Recipes

This is a library of Korean recipes from my life experience as a Korean home cook: eating, living, cooking, experimenting, fermenting, foraging, learning from my family, friends, people around me, Korean street vendors, restaurants, market stalls, Buddhist monks, and whoever I met who made delicious food that I wanted to learn. : )

These recipes are evolving so I'm always adding new ones and improving old ones. If there's a dish that you want that's not here, please request it. If you're new to Korean cooking, you can check out my Beginner's Guide to Korean Cooking. and if you make something delicious with one of my recipes, you can upload a photo of it to my photo page, or tag it #maangchi on social media.

If you need Korean ingredients, you can find them in Korean grocery stores in your area, or online.

I hope you find something here that you can enjoy with your friends and family! Happy cooking!

Most popular recipes

The all-time most-loved recipes on my website so far!

Recent recipes

The newest recipes that I've published on my website!

Recently updated recipes

These recipes had some improvements made to them recently.

Recipes by category

All the recipes on my website, organized by type:

Side dishes "Banchan" (206 recipes)

Banchan often translated as "side dishes" are an essential part of any Korean meal. They are not just decoration or appetizers: they are the meal, along with soup and rice.

Soups "Guk" (50 recipes)

Korean soup, or guk is an essential element of Korean food culture. Many Koreans feel that along with rice, kimchi, and banchan, no meal is complete without it.

Types of kimchi (20 recipes)

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made of seasoned vegetables and salt. Koreans eat it at nearly every meal. It can be fresh, like a salad, or it can be fermented. While the most popular variety is spicy kimchi made of cabbage, there are hundreds of different types of kimchi made of different vegetables, and not all of them spicy. Kimchi is also a main ingredient in many other Korean dishes.

Rice "Bap" (25 recipes)

Rice is at the center of every Korean meal, with very few exceptions. These recipes express the variety and beauty of the most important grain in Korean cuisine.

Preserved side dishes "Mitbanchan" (36 recipes)

Korean mitbanchan are essential, well-preserved side dishes that can be made in large batches and kept on hand in the fridge for long periods of time. The most well-known example is kimchi. You can make a quick, delicious, nutritious meal with a few portions of mitbanchan served with fresh rice.

Noodles (28 recipes)

Korea has a long history of noodle making and eating. Korean noodles, called "guksu" or "myeon" are everyday food, but also frequently served on birthdays and weddings. Traditionally a long noodle symbolizes a long life, so serving it to someone on their birthday expresses your desire that they live long and happily.

Pancakes "Jeon" (28 recipes)

The Korean word "jeon" is often translated as "pancake," but jeon are not just a breakfast food, they're eaten at all meals as side dishes, or as snacks. At their simplest they're food coated in flour and egg and then pan-fried with a bit of oil. Some incorporate vegetables, meat, and fish into a batter which is pan-fried with a bit of oil. Hoddeok is not jeon, but it's closer to the western idea of a pancake.

BBQ (12 recipes)

The Korean method of grilling beef, pork, chicken, or other types of meat, usually involves having a grill right on (or sometimes in) the table, where people can talk, cook, and eat at the same time. Usually the meat is already cut into small pieces before grilling, and are then wrapped into bite-sized lettuce leaf packages (ssam) with garlic, vegetables, seasoning sauce, salt, and/or sesame oil.

Korean fried chicken "KFC" (8 recipes)

Korean fried chicken is typically crispy and crunchy, achieved by double-frying and with creative batter mixes. It's a modern Korean take-out food and drinking snack often served with beer and pickled radishes called chicken-mu.

Rice cakes "Tteok" (19 recipes)

Rice cake, called tteok in Korean, is a much-loved traditional dish with many many variations. No festival day, anniversary, or celebrations is complete without them. They are very chewy, and may be an acquired taste, but once you get hooked you'll crave them all the time.

Lunchbox items "Dosirak" (46 recipes)

Dosirak (also spelled "doshirak") are Korean packed lunchboxes, usually made at home, but sometimes store-bought. They are similar to Japanese bento or Indian tiffin, and are usually made with a few different vegetable and meat side dishes, some kimchi, and a serving of rice.

Snacks (131 recipes)

Need something delicious to keep you going in between meals? These can be prepared and eaten in a hurry, on the street, in a pub, or on the go.

Drinks (11 recipes)

Koreans have long made punches, teas, and alcoholic beverages at home, using the fruits, grains, and herbs at hand to give them flavor and variety.

Desserts (51 recipes)

Traditionally, Korean meals don't usually have desserts served at the end. The sweet things in this category are meant to be served on special occasions, by themselves as refreshments, or with tea.

Appetizers (61 recipes)

A Korean meal doesn't usually have an appetizer as Western meals do. Side dishes may come out first, but are considered part of the main meal, not as a prelude. These dishes, however, could be used as appetizers in a Western meal.

Main dishes (151 recipes)

Traditionally the main dish of any Korean meal is rice, which is supported by soup and banchan. However, in Korean restaurants these dishes are often presented to customers as main dishes.

Fermented dishes (34 recipes)

Korean cuisine has a long, rich history of fermentation going back thousands of years, and it's part of what makes Korean food distinctly Korean and incredibly delicious. These recipes range from the light and tangy to the deep and complex.

Vegetarian (147 recipes)

Korean cuisine consists of many vegetarian or vegetable-centric recipes that use seasonal, locally sourced vegetables, often foraged.

Spicy Recipes (146 recipes)

Chili peppers were first introduced to Korea in the 16th century, and from there there was no looking back: Koreans love a good spicy dish and use chili peppers in a number of dishes, most famously in many kinds of kimchi.

Pork & porkbones dishes (33 recipes)

For a long time, eating pork was discouraged in Korea, so most uses of the ingredient are relatively recent. Koreans made up for lost time, however, with some truly delicious and iconic pork dishes.

Seafood dishes (75 recipes)

Most of Korea is a small peninsula, so Korean cuisine has a wealth of seafood dishes, prepared in many different ways: boiled, braised, roasted, grilled, dried, fermented, and raw.

Staple ingredients (18 recipes)

Some ingredients used in other recipes are traditionally made at home instead of store bought. The quality of homemade is almost always better.