Gochujang Pork & Kimchi Bowls
These craveable, Korean-inspired bowls layer spicy-sweet gochujang ground pork over white rice with tangy kimchi slaw. It's a quick, high-protein meal that's perfect for nourishing weeknight dinners.
This week’s recipe for Gochujang Pork & Kimchi Bowls is so fun! And so good. And so easy. And and and… Promise you’ll love this one, especially if you like spicy-sweet umami bombs! The fatty, salty ground pork gets a hit from the gochujang and the kimchi does what it does so well (flavor explosion!) mixed into the shredded cabbage-carrot mix to make the most craveable slaw-like topper. We’re really into this recipe and we think you will be too. Bonus: Each bowl packs not one, but two gut-loving fermented ingredients (gochujang and kimchi)—giving you a natural boost of probiotics in every bite.
Still need a reason to add this recipe into your rotation this week? Just look at this pic! Ok, how about one more…? This recipe comes together in 30 minutes (or much less if you use pre-cooked frozen rice). We got you!
Korean food holds a special place in my heart. When my daughter Louise was a newborn, I spent hours each day in the rocking chair feeding her—and during those long stretches, I started watching Korean cooking shows on my phone. Life moved slower then, and diving deep into Korean cuisine felt like the perfect companion to that season.
What stayed with me from that time is how rooted Korean cooking is in tradition, bold flavors, and thoughtful preparations. Whether it’s layering textures in a simple rice bowl or setting out small dishes of banchan, Korean food is nourishing, intentional, and centered around connection. Yup, I was hooked.
Here’s the recipe including the option to download a PDF copy you can easily print if you want, including notes:
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Gochujang Pork & Kimchi Bowls
By Carly Knowles, MS, RDN, LD & Carmen Shah, INHC - Registered Dietitian & Nutritionist team
These flavorful bowls do more than satisfy—they support gut and hormone health, too. Fermented ingredients like gochujang and kimchi provide natural probiotics that aid digestion, reduce inflammation, and help balance the gut microbiome. This is especially important during perimenopause and menopause, when hormonal shifts can disrupt the gut and trigger symptoms like bloating, brain fog, and mood swings. Probiotic (and prebiotic) foods also nourish the estrobolome—a unique group of gut bacteria that help regulate estrogen. Eating probiotic-packed meals like this are a great food-first way to support your health in midlife.
Serves: 4 | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup cooked white rice (preferably short-grain)
4 cups pre-packaged cabbage-carrot coleslaw mix
2 cups cabbage kimchi, divided
2 tablespoons kimchi liquid (from the kimchi container)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 lb (16 oz) ground pork
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ white onion, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean fermented soy and red chili paste)
1 English cucumber (skin left on), sliced thin
2 green onions, chopped
If you're cooking the rice from scratch, start there. Follow the package instructions and keep it warm while you prep the rest. For a shortcut, frozen pre-cooked white rice works well—just heat it according to the package and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss together the coleslaw mix, 1 cup of kimchi, the kimchi liquid, and toasted sesame oil. Taste and, depending on the saltiness of your kimchi, add a pinch of kosher salt. Toss again and let the slaw sit while you cook the pork.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground pork and salt. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned and fully cooked, 5-7 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the pork—it can go from tender to tough quickly. Transfer the pork to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving about half the rendered fat in the pan.
To that fat, add the chopped onions. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they’re soft and just beginning to brown at the edges, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 to 60 seconds, just until fragrant. Return the pork to the skillet and stir in the gochujang. Mix well until the pork is evenly coated in the gochujang. Remove from heat.
To serve, divide the rice evenly into four bowls. Next, evenly divide the gochujang pork, the kimchi slaw, the remaining 1 cup of kimchi, and cucumber slices. Sprinkle the cucumber slices with a little salt if you’d like. Finish with sliced green onions and serve warm.
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511 calories | 35 g protein | 3 g fiber | 31 g carbs | 27 g fat
What’s gochujang? “Gochujang or red chili paste is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment popular in Korean cooking. It is made from gochugaru (red chili powder), glutinous rice, meju (fermented soybean) powder, yeotgireum (barley malt powder), and salt. The sweetness comes from the starch of cooked glutinous rice, cultured with saccharifying enzymes during the fermentation process. Traditionally, it would be naturally fermented over years in jangkok (earthenware) on an elevated stone platform called jangdokdae”. Read more about it here.
Important! Gochujang comes in a variety of heat levels from mild to really spicy, so take note and pay attention to the packaging label. For example, in this pic below you can see that it gets a 2 out of 5 for heat. Also, not all gochujang is fermented with the associated health benefits, so make sure you find one that says “traditional fermentation” or “fermented” on the packaging, and when in doubt, read the ingredient label. We like this brand - you can order it easily online.
Kimchi is more than just cabbage! Most Westerners hear “kimchi” and think of the bright red and spicy cabbage kimchi, but there’s thought to be over 200 existing types of traditional kimchi using different vegetables, flavors, colorful ingredients, and even meat and fish. Read more about some of Korea’s most popular kimchi recipes here.
Where you can find a variety of Asian foods and ingredients: We highly recommend visiting your local H Mart! Skip the very limited and often disappointing “International Foods” aisle at your local grocery store and find your local H Mart instead. Visit H Mart’s store directory here with over 97 stores across the United States or Google H Mart in your city (our local Portland, OR H Mart doesn’t actually show up in their directory, but we do in fact have one in SE Portland). H Mart offers traditional Asian foods and some Western groceries as well. You haven’t truly seen the range of gochujang or kimchi until you’ve stepped inside an H Mart—it's a whole world of choices, flavors, and varieties!
We’re also big fans of Kim C Market for sourcing Korean groceries online. It doesn’t get more convenient than having high-quality, hard-to-find ingredients delivered right to your doorstep.
We’re deeply inspired by Korea’s bold flavors, time-honored food traditions, and deep connection to wellness. Below are some things we’re loving right now, from Korean cookbooks, to chefs, and shows that are lighting up our kitchens and our creativity. Think of it as a little window into what’s “fueling” us lately—body, mind, and palate.
Cookbook: Umma - A Korean Mom’s Kitchen Wisdom & 100 Family Recipes by Sarah Ahn & Nam Soon Ahn in collaboration with America’s Test Kitchen is a must-have in your cookbook collection. Rooted in traditional Korean cooking and written by a mother-daughter duo, it’s a beautiful, approachable guide to learn how to prepare Korean food at home—full of heartfelt stories and authentic, time-tested recipes.
Journal Article: Fermented Foods of Korea and Their Functionalities by Su-Jin Jung, Soo-Wan Chae, and Dong-Hwa Shin is a fascinating deep dive into Korea’s rich fermentation traditions. It explores the cultural roots, history, and impressive health benefits of fermented Korean foods.
Chef: Roy Choi, the celebrated Korean-American chef most well-known for founding the popular Korean taco truck Kogi, co-host of the Netflix show, The Chef Show, and cookbook author with his newest release, The Choi of Cooking, coming soon—can’t wait to get our hands on a copy!
Food Memoir: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner is a heartfelt memoir about losing her mother, finding her identity, and the way food—especially Korean food—can hold memories, grief, and love all at once. It’s raw, honest, and moving, and a powerful reminder of how deeply connected food is to who we are and where we come from. This is one of those books you’ll want to read over and over again—I’ve read this book three times! And fun fact, the author was raised in Eugene, Oregon.
Short-grain white rice: From what we understand, short-grain, milled white rice is most commonly used in Korean dishes. If you’re looking for a specific brand recommendation, check out this brand or this brand. You can also use sushi rice, long-grain white rice, or Jasmine rice. They each have their own unique flavor and texture, but use what you got. Short-grain brown rice would also work well.
Rice alternatives: Any whole grain would work in theory in this recipe. The flavors will change and it won’t necessarily resemble the original recipe or a Korean-inspired recipe anymore, however why not experiment and use up the whole grains you already have on hand. You could try quinoa, pearled farro, or pearled barley.
Should I wash my rice? Yes, before cooking your rice, rinse it under cold water in a fine mesh strainer until the water runs clear. This removes the excess starch and also dust and small foreign material. Washing your rice will also help you create a fluffier texture since the sticky starches have been removed in the rinsing process. Health concerns around heavy metals found in rice, such as arsenic, and the implications of washing or not, are more of a concern in brown rice. If interested, you can read more about that here.
Ground pork: We love using ground pork in this recipe, because the flavor pairs so well with gochujang, but you could easily swap it out and use ground chicken or turkey instead. Your nutrition numbers will change if you do so, mostly the fat and thus the calorie content will decrease, so if that matters to you, then run your numbers through a nutrition tracking app like Cronometer.
Batch cook: The slaw won’t keep long in your fridge without getting soggy and limp, but the rice and meat will hold up well, making them both great options for batching! We especially like to double the meat mixture (cook off 2 lbs instead of 1 lb) and the seasonings for the meat, and store the leftovers for other quick and easy stir-fries or weeknight meals you can pull together in a flash.
Where can I find Gochujang? Read our note above about finding your local H Mart for a wide variety of Asian food ingredients like gochujang. But, if you don’t have an H Mart close by or if you prefer to order online, we like this brand and so many other ingredients from Kim C Market.
I don’t have gochujang: Simple answer. Go buy some, stat! It’s unparalleled. However, in case you’re standing in your kitchen right now reading this and need a quick alternative, we got you. It’s not by any stretch the same flavor nor does it have the same health benefits of a fermented food, but Sriracha (Thai hot sauce) could work in a pinch. A 1:1 substitution works in this recipe. Also, you can try Harissa (North African chili paste), but now you’re going somewhere totally different with the recipe with completely different flavors!
Kid-friendly: You can deconstruct the bowls and serve each ingredient on their own for a more kid-friendly meal. In full transparency, my 6 y.o. son will only eat the rice with soy sauce and my 4 y.o. daughter likes the rice (with butter and soy sauce) and will eat the ground pork (before adding the gochujang) on the side. I’ll also serve the cucumber slices on the side with a little ranch dressing for dipping—why not!
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Did you catch last week’s recipe for Spicy Chili Crisp Tuna Salad in Lettuce Cups? If not, you’ll want to check it out—it’s our modern twist on classic tuna salad, and it’s seriously delicious. Have you ever drizzled chili crisp over tuna salad? If not—run, don’t walk. Total game changer.