Yes, you can make kimchi quickly.

Quick kimchi is a fast, beginner-friendly kimchi recipe made with cabbage, garlic, ginger, gochugaru and salt. You can eat it fresh the same day, or leave it to ferment for 24–72 hours for a tangier, more traditional kimchi flavour.

Fresh quick kimchi will taste crunchy, spicy and bright. Lightly fermented quick kimchi will taste more sour, savoury and complex.

So if you want to make kimchi quickly, this recipe works. If you want that deeper fermented tang, give it a little extra time on the kitchen counter before moving it to the fridge.

Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented vegetable dish, most commonly made with napa cabbage, radish, garlic, ginger, spring onion and Korean red pepper flakes called gochugaru.

It has been eaten in Korea for generations and is now loved around the world for its punchy flavour and connection with fermented food culture. Traditional kimchi is made by salting vegetables, mixing them with a spicy seasoning paste, then allowing them to ferment. During fermentation, naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria grow and help create kimchi’s signature tangy flavour. Research reviews describe kimchi as a fermented vegetable food containing lactic acid bacteria, fibre and bioactive plant compounds.

In simple terms, kimchi is spicy fermented veg — but it is much more delicious than that sounds.

It is the food equivalent of adding colour, crunch and attitude to your plate.

As a fermented food, kimchi is brimming with live cultures that support gut health. Here’s what the experts are saying:

And it’s not just your digestion that benefits. A growing body of research links regular fermented food consumption to better immunity, lower inflammation, and even improved mood.

In fact, a 2021 study published in Cell found that a diet rich in fermented foods increased microbiome diversity and decreased inflammatory markers in healthy adults.

Kimchi also contains:

Quick kimchi is a faster version of traditional kimchi.

Traditional kimchi is often fermented for several days, weeks or even longer, depending on the recipe, room temperature and flavour preference. Quick kimchi uses the same core idea — salted vegetables mixed with chilli, garlic and ginger — but it can be eaten much sooner.

There are two ways to enjoy this recipe.

Eat it fresh: crunchy, spicy, bright and salad-like.

Lightly ferment it: leave it at room temperature for 1–3 days so it becomes tangier and more complex.

This makes quick kimchi ideal if you are new to fermented foods. You do not need a fermentation crock, any fancy equipment or weeks of waiting. You just need cabbage, salt, aromatics, chilli and a clean jar.

This is one of the most common questions people ask about quick kimchi.

The honest answer is: it depends how you eat it.

If you eat quick kimchi straight away, it has not had much time to ferment. That means it may not contain the same level of live cultures as a longer-fermented kimchi. However, it is still made from fibre-rich vegetables, herbs and spices, which can be part of a gut-friendly diet.

If you leave your quick kimchi to ferment for 24–72 hours, it will begin to develop more of the tangy flavour and natural fermentation activity associated with kimchi. Reviews of kimchi fermentation explain that the lactic acid bacteria in kimchi mainly come from the raw ingredients and grow during spontaneous fermentation.

So, if your goal is flavour, colour and plant diversity, you can eat it straight away.

If your goal is more fermented food goodness, give it a little time to ferment.

Fermented foods have become especially interesting in gut health research. A Stanford study published in Cell found that adults eating a diet rich in fermented foods for 10 weeks had increased gut microbiome diversity and reduced inflammatory markers. The fermented foods in the study included yoghurt, kefir, fermented cottage cheese, kimchi and other fermented vegetables, vegetable brine drinks and kombucha.

That does not mean kimchi is a miracle cure. No single food is. But it does show why fermented foods are being taken seriously as part of a varied, gut-supportive diet.

Another reason to love this quick kimchi recipe is that it helps you eat more plants.

You may have heard the idea of eating 30 different plants a week for gut health. This comes from research linked to the American Gut Project, which found that people who ate more than 30 different plant foods per week had more diverse gut microbiomes than those who ate 10 or fewer.

And “plants” does not just mean vegetables.

It includes vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils, wholegrains, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, garlic, ginger and chilli.

This quick kimchi recipe can give you several plant points in one jar: cabbage, carrot, radish, spring onion, garlic, ginger and chilli.

Serve it with brown rice, sesame seeds, avocado, cucumber and coriander, and suddenly one simple meal becomes a plant-diversity win.

This easy kimchi recipe makes roughly one large jar. It is naturally vegan and can be adjusted depending on how spicy you like your kimchi.

Ingredients

For the Vegetables

• 1 medium napa cabbage or Chinese leaf cabbage
• 1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks or grated
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• 100g daikon, mooli or radish, cut into matchsticks
• 1 tablespoon sea salt

For the Kimchi Paste

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1–3 tablespoons gochugaru, depending on how spicy you like it
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup or sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce (optional)
• 1 teaspoon white miso paste, optional
• 1 tablespoon filtered water, if needed

What Is Gochugaru?

Gochugaru is Korean red pepper flake.

It gives kimchi its beautiful red colour and its warm, fruity chilli flavour. It is not quite the same as standard chilli flakes, which can be sharper and harsher.

If you can get gochugaru, use it. It makes a big difference.

If you cannot find it, you can use mild chilli flakes with a little paprika, but the flavour will be less traditional.

How to Make Quick Kimchi

1. Chop the Cabbage

Slice the cabbage lengthways, then chop it into bite-sized pieces.

Add it to a large mixing bowl.

You want the pieces to be big enough to stay crunchy but small enough to eat easily with rice bowls, eggs, noodles, salads or wraps.

2. Salt the Cabbage

Sprinkle the sea salt over the cabbage.

Massage it gently with clean hands, then leave it for 30–60 minutes. The salt draws water out of the cabbage and helps soften the leaves.

Toss the cabbage once or twice while it sits.

3. Rinse and Drain

Rinse the cabbage under cold water to remove excess salt.

Drain it well in a colander.

The cabbage should taste lightly seasoned, not aggressively salty.

4. Make the Kimchi Paste

In a small bowl, mix the garlic, ginger, gochugaru, maple syrup, tamari and miso paste.

Add a small splash of filtered water if needed to loosen the mixture.

The paste should be thick, red, garlicky and fragrant.

5. Mix Everything Together

Add the carrot, spring onion and radish to the drained cabbage.

Pour over the kimchi paste and mix everything together until all the vegetables are coated.

Food-safe gloves are helpful here, especially if you are using a lot of chilli.

6. Eat Fresh or Ferment

Now you have two choices.

For fresh quick kimchi:
Serve it straight away. It will be crunchy, spicy and bright.

For lightly fermented quick kimchi:
Pack it tightly into a clean jar. Press the vegetables down so the brine rises and covers them. Leave a little space at the top of the jar. Close the lid loosely, or open it daily to release gas.

Leave at room temperature for 24–72 hours, tasting each day. Once it tastes tangy enough for you, move it to the fridge.

For safer vegetable fermentation, food preservation guidance recommends keeping vegetables submerged under brine, as this creates the right low-oxygen environment for fermentation. 

💡 Use non-chlorinated water – Chlorine can interfere with the fermentation process.

💡 Avoid salt which contains 'caking agent' – It can inhibit bacterial growth.

💡 Don’t overfill – Leave headspace to prevent overflow during bubbling.

💡 Watch for bubbles – They’re a good sign! Fermentation is in action.

Making kimchi at home is fun, satisfying and a brilliant way to understand fermentation.

But we also know that life is busy.

Sometimes you want the flavour, the crunch and the fermented goodness without chopping, salting, mixing, fermenting and cleaning up.

That is why we created our Good Nude Food kimchi range.

Our kimchis are made for people who care about flavour, gut health and real food.

Try our Mild Kimchi if you love the idea of kimchi but prefer a gentler heat.

Try our Carrot & Ginger Kimchi if you want something bright, zingy and warming, with a gorgeous ginger kick.

They are delicious with rice bowls, eggs, noodles, wraps, salads, baked potatoes, toasties and all those “what can I eat quickly?” fridge moments.

Now that you’ve made your own homemade kimchi, it’s time to enjoy it! Here are some gut-loving ways to include it in your meals: