Kimchi Pantry Brown Fried rice is a 6 ingredient little wonder packed full of delicious spicy, sweet and savory flavors while using up your pantry ingredients.
Have you met Kelly from A Side of Sweet? Kelly is a pediatrician and also hosts a lifestyle, food, fashion, travel and DIY blog in San Francisco. You are just going to love her site as it is packed with fantastic healthy recipes like her Grapefruit sorbet, Healthy Butternut and Squash Dip, and her delicious Edamame and Kimchi Rice Recipe which I am going to make for you today. Please stop by A Side of Sweet and say hello.
I have met a fantastic group of lovely bloggers on Facebook (Food Bloggers Central) and we have decided to do a blog hop to introduce you to some new faces and of course some delicious recipes.
You are going to just love Kimchi Pantry Fried Brown Rice
You are going to just going to love how quick and easy this recipe is to make. It is a great way to use up all of those bits and bobs of refrigerator veggies that are looking for a new home. Be sure to check out our recipe for Pantry Fried Rice
Kimchi
I had purchased a lifetime supply of kimchi in my refrigerator because of the big sale to celebrate “Korean Food Week” at the local “Park-n-Shop” here in Hong Kong. This was the perfect recipe to use up some of the inventory. I did not have many of the items that Kelly used in her recipe (edamame, onions, etc) here at home so had to make some exchanges and deletions but the results were amazing even with just 6 little ingredients. Yes just 6 little ingredients for an Asian inspired recipe!!!
This recipe is happily gluten-free, vegan, dairy/lactose free and a super affordable way to fill up your hungry family and friends.
I know that you too can do wonders with this recipe just using what you have at home. Kimchi is what I call the perfect fermented food. Kimchi is great for your health as it has many nutrients, it also helps keep a normal flora in your gut to keep it happy and the best reason of all is that it tastes absolutely delicious. It also has everything in it that you might want to add in a stir fry like tons of garlic, carrot, onions, so you don’t have add it again to the recipe, unless you want to.
Do not worry if you do not like spicy food but something amazing happens when you stir fry kimchi. It is magic as it goes from a spicy sour fermented cabbage to sweet and slightly spicy kimchi. The cabbage and veggies sweeten slightly when you stir fry them. I never knew this until I started experimenting with it here at home.
I live in Asia and it is no shock that I make fried rice almost every day. After all, I have to make something to fill up the team here on the home front. You can make perfect fried rice in your own home.
I changed up a couple of steps in Kelly’s recipe as my boys like their fried rice very dry and almost crunchy. It is a texture thing and I think you will like it too. I stir fried my kimchi first to get it nice and dry and then I added the rice and other ingredients and this worked like a charm for me. Next time, I can’t wait to try it with the addition of edamame beans.
More Delicious Rice Recipes
Curried Harvest Black Forbidden Rice
Hungry For More? Subscribe to our Newsletter and follow along on Facebook, You Tube, Instagram, and Pinterest for all the latest updates.

Kimchi Pantry Fried Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup kimchi roughly chopped (add more if you like it spicy add less if you like it mild)
- 1 cup cooked brown rice (day old is best) can use white rice if you prefer
- salt and pepper
to taste (I use white pepper) - 1 cup bok choy
chopped (or use edamame beans, or other veggies that you need to use up in your refrigerator) - 3 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Place oil in wok/pan and het on medium heat and add your kimchi to the pan and stir fry for 3 minutes or until all of the moisture is gone.
- If you have soft leafy vegetables (like bok choy, cabbage, spinach, or edamame to add to your Kimchi pantry fried brown rice, please move on to step 2.
- If you have hard veggies (like carrots, celery, green beans, etc) that you want to use up from your pantry, you will need to stir fry these first before adding to the rice. I usually add just a couple of teaspoons of water to pan with my veggies and a lid for just a minute to help steam those firmer vegetable and then remove the lid and stir fry until veggies are dry. Please consult my Pantry Fried Rice recipe for details.
- Add your day old brown rice (or white rice if your prefer) to the wok/pan and cook until all the rice has been coated well with the oil, all the rice is separated and mixed in with the kimchi. Stir fry about 3 minutes. (OPTIONAL: Our family likes the rice a little crunchy. If you like your rice crunchy, you can accomplish this 2 ways... 1) Fry the rice a little longer in your wok 2) When cooking your rice on the stove top, actually cook it a longer longer until the rice actually starts to stick to he pan but do not burn it. You will have lots of crunchy rice that way. I know it seems kind of odd but my family just loves it that way.
- Season your brown rice with salt and white pepper to taste. Add chopped baby bok choy, edamame, or any other little vegetables that you need to use from your refrigerator. Stir fry for another minute and then add chopped green onions and mix well. Remove the Kimchi Pantry Fried Brown Rice from the hot burner.
- Serve your delicious Kimchi Pantry Fried Brown Rice in a bowl and if you want you can garnish with a fried egg on top and enjoy.
I wish I lived in your house and ate your food all the time.
It looks absolutely mouthwatering and indeed so easy and quick to prepare! but I haven’t seen kimchi in local shops..
All the deliciousness. Love, Love, LOVE Kimchi and fried rice, heck yeah! I shall have to add to my mid week eating menu. Thanks for the inspiration lovely. Wishing you a super weekend. xo
Oh my goodness I am making this!!!!! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog Hop. Watch for your feature on Monday xo
Hello Katherine, thanks so much for including me. It has been so interesting visiting some new blogs as a part of the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Happy Sunday to you. Take care, BAM
This idea gave me a ton of other ideas to play with… this is lovely. I just need to find Kimchi first :(.
Hello Amira, I am glad this dish gave you a little inspiration. You can usually find kimchi in the refrigerated section of your grocery store or in an Asian grocery store. Take Care
We want this, Bam! What a clever idea to incorporate kimchi into fried rice! Flavourful!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Hello Julie and Alesah, I think you guys will really love this dish as it is so easy to throw together and it is teenager approved. 2 thumbs up from my boys…
Yum! Kimchi fried rice! I’ve been meaning to try it for the longest time! I even bought some kimchi just so I could make some. I’m going to need to get on that this weekend. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi there Lisa! This weekend is the perfect chance to do a little quick fried rice. Maybe you could even make it inside an egg hat. Have a great weekend!
This is a delicious fried rice Bobbi! We all love Asian kitchen and this is a must try!
Thank you Katerina, I love hearing that you like to cook Asian dishes in your Greek kitchen as well. Asian dishes are always good for using up all the little bits and bobs of veggies and leftovers in your kitchen. Take care
I love the addition of kimchi in fried rice…it sure brings a lot of flavor…beautiful pictures as usual…
Have a great week Bobbi 🙂
Thank you Juliana. Don’t you just love the little splash of color that kimchi brings to recipes…?! Wishing you a super week too!
Never tried adding kimchi to my fried rice, must try someday, I do add adamame and if available pickled Chinese mustard green, guess that’s similar to kimchi.without the spice.
Oh yes, Chinese pickled mustard greens are divine in stir fried rice and great idea for those that want good flavor but can’t handle the spice. Maybe I should add that as a note to the recipe as it really is an awesome substitution idea. Thanks and take care
That looks delicious! I would love to try it!
Thank you Mary, have a super week.
Wow, Bobbi, those photos look clearer than the actual dish, lol. How is that possible? You are so talented! I absolutely love fried rice and yours is simply gorgeous. I’m a big fan of bok choy and will definitely be using it. I’m off to visit Kelly. Thanks for introducing us to another new blogger! Have a great day 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight with my home made Kimchi and it was delcious . Thank you
Dear Gerlinde, I am delighted to hear this! I am on my way over now to check out your homemade kimchi recipe. Have a super day!
such a colourful, epic dish.
such a great dish ! I love your kimchi pantry brown fried rice ! Easy and heathy! Love it!
Thank you Marcela! I have to eat healthy as I have my eyes on those sweet shamrock cookies and chocolate cupcakes you made…
I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard of this kimchi, so I don’t thinking ever tried it but it sounds sort of magical. I love fried rice and I don’t know why I don’t make it more often because as you say, it’s a great filler and a side dish that goes with just about anything. I can’t wait to see if my husband can find this kimchi…it sounds like in the right proportions it’s something we could both love.
Hello Diane, kimchi is a big staple food in Korea. Probably a meal does not go by without this “kimchi pickle” out on the table. It is not really a pickle the way you think of pickles, but instead it is fermented. I thought that might just be easier for you understand the taste. In Korea when it is made the old fashion way, they mix up the cabbage, chili, garlic etc and then bury it in these special ceramic pots until it is ready to eat. Most likely in the US, you will find this in the refrigerated section of your grocery store in some of the bigger markets or in an Asian Food Store. I hope you give it a try.