There is no shortage of kimchi recipes online, and I have tried plenty of them. What I kept running into were recipes that assumed you already own a Korean pantry and a free Saturday for hunting down specialty ingredients. This vegetarian kimchi recipe is the one I actually make on a regular Tuesday. It is simple, every ingredient comes from a normal grocery store, and it turns into a jar of something genuinely delicious on your counter.
Why this easy vegetarian kimchi recipe works
How could anything made of cabbage, radish, garlic, onion, and ginger not be a healthy choice? Those are the star ingredients here. On their own they offer real nutritional value, and once they ferment, as they do in this vegetarian kimchi, the dish becomes what many people would honestly call a power food. Anthony and I eat some form of fermented vegetable with dinner most nights of the week, and this is the batch that disappears fastest.
The fermentation works through lactobacilli, the same friendly bacteria behind sauerkraut and most homemade ferments. Probiotics are known to support the immune system, calm inflammation, and help your gut do its job. Kimchi has also been studied for antioxidant, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic properties. Add vitamin C, B vitamins, beta carotene, calcium, potassium, iron, and dietary fiber, and you can see why we keep a jar going at all times. If you want the full picture, this piece on how making your own probiotic foods is good for you is a solid starting point, and we walk through the basics in our guide to making your own probiotics at home.
Already love cabbage? If you want to make your own sauerkraut, try this recipe. It uses the same fermentation principles with an even shorter ingredient list.
One honest warning before we start. Kimchi, like most fermented foods, has an odor that takes some getting used to. Fermented cabbage has a smell that is entirely its own. My wife noticed it before she noticed anything else about the process, and now she says the smell just means the jar is working.
Vegetarian kimchi recipe ingredients
Here is the full list. Nothing on it should require a specialty store, and the persimmon or apple is what replaces the sweetness and depth that fish sauce usually provides in traditional kimchi.
- 1 head napa cabbage, cut into 1/4 sections, slicing off the bottom
- 1/4 cup salt, divided
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped or grated
- 1 small white onion, peeled and chopped
- 3 green onions, minced
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- A ripe persimmon or apple, chopped
- A small radish, shredded
- 1 cucumber, diced (optional)
A quick word on equipment
You need one large bowl, a blender, and a wide mouth mason jar. A cabbage tamper or sauerkraut packer makes the packing step much easier, though a clean fist works in a pinch. We own the tamper and still use it for every batch.
Making the delicious fermented dish
- Rinse cabbage well. Place the cabbage in a large bowl. Pull cabbage slices apart without breaking up the cabbage too much, and sprinkle salt between layers. Use about 1/3 of the salt. Set aside for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, lightly massage the cabbage, again without breaking too many of the pieces apart. Add another 1/3 of your salt during the process. Set aside for 15 mins.
- Repeat the last step and use the rest of your salt. The goal here is to create a liquid in the bottom of the bowl. You are trying to produce enough liquid to cover the mixture AFTER you place it into a mason jar. If you do not have a substantial amount of liquid at this point, set aside for another 15 mins and massage again, but no more salt.
- Repeat this process until you have a good amount of liquid at the bottom of the bowl. You should not have to add water.
- Combine the garlic, ginger, and onion in a blender with a little water (about 2 tablespoons). Blend on high speed until smooth.
- Stir together the rinsed drained cabbage, garlic-ginger mixture, minced green onions, cayenne pepper, persimmon, radish, and cucumber and mix well.
Pack the jar with your kimchi
Now it is time to pack the jar for your vegetarian kimchi. Grab a handful of kimchi and place it into the jar. You can use a tamper, another utensil, or just press it down with your hand. This is why a wide mouth jar helps so much. Keep adding handfuls of kimchi and press the air out as you go. Pour any remaining brine into your jar and leave a couple of inches at the top for expansion. If you need to, you can add more brine.
After you have packed all the kimchi into the jar, you have to keep every bit of vegetable under the brine. If the kimchi is exposed to oxygen, it will mold. There are many ways to accomplish this, and we have tried most of them.
Natures Way: Fold a large cabbage leaf so it fits the edges of your jar. Gently press it down under the brine, as much as possible. The Cheap & Easy Plastic Way: Use a plastic sandwich bag, put some water in it, and press it into your jar. Press all of the air out by pushing the bag against the sides, and add more water if necessary. Cool Inventions Way: Glass fermentation weights are a creative and affordable way to keep your veggies out of the oxygen.
Lid options
You can use the matching jar lid, and if you do there are two ways to go about it. First, keep the lid on loosely so the gases can escape. Second, put it on tightly and unscrew it once or twice a day to “burp” the jar. Cheesecloth or another breathable material secured with a rubber band around the base of the jar also works fine. Our favorite option is an airlock or vacuum lid. These specialty lids keep oxygen out and let the CO2 escape without any daily babysitting, which matters on the weeks we forget a burping schedule.
Fermenting crocks worth a look
Mason jars are how most people start, and honestly they are all you need. But if this hobby grabs you the way it grabbed us, you can also use these gorgeous fermenting crocks for your kimchi. They hold bigger batches and look far better sitting on a counter.
German made fermenting crock
- Quality and safe keramik pot which is fired at 1260 c
- Pot comes with thick base and wall which makes it stable and durable
- Natural lactic acid fermentation is one of the oldest and healthiest means of food preservation
- The base is 0.6″ (1.5cm) thick for strength and stability, the walls are approximately 0.4″ thick
- Lead free glaze
Blue cherry blossom porcelain crock for fermenting kimchi
- Made of fine porcelain
- It has two lids
- It is for making and keeping pickles, not for cooking
- 100% lead free
Polish Pottery Fermenting Crock
- Dimensions: Height: 6″ (with no lid) Capacity: 7 cups
- Boleslawiec white clay molded and painted by hand
- Polish Pottery is oven-, dishwasher-, stove-, and microwave-safe, lead and cadmium free, and resistant to chips
Medium Porcelain Fermenting Crock
- Made of fine porcelain, hand painted
- It has two lids: one for cover, one that seals to keep the best flavor, and both can be water sealed
- It is for making and keeping pickles, not for cooking
- Size: 10.5″H, 8″Dia Capacity: 3.5 Liter
How long does it take for kimchi to ferment?
After a few days to about a week, your vegetarian kimchi will be ready. How long you let it ferment is strictly your preference. I prefer around 4 to 5 days, but that varies for everyone and depends on your environment. Elevation, temperature, and humidity all affect the ferment, so trust your taste buds more than any calendar. Start tasting on day three and pull it whenever it hits the sourness you like.
Once it tastes right, move the jar to the refrigerator, which slows the fermentation way down. Serve this vegetarian kimchi as a side dish or work it into a main dish. Kimchi and eggs is our house favorite, and it is excellent stirred through fried rice.
Vegetarian kimchi recipe FAQ
What makes this kimchi vegetarian? Traditional kimchi usually gets its depth from fish sauce or salted shrimp. This recipe skips both and leans on the garlic, ginger, and onion paste plus a ripe persimmon or apple for sweetness. You lose nothing that matters, and nobody who has eaten at our table has ever asked where the fish sauce went.
How spicy is this vegetarian kimchi recipe? However spicy you want it to be. Cayenne pepper is added to taste, so start with a teaspoon for a mild batch and work up from there. Kimchi should tingle, not punish.
Do I need a fermenting crock to make kimchi? No. A wide mouth mason jar with a weight or a water-filled sandwich bag does the job for a first batch. The crocks above are worth considering once you are fermenting every couple of weeks and want bigger batches with less fuss.
How should I store kimchi after it ferments? In the refrigerator, with the vegetables kept under the brine. It keeps for weeks and keeps developing flavor the whole time. Older kimchi turns sourer, which makes it perfect for cooking rather than eating fresh.
More Power Foods to try
Once your kimchi is on the counter, the fermentation bug tends to spread. A few more reads from around the site: our guide to what tepache is and how to ferment it, how to grow sunflower sprouts indoors, growing your own mushrooms, why microgreens deserve the shelf space, and our favorite spirulina smoothie recipes. You can also follow Permie Power Foods on Pinterest to see what we are fermenting next.
