A weeknight dinner win! This quick and easy kimchi soup recipe uses only 7 healthy ingredients and is packed full of satisfying flavors. The recipe uses ground pork, but is versatile and just as tasty with ground chicken or turkey.
Looking for another cozy keto soup? Check out this Keto Beef Stew!
How to make kimchi soup
This recipe is really about as easy as it gets! Here are the steps:
- Brown the ground pork in a stockpot or dutch oven
- Prep the other ingredients while the pork is cooking
- Add in the aromatics and cook for a couple of minutes with the pork
- Mix in the bone broth and kimchi and let it simmer for 10 minutes
Looking for more? We have a bunch of healthy soup recipes!
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What is kimchi made of?
Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish made from salted and fermented vegetables. It is most typically made with cabbage, radish, garlic, onion and other seasonings and spices like ginger and chili flakes or powder.
Not only is kimchi delicious and flavorful. There are 100’s of different varieties of kimchi made with different vegetables and spices for a wide range of tastes and flavors.
Is kimchi keto friendly?
There are many varieties of kimchi made with different ingredients so not all types are keto friendly. You will need to read the labels to check for total carbs and make sure it falls in line with your dietary needs.
A lot of brands use sugar in the fermentation process, so be on the lookout for any added sugars which will increase the net carb amounts.
Here are a few of our favorite kimchi brands:
Wildbrine Korean Kimchi (keto friendly) – This is a very tasty mix that’s a bit on the spicy side.
Firefly Kitchens Kimchi (keto friendly) – A mild version that’s also vegan because it doesn’t use any fish sauce.
Lucky Foods Seoul Kimchi – They use sugar in the fermentation process so these have a few carbs per serving. This brand has several different flavor options to try and can be ordered through Amazon.
INGREDIENT TIP: If you are looking for a quality bone broth to use in this recipe, check out our comprehensive bone broth review post.
Meal Planning + Prep
This kimchi soup is a great option for meal prep! You can make a big pot in under 30 minutes over the weekend and use the leftovers for lunches or dinners during the week.
This soup will also last for about a week in the refrigerator. To reheat, simply toss it in the microwave (with a paper towel cover to prevent splattering) to warm it up. Or you can just reheat it in a pan on the stove.
It’s also freezer friendly if that’s your preferred method for meal prep. Just freeze the soup and let it thaw out in the fridge when you are ready to heat it up and eat it.
Your Turn To Try Our Kimchi Soup
Got a busy weeknight coming up? Or want to meal prep some lunches to take to work? Make this kimchi soup! It’s super quick and easy to make, just 25 minutes! Leave a comment below to let us know how it goes. Also, take a pic to share on Instagram! Tag us @realsimplegood so we can see, we love to see what you’re cooking!
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25 Minute Kimchi Soup (Keto Friendly)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork, (can sub ground chicken or turkey or even any leftover pork)
- 4 green onions, diced, (the white and green parts are used in separate steps)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, grated on a microplane
- 1/2 cup kimchi juice, (approximate, just use whatever you can drain from the jar)
- 2 cups kimchi (drained and roughly chopped)
- 4 cups beef broth
Instructions
- Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and add pork. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is almost cooked through, about 6-7 minutes.
- While the pork is cooking, prepare the onions, garlic, ginger and kimchi as noted.
- When the pork is almost browned, add in the white part of the green onions, garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the kimchi, kimchi juice and beef broth and bring the pot to a low boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with diced green onion. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Add shiitake mushrooms and zucchini to this and it will change your life.Â
My first adventure with kimchi and it won’t be my last! I used veggie broth instead because of a beef sensitivity, and it was delicious. Great flavors. My husband added some hot sauce for a zip of spice.
Just made this delicious soup tonight. I used the spicy kimchi and added some carrots and mushrooms and extra onions. My family loved it and the spice was perfect!! Yum!!
Love the additions of carrots and mushrooms, thanks for coming back to leave a review 🙂
Made this simple soup for lunch with substitutions of rotisserie chicken and sliced red onion. Usually have all other ingredients on hand but it worked out fine. Great for a windy winter day. 😋
SO happy you enjoyed it! And rotisserie chicken sounds delicious with it. Thanks so much for coming back to leave a rating and review! 🙂
Made this today for a super speedy and satisfying lunch. Used good quality beef bone broth and added some Napa cabbage that was starting to head south and it was delicious! I used mild kimchi but next time I’m using spicy because this recipe can handle the spice.
We’re so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for giving it a try, and thanks for coming back to leave a rating. We really appreciate it! And agree…you’ll enjoy spicy kimchi next time! 😉
I made this tonight! It was exactly what I hoped it would be! Going into my favorites! Thank you!
Can I use ground ginger? My local grocery store was out of ginger root :/
Yes you can, just use less. Around 1 tsp ground should work. Enjoy!
THIS recipe is FANTASTIC!! Quick, easy, and delish!! Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome Kara!
One of my go to’s from this site! So flavorful for only a few ingredients!
Made this tonight and it was awesome. I did add a whole yellow onion diced and a cup of mushrooms. I sautéed them with the meat and it was delicious. Will definitely become a regular while I am on Whole 30.
This is delicious!
So happy you enjoyed it 🙂
I buy Mother-In-Law’s kimchi as I think it’s the best, however, it has no juice! I’m hoping it’s spiciness and funkiness will be plenty for the flavor of the soup without juice.
I bet it will work just fine! You might just add a little extra broth in to add more liquid. Hope you enjoy!
I made this soup tonight and while I agree that boiling the kimchi destroys its health benefit, I see the the taste value as well. I added it late after boiling and I did add extra cabbage for a heartier soup. This was a delicious recipe and I will make it again. If your looking for full kimchi probiotic value…. grab two containers at the store and eat one cold…I snacked on some raw while cooking and it made me only want the soup more. 🙂
Kim – It sounds like we are on the same page and we’re glad you enjoyed the recipe! Great idea to grab two jars and add extra cabbage 🙂
I am looking forward to making this tomorrow! However, I couldn’t find ground pork so i bought a pork tenderloin. I was going to put that in the slow cooker in the morning and shred it. I am sure that will be just as good right?? Thanks!!!
Yeah! That should be great!! Now, we’re kind of jealous and wish we were having that tomorrow, too! Let us know how you like it! 🙂
made it last night and it was super yummy! even our 2,5 year old daughter loved it 🙂
Yay! That’s so great to hear! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and share! 🙂
This recipe is great in concept, however, boiling kimchi will kill all the amazing gut-friendly bacteria inherently present in it and radically diminish its flavor. To preserve the flavor and live enzymes, prepare the soup as directed, reserving the kimchi, then remove the soup from the heat and only add the kimchi after it has cooled off a lot. I’m not saying that you have to wait until it’s cold, but keep in mind that the hotter it is, the more live enzymes you’re going to kill, which is the main reason kimchi is such an awesome food in the first place. Cheers!
While I understand your point on the bacteria, for flavor reasons (mainly that we wanted the soup hot) we chose to simmer the kimchi and it tastes great!