• Carrot or Daikon Radish: Traditional kimchi uses daikon radish for added crunch, though carrot works just as well (use whichever you have access to).

How to make kimchi

The short version: brine napa cabbage in salt for about two hours, rinse it well, then mix it with a blended pepper paste of gochugaru, garlic, ginger, and a few aromatics. Pack everything into a jar, let it ferment at room temperature for a few days, then move it to the fridge once it hits the level of tang you like.

For the full step-by-step instructions, jump down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post!

Tips for How to Make Kimchi

Rinse the cabbage thoroughly. Under-rinsed cabbage will make your finished kimchi too salty. Taste a piece before moving on, it shouldn’t taste overtly salty, just well seasoned.

Use gloves when mixing. Gochugaru stains and lingers on skin. A pair of food-safe gloves saves your hands the cleanup and the smell.

How to serve kimchi

Kimchi is endlessly versatile once it’s ready. Stir it into kimchi fried rice for a quick weeknight meal, or use it as the base for a comforting bowl of Korean kimchi soup. It also works folded into cauliflower fried rice for a lower-carb spin, or served simply as a side dish alongside any rice-based meal, the way it’s traditionally enjoyed in Korean cuisine.

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Serving ideas

Kimchi is great served on its own as a side dish of sorts, but you can also use it as a condiment or topping on a bunch of recipes! Here are our favorite ways to use kimchi, from Korean cooking to unique twists:

Kimchi Tempeh Tacos

20 minutes

Loaded Kimchi Fries

15 minutes

Kimchi Soup Recipe | Kimchi-Jjigae

30 minutes

15-Minute Kimchi Fried Rice

15 minutes