This comforting vegetarian kimchi fried rice is an easy dish made with leftover cooked rice. A delicious and quick meal with amazing Korean flavors.
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This recipe is sponsored by Souschef. Souschef is an amazing British online store where you can find high quality ingredients, cookware, tableware and gifts for foodies. It’s a great place to find ingredients from a variety of cuisines.
Souschef is one of my go-to places to find Korean food, such as kimchi, noodles and sesame seeds. You can find the kimchi I used in this recipe on their website.
🥘 Ingredients
To make this delicious vegetarian kimchi fried rice, you will need leftover cooked rice, frozen green peas, kimchi, garlic, onion and vegetable oil.
Additionally, you will need scallions, toasted sesame seeds and fried or poached eggs to garnish the dish with. These can be omitted if you have an allergy, but I highly recommend including them as these ingredients all bring so much flavor to the dish. The toasted sesame seeds are particularly important for the ultimate fried rice experience.
🍲 Kimchi
Kimchi is Korean pickled cabbage in a spicy tomato sauce. It’s often used as a condiment or cooking ingredient, and there are many varieties of kimchi made with different ingredients.
When making fried rice with kimchi, the kimchi will actually make up the majority of the flavor. Both the cabbage pieces and kimchi juice from the jar are used to form a tasty and easy stir fry sauce.
🔪 Instructions
Start by heating up the oil in a wok or large skillet on medium to high heat. Then add the leftover cooked rice along with finely minced garlic and diced onion. Stir fry these for a minute or two, until the onion is soft and translucent.
Then, add the frozen green peas and kimchi to the wok, and stir fry for another 3-4 minutes. All ingredients, including the peas, should be heated through before removing the stir fry from the heat.
Serve the kimchi fried rice with sliced scallions, toasted sesame seeds and optionally a fried or poached egg on top.
💭 Top tips
Here are my top tips to succeed with this recipe:
- You can use any leftover cooked medium or long grain rice, such as basmati or jasmine rice. Avoid using arborio rice or other short grain rice.
- Feel free to use leftover rice that’s been stored in a refrigerator from yesterday’s dinner. If you don’t have any leftover rice, you can boil rice and immediately transfer it to the hot skillet.
🥗 Serving suggestions
Vegetarian kimchi fried rice is delicious served as is in a large bowl. Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy this dish:
As a main: Serve it as a main course either on its own, or accompanied by a side such as roasted broccoli and carrots.
As a side: Fried rice is also an amazing side dish to serve along with dumplings, air fryer orange chicken or any other main you like.
📖 Variations
Fried rice can be varied endlessly based on which ingredients you have available. Here are some of my favorite variations of this dish:
Egg free: The egg is completely optional, and can be replaced if you prefer.
Sesame and nut free: Omit the sesame seeds if you have an allergy.
Other vegetables: You can use any diced cooked vegetables, or small frozen pieces of vegetables. Feel free to replace the peas with any other vegetable you have at hand, such as mushrooms, shredded carrots or mangetout.
🍲 Leftovers
You can store leftover vegetarian kimchi fried rice in airtight containers in a refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Serve the leftovers cold, or warm them up in a microwave or skillet before serving.
If you wish to serve the fried rice with an egg on top, I highly recommend frying the egg before serving, instead of storing the leftovers with an egg. A freshly fried egg tastes much better than a cold one!
🍴 You might also like these recipes..
If you love healthy stir fry recipes, you should try any of these recipes:
📋 Frequently asked questions
Kimchi should be stored in a refrigerator once opened so it lasts longer.
Kimchi pairs with a variety of dishes. You can enjoy it with most rice dishes, in salads, in stews or even is pasta sauces!
Recipe
Vegetarian Kimchi Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 cups leftover cooked rice (500 g)
- 1 cup frozen green peas (200 g)
- 1 cup kimchi (350 g)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 2 scallions
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Start by heating up the oil in a wok or large skillet on medium to high heat. Then add the leftover cooked rice along with finely minced garlic and diced onion. Stir fry these for a minute or two, until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Then, add the frozen green peas and kimchi to the wok, and stir fry for another 3-4 minutes. All ingredients, including the peas, should be heated through before removing the stir fry from the heat.
- Serve the kimchi fried rice with sliced scallions, toasted sesame seeds and optionally a fried or poached egg on top.
Notes
Leftovers
You can store leftover vegetarian kimchi fried rice in airtight containers in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Serve the leftovers cold, or warm them up in a microwave or skillet before serving. If you wish to serve the fried rice with an egg on top, I highly recommend frying the egg before serving, instead of storing the leftovers with an egg. A freshly fried egg tastes much better than a cold one!Top tips
- You can use any leftover cooked medium or long grain rice, such as basmati or jasmine rice. Avoid using arborio rice or other short grain rice.
- Feel free to use leftover rice that’s been stored in a refrigerator from yesterday’s dinner. If you don’t have any leftover rice, you can boil rice and immediately transfer it to the hot skillet.
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