Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Kimbap
Seasoned rice and colorful fillings rolled in seaweed and sliced into rounds, Korea's picnic and lunchbox staple.
Korean · medium · serves 4
prep 40 min · cook 15 min
~520 cal · 26g protein · 67g carbs · 17g fat · 5g fiber · 2g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kimbap, seaweed rice, is Korea's ubiquitous rolled snack and lunch, packed for picnics, school trips, and quick meals from the humblest corner stall to dedicated kimbap shops. Colourful and portable, it is comfort and convenience in one neat roll.
Rice seasoned with sesame oil and salt is spread on a sheet of gim (seaweed), then laid with a rainbow of fillings, strips of omelette, seasoned spinach, pickled yellow radish, carrot, and often ham or bulgogi, before being rolled tight and sliced into bite-sized rounds. The sesame oil brushed over the outside gives it its signature sheen and fragrance.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 cups cooked short-grain rice
5 seaweed sheets (gim)
3 eggs, made into omelette strips
8 oz ham or cooked bulgogi
2 cups spinach, and seasoned
1 carrot, and sautéed
1/2 cup pickled yellow radish (danmuji)
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced (for the spinach)
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Season the warm rice with a little sesame oil and salt, and let it cool until it stops steaming. Season the blanched spinach separately with minced garlic, salt and sesame oil.
✎ Chef’s note
Every filling is seasoned on its own before it goes in, and the egg sheet is cooked low and turned off early so it stays yellow rather than browning. Korean kimbap rice is dressed with sesame oil and salt, never vinegar.
2
Lay a sheet of seaweed on a mat, spread rice over most of it, and line up the fillings across the centre.
3
Roll up tightly using the mat, pressing to compact it.
✎ Chef’s note
Press firmly and evenly as you roll so the kimbap holds together and slices into clean, tight rounds rather than falling apart.
4
Brush the outside with sesame oil, scatter with toasted sesame seeds, then slice into bite-sized rounds with a sharp, wet knife, wiping it clean between cuts.
Korean everyday tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Seoul (Gyeonggi). The red tteokbokki everyone means is recent. It was made by Ma Bok-rim in Sindang-dong in 1953, and the district only took off in the late 1970s; the Joseon court version it descends from, gungjung tteokbokki, was soy-sauce-based and mild, with no chilli paste in it at all.
🗺️
South Korea. Korea is a fermentation nation, where kimchi, gochujang, and doenjang anchor nearly every meal, and the table fills with shared banchan side dishes. Sizzling barbecue, bubbling stews, and rice-based comfort foods make eating a lively, communal affair.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from South Korea
BibimbapA bowl of rice crowned with seasoned vegetables, beef, and a fried egg, all mixed with gochujang at the table.
Sundubu-jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew)Bubbling-hot soft tofu stew, brick-red with gochugaru, finished with an egg cracked in at the table.
BulgogiThin beef marinated in soy, pear, sesame, and garlic, seared fast and sweet-savory, Korea’s beloved "fire meat."
Browse all South Korea recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a South Korea meal
SikhyeDrink
HotteokDessert
BibimbapDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kimbap?
Seasoned rice and colorful fillings rolled in seaweed and sliced into rounds, Korea's picnic and lunchbox staple.
Where does Kimbap come from?
Kimbap is a Korean dish from Seoul (Gyeonggi), South Korea.
Can Kimbap be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kimbap recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kimbap safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kimbap take to make?
About 55 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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