20 Korean Soup Recipes – Korean Bapsang

A collection of 20 delicious and comforting Korean soups to help you stay warm and cozy on cold days!

The weather is getting quite cold around here! We all need more delicious warming soup recipes. For you Korean food lovers, I’ve collected my 20 most popular soup recipes here.

While these soups will definitely help you stay warm during cold days, soups are an essential part of Korean meals all year round. Some of these dishes are served as a main dish, and some are served to accompany other main dishes as part of a meal. This list includes many of the common soups (guk, 국) enjoyed in Korean homes. I’ll do a separate list for stews (jjigae, 찌개). 

Some of you may wonder about the difference between Korean soups (guk) and stews (jjigae). In general, guk has a higher ratio of liquid to solid ingredients, resulting in a thinner consistency. Jjigae is thicker and has more concentrated flavors. 

Although jjigae is commonly translated into stew in English, the consistency of Korean stews are quite different from that of Western stews. Korean stews still have relatively thin liquid (gukmul, 국물) with the consistency that’s similar to that of Western soups in some cases. I know this can be confusing. I’ve seen some people call certain Korean jjigae a soup. For example, kimchi jjigae is called kimchi soup by some people. There actually is a dish called kimchi guk (soup), which is different from kimchi jjigae (stew). 

In Korean homes, guk is almost always served individually, and jjigae is usually served as a communal dish to be shared amongst the diners. 

A soothing, comforting Korean chicken soup recipe you can make without a trip to a Korean market! 

A nourishing soup that’s made with a small, young chicken for its tender and tasty meat. The ginseng flavored meat is tasty and tender, and the broth is rich and delicious!

Your restaurant favorite made at home! A few dollars’ worth of beef bones make lots of rich and nourishing soup. Make it and freeze some for later. 

A hearty, spicy beef soup made with shredded beef, lots of scallions and other vegetables!

A hearty and spicy chicken soup with minimal ingredients! It takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish! Still flavorful and satisfying! Also see Spicy soup with leftover turkey for a variation. 

A hearty, nourishing beef short rib soup with the delicately clean taste it’s known for! Also see Instant Pot Galbitang.

A starchy and soothing bowl of soup! It’s classic comfort food any time of year! Also see tteokmanduguk if you want to add mandu (Korean dumplings). 

Make a delicious dumpling soup at home — with any variation of dumplings, including pre-made store-bought ones and any flavorful broth including store-bought.

A staple soup made with miyeok (aka wakame) is delicious and nutritious! 

A seafood variation of Korean seaweed soup. It’s made with mussels, but you can substitute them with other seafood such as clams or shrimp.

A hearty Korean potato soup made with a few basic ingredients — beef, tofu and starch noodles! You can skip the noodles if unavailable.

A light and refreshing soup with a subtle nutty flavor! It goes well with any Korean meal.

A light, refreshing soup that’s packed with savory flavors!

A classic soup made with napa cabbage and soybean paste! 

An easy, delicious chicken soup with napa cabbage! Use a whole chicken cut up or any combination of chicken cut parts.

Made with dried pollock (also spelled pollack), a rich source of proteins and amino acids, this soup is known to have detoxifying and soothing effects and very popular as a hang-over remedy in Korea.

An easy home version of the popular street food!

A light, refreshing and vegan soup made with Korean radish!

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20 Korean Soup Recipes

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This post is an update of the November 2020 collection with more soup recipes and updated photos from some of the soup recipes.