Easy Kimchi Recipe: Mild, Family-Friendly Fermented Vegetables

QUICK SUMMARY

This easy kimchi recipe is a mild, family-friendly way to make lacto-fermented vegetables at home with cabbage, bell peppers, garlic, onion, and salt. Lactic acid bacteria naturally present on the vegetables ferment their sugars, creating kimchi's tangy flavor and helping preserve the vegetables.

If you are new to fermentation, start with the recipe below and keep the vegetables submerged in brine. For current home-fermentation safety, University of Georgia Extension recommends about 48 hours at room temperature followed by refrigerated fermentation at 41°F or below. (5)

Kimchi can provide live lactic acid bacteria, fiber, vegetables, and fermentation-derived compounds. Human research on fermented foods and kimchi is promising, but the exact microorganisms vary from batch to batch, so homemade kimchi is best described as a live fermented food rather than a standardized probiotic product. (1, 2, 3)

I'm sure you've heard of lacto-fermented vegetables. These recipes have picked up steam in wellness circles, but the truth is, people have been fermenting vegetables for ages! My Easy Kimchi recipe is a great first step into the world of fermentation and pickling. It's delicious, tangy, and so versatile. Enjoy it on your salads or as a side dish. The possibilities are endless!

And don't let the word “fermentation” intimidate you. This is one of those old-fashioned kitchen skills that sounds complicated until you actually do it. With vegetables, salt, a jar, and a little patience, beneficial lactic acid bacteria do most of the work for you.

Make My Easy Kimchi Recipe

This recipe is one of the best. Fix it and forget it! Within minutes, you’ll have a jar of crisp veggies ready to ferment.

Easy Kimchi Recipe (Vegan)

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Author Mama Z

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Servings

2x4x6x

Ingredients

• 1 head organic cabbage
• 3 organic bell peppers (any color)
• 1 organic garlic clove
• ½ organic red onion
• 2 tablespoons pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
• 16 ounces purified OR distilled water

Supplies

• Large mixing bowl
• Glass jars with lids

Instructions

 

• Finely chop the cabbage, bell peppers, garlic, and onion. Combine all the veggies in a big bowl.
• Rub sea salt into the vegetables and let sit for 6 hours to draw out the brine.
• Pack vegetables and their juices into a mason jar. If using, place fermenting weights on top. If the vegetables are not completely submerged in brine, add purified water until they’re fully covered. Place the lid on the jar and let it sit on the counter for 24 hours. After the first 24 hours, “burp” your jar every 12 hours by opening up the lid and closing quickly. Do this for the first week. This allows air to come in and feed the bacteria that are fermenting the veggies.
• After the first week, let it sit for another 2-3 weeks, always making sure the liquid covers your vegetables. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes

Whenever possible, we recommend using organic, non-GMO ingredients.

Step One: Prep the Vegetables

Finely chop the cabbage, bell peppers, garlic, and onion. Place in a large bowl and mix until well combined.

Step Two: Add Sea Salt

Rub sea salt into the vegetables and let them sit for 6 hours to draw out the brine.

Step Three: Ferment the Kimchi

Pack the vegetables and their juices into a mason jar. I like adding fermenting weights on top to keep the veggies submerged in the brine.

Add purified water if the veggies aren’t totally covered. This ensures that every bit of kimchi is fermented.

Place the lid on the jar and let it sit on the counter for 24 hours. After the first 24 hours, “burp” the jar every 12 hours by opening the lid and closing quickly. Do this for the first week to feed the bacteria that ferment the kimchi.

Let the kimchi sit for another 2-3 weeks. The time it takes to ferment your kimchi may vary based on the temperature of your kitchen and other factors. Make sure the liquid is always covering your vegetables!

Store in the refrigerator. When stored properly, your kimchi will last several months.

Spicy Kimchi Variation

You may prefer spicier kimchi, which is easy to make. Simply follow our base kimchi recipe and add 1 diced spicy garden pepper. We love using jalapenos, habaneros, and even ghost or Carolina reaper peppers! You can also use 1/2-1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, as shown in the photo. Adjust the recipe to fit your family's preference!

When working with very hot peppers such as habaneros, ghost peppers, or Carolina reapers, wear gloves, avoid touching your face and eyes, and wash your hands, knife, and cutting board thoroughly after prep.

Spicy Kimchi Recipe (Vegan)

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Author Mama Z

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings

2x4x6x

Ingredients

• 1 head organic cabbage
• 3 organic bell peppers (any color)
• 1 organic garlic clove
• ½ organic red onion
• 1 spicy organic garden pepper, diced OR ½-1 teaspoon organic ground cayenne pepper*
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt
• 16 ounces purified OR distilled water

Supplies

• Large mixing bowl
• Glass jars with lids

Instructions

 

• Finely chop the cabbage, bell peppers, garlic, onion, and spicy peppers (if using). Combine all the veggies in a big bowl.
• Rub sea salt and cayenne (if using) into the vegetables and let sit for 6 hours to draw out the brine.
• Pack vegetables and their juices into a mason jar. If using, place fermenting weights on top.
• If the vegetables are not completely submerged in brine, add purified water until they’re fully covered.
• Place the lid on the jar and let sit on the counter for 24 hours.
• After the first 24 hours, “burp” your jar every 12 hours by opening up the lid and closing quickly. Do this for the first week. This allows air to come in and feed the bacteria that are fermenting the veggies.
• After the first week, let it sit for another 2-3 weeks, always making sure the liquid covers your vegetables.
• Store in the refrigerator.

Notes

*Use organic jalapenos, habaneros, or ghost peppers. Adjust to fit your family's preference!

Healthy Kimchi Recipe Ingredients

Kimchi may sound fancy, but it's made of simple ingredients. Here's what you need to add to your shopping list.

Organic Cabbage: The base of this easy kimchi recipe is cabbage, a beneficial cruciferous vegetable. Cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates that can form bioactive compounds such as isothiocyanates and indoles when the vegetables are chopped, chewed, and digested. (6) God is so creative!

Organic Bell Peppers: Crisp peppers add texture, color, and carotenoids such as beta-carotene, which the body can convert to vitamin A. (7) You can use whatever you have on hand, but I prefer a mix of red, green, and yellow or orange peppers.

Organic Garlic: Fermenting garlic softens its sharp flavor and lets it mingle with the rest of the vegetables. Garlic also contains organosulfur compounds that have been studied for a variety of biological effects, although findings from raw garlic, aged extracts, isolated compounds, and other preparations should not be treated as interchangeable. (8)

Organic Red Onion: There's nothing better than pickled onions! Red onions contribute fiber and plant compounds such as quercetin and sulfur-containing compounds, while adding another layer of flavor to the ferment.

Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt: Salt isn't just here for flavor. It helps draw out brine and creates conditions that favor lactic acid bacteria while discouraging undesirable microorganisms during early fermentation. For that reason, do not casually reduce the salt in a fermentation recipe. (5)

We recommend using Colima sea salt because we love the way it is traditionally harvested and the flavor it brings to our recipes. You can also use pink Himalayan salt.

Benefits of Lacto-Fermented Vegetables

People have fermented vegetables for centuries as a practical way to preserve seasonal food. Lacto-fermentation does not mean dairy is involved. The “lacto” refers to lactic acid, which is produced as lactic acid bacteria use sugars naturally present in the vegetables.

That process creates kimchi's characteristic tang and helps create an environment that discourages many undesirable microbes. It also produces a living food with a changing mixture of microorganisms and fermentation byproducts.

Supports Gut and Immune Health

A randomized dietary study published in Cell assigned healthy adults to either a high-fiber diet or a diet rich in fermented foods for 10 weeks. The fermented-food group showed increased microbiota diversity along with decreases in several inflammatory proteins. Because the study tested a range of fermented foods rather than kimchi alone, it does not prove that one serving of kimchi will “boost” immunity, but it does show that a fermented-food-rich diet can influence the human microbiome and immune markers. (1)

That makes fermented vegetables a natural fit with the way we already encourage families to eat: lots of colorful, bioactive foods, plenty of fiber, and less dependence on ultra-processed food. If you want to go deeper, learn more about how we support the immune system naturally and the benefits of probiotics.

Supports Cardiometabolic Health

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis included five human intervention studies with 205 participants and four prospective cohort studies with more than 42,000 participants. The intervention studies found a small reduction in fasting blood glucose after fermented kimchi consumption, with additional improvements in triglycerides and blood pressure appearing after researchers addressed studies contributing substantial heterogeneity. The authors emphasized that the evidence base is still limited and needs confirmation in more diverse populations. (2)

That is a good reason to enjoy kimchi as part of a whole-food lifestyle, not to treat it as a stand-alone therapy.

May Support the Gut-Brain Connection

A 2024 review in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews examined fermented foods as potential tools for influencing the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Researchers highlighted potentially beneficial microbes, microbial metabolites, and other bioactive compounds, while also noting that better human trials are needed before individual fermented foods can be recommended as treatments for mental-health disorders. (4)

Adding kimchi to dinner is a wonderful food choice, but it is not a substitute for appropriate mental-health care.

What Is Kimchi?

Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented vegetable dish that developed as a practical way to preserve seasonal produce. Modern kimchi includes many regional styles and ingredients, and some versions use napa cabbage, radish, scallions, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, shrimp paste, or Korean red pepper. (5)

Our version uses cabbage, peppers, garlic, and onion. It is mild rather than spicy, making it a family-friendly introduction to homemade kimchi.

Is Kimchi a Probiotic Food?

Kimchi can contain abundant live lactic acid bacteria, including microorganisms from genera such as Leuconostoc, Weissella, and Lactobacillus. A 2024 review concluded that kimchi has meaningful probiotic potential, while emphasizing that the species and number of bacteria vary with ingredients, salt concentration, temperature, and stage of fermentation. (3)

That is why homemade kimchi is best described as a live fermented food rather than promising that every jar contains a standardized dose of a particular probiotic strain.

Easy Kimchi Recipe FAQs

What is lacto-fermentation?

Lacto-fermentation is a food-preservation process driven primarily by lactic acid bacteria. These microbes consume carbohydrates in vegetables and produce organic acids, especially lactic acid. The increasingly acidic environment contributes to kimchi's tart flavor and helps preserve the food.

Despite the name, lacto-fermentation does not require milk or other dairy products.

Does homemade kimchi have probiotics?

Homemade kimchi can contain large populations of live lactic acid bacteria, but the exact species and number change throughout fermentation and vary from one recipe and batch to another. That is why “live fermented food” is often a more precise description than promising a standardized probiotic dose. (3)

Do I need a starter culture to make kimchi?

Not for this recipe. Traditional kimchi relies on microorganisms naturally present on the vegetables. Salt, time, temperature, submersion, and the increasingly acidic environment help shape which microorganisms thrive as fermentation progresses. (5)

Why does kimchi need salt?

Salt helps draw water from the vegetables to create brine and helps select for the lactic acid bacteria responsible for fermentation. It also helps suppress undesirable microorganisms early in the process. Do not reduce the salt in a fermentation recipe simply to make the final food lower in sodium. (5)

Why should the vegetables stay under the brine?

Keeping the vegetables under the brine limits their exposure to oxygen and supports the low-oxygen environment in which lactic acid fermentation can proceed. Fermentation weights are helpful because chopped vegetables like to float.

How do I know when kimchi is fermented?

Look for signs of active fermentation such as bubbles, a pleasantly sour aroma, and increasing tanginess. Flavor develops gradually, and temperature makes a big difference in how quickly that happens. For a more objective check, food-preservation guidance uses acidity as an important safety measure, with a pH below 4.6 inhibiting the growth of most foodborne pathogens. (5)

Is bubbling normal in homemade kimchi?

Yes. Bubbling is a normal sign that lactic acid bacteria are metabolizing carbohydrates and producing carbon dioxide. This is also why a tightly closed jar may build pressure and need to be handled carefully.

How long does homemade kimchi last in the refrigerator?

Kimchi continues fermenting slowly under refrigeration, so it generally becomes more sour over time. Shelf life depends on the recipe, temperature, salt level, acidity, handling, and whether contamination is introduced when serving. Keep it refrigerated, use clean utensils, and discard it if mold, an abnormal odor, or an unusual texture develops.

Can I cook kimchi?

Absolutely. Kimchi can add incredible flavor to rice, soups, eggs, vegetables, and other savory dishes. Just remember that heat can reduce the number of live microorganisms, so if your primary reason for eating kimchi is to enjoy a live fermented food, include some unheated kimchi too.

Is kimchi good for your gut?

Kimchi provides vegetables and fiber along with live lactic acid bacteria and compounds created during fermentation. Human studies of fermented-food-rich diets and kimchi-specific clinical research suggest benefits for microbiome and metabolic markers, but individual responses vary and kimchi should be viewed as one part of a diverse whole-food diet. (1, 2, 3)

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