Korean Soups and Stews

This noodle soup is delicious and easy to make and modify for whatever vegetables or protein that you have in your kitchen. It can be made spicy or mild, chunky or smooth, and vegetarian or a meat-lover's version.

Korean Stuffed Chicken Soup with ginseng (Sam Gae Tang) is a delicious, fragrant soup that is surprisingly easy to make. Small whole chickens or Cornish hens are stuffed with sticky rice, garlic and chestnuts and then simmered with ginseng, ginger, and garlic.

Bulgogi jungol is a hearty, delicious one-pot meal that is also a good way to use any leftover marinated bulgogi and vegetables from your fridge. I always have marinated meat in the freezer, and bulgogi jungol is one of the easiest ways to use that beef in an easy Korean stew. For an even heartier meal, add noodles to the pot.

Galbitang is a rich but delicate soup made from short ribs, Korean radish, and glass noodles. Some people like to add some chili seasoning after cooking to give it a little kick, but I prefer it plain with rice and banchan.

This Korean chicken noodle soup is most often served at large feasts like wedding celebrations or banquet dinners. Because noodles represent long life in Korea, this delicious noodle soup is symbolic for marriages and honored guests.

A milky white soup made of long-simmered ox leg bones, seollantang (sullong tang) is a Korean soup that is easy to make but requires a lot of time.

Photo Gallery of Popular Korean Soups and Stews with Recipes Attached.

The light but sweet flavor of this soup comes from dried pollack, which is sold in Korean and Asian markets. It is healthy, very easy to make, and costs almost nothing. You can make a big pot of this soup for less than $5.

Budae Chigae was invented during the famine years of the Korean war and post-war period. Koreans managed to use leftover meat discarded or handed-out from the U.S. army bases to make this dish. It's a recent invention with a thousand variations, but it's mostly a lip-smacking mixture of Western meat, ramen noodles, vegetables, and Korean spices.

Korean Duk Gook, a soup filled with soft Korean rice cakes (Dduk), is always eaten on New Year's Day. Soothing and simple, it takes less than 30 minutes if you use pre-made or store-bought broth. It's also common to add dumplings and/or sliced beef to the soup for a heartier dish.

This cabbage soup is not often found in restaurants but is a staple in Korean households. Healthy, low-fat, and rich in nutrients and vitamins, Baechu Gook is Korean comfort food and is especially popular in the winter months.

Soondubuchigae is a spicy Korean stew that manages to be both hearty and healthy at the same time.

This spicy kimchi stew is served bubbling hot and makes good use of leftover or older kimchi. Fiery hot, hearty, and full of flavor, kimchichigae is great for cold winter days but Koreans can eat it anytime, anywhere.

This spicy soup is a forgiving recipe that I make it when I need a quick soup and only have a few ingredients in the fridge. It can take a variety of different vegetables, noodles, and proteins and will still taste good. This recipe calls for Tofu Shirataki noodles, which are low-carb and low calorie Japanese noodles. But if you are not on a low...

This thick, fragrant stew is a Korean comfort food especially popular in the cold winter months. Korean bean paste (daenjang) is similar to Japanese miso but is much more pungent and powerful. Daenjang chigae is wonderfully hearty and can be made with almost any vegetables you have on hand. Although this is one dish where I actually prefer the more common zucchini, potato, and pepper combination of vegetables, it is delicious with carrots, other squashes, and turnips as well.

Onban is similar to bibimbab and naengmyun since is a mixed dish made up of different components. It can be made with either beef or chicken (and beef or chicken broth), but always includes rice, mushrooms, glass noodles (sweet potato vermicelli), mung bean pancake (bindaedduk, bin dae teok), and eggs. It also sometimes include pyongyang...

Korean bean sprout soup, which is both cheap and easy to make, has a light and refreshing flavor. Healthy, full of vitamin C, and low in calories, it's also supposed to be good for hangovers. Add a splash of red pepper flakes (kochukaru) and it's great for colds as well.

This is the simple recipe for basic Korean beef stock that can be used to make Korean stews and soups. Easy to make ahead and freeze, it is a useful base broth for any type of soup, not just Korean.

This fish-based broth is the traditional base for Korean soups and stews. Although meat broth has become more popular in recent years, this anchovy soup stock is still a staple in Korean cooking. It doesn't have a strong fish odor, but adds a deep and savory element when used in cooking Korean soups and stews.

Known as the “birthday soup” in Korea, seaweed soup is also given to post-partum mothers recovering from childbirth. Naturally low in calories and fat and high in calcium, iron, and protein, it is a light and healthy soup good for any meal of the day.

Koreans probably wouldn't call this dish a "stew", because traditional stews are a bit more soupy, but these Korean braised short ribs do resemble a Western stew of "meat and potatoes". The beef and vegetables are slow simmered over low heat to a tender and sweet finish.

This simple spinach soup is an easy recipe of homey comfort. Jogae Sigumchi Gook (jogae kuk) takes less than thirty minutes, but it's delicious, flavorful, and full of nutrients and vitamins.

Yuk Gae Jang is a hearty Korean soup that warms you from your lips to your toes. Full of meat and vegetables, it's fiery red, bold, and spicy. Yuk Gae Jang is a one-pot meal that requires very little hands-on time but tastes like you've spent all day making it.