Name: Easy Tuna Kimchi Jjigae
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 18 min
Ingredients: 1 can Tuna (With all the oil and sauce); 1 cup Fermented Kimchi; Scallions (As much as you like); Onion (As much as you like); 1 tbsp Minced Garlic; 3 tbsp Gochugaru; 400 ml Water

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Tuna Kimchi Jjigae is the easiest kimchi stew you can make. It’s made with pantry ingredients, and minimal prep, but still yields a warm, comforting, and hearty soup.

This Tuna Kimchi Jjigae recipe is brought to you by my restaurant manager, Clyde. Many Koreans love this stew because it uses pantry ingredients, it’s set and forget-ish, and simply delicious.

If you’re looking for a lazy meal after a long day, something comforting, something to warm you up, something budget-friendly, or even when you’re looking for an easy camping meal—this is both economical and fits any mood. Serve with fresh, hot rice, and you’re good to go!

Ingredients for Tuna Kimchi Jjigae

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Canned Tuna – Any canned tuna is okay to use, but I do recommend the Korean canned tuna in oil because it’s very flavorful on its own. This is the key to the dish!
Fermented Kimchi – Along with the tuna, this will also set the flavor of the whole soup. You need a FIRE fermented kimchi. It needs to be fermented because all that flavor will develop as you boil. Additionally, if your kimchi is good, your soup will be good too!
Garlic, Scallions, and Onion – Just add according to your preference for additional fresh and aromatic flavor.
Gochugaru – This is Korean red pepper flakes for additional spice, feel free to add according to your spice tolerance.
Water – To make it simple, use water as the soup base. But to level it up, you can also use chicken, beef, vegetable, or dashi stock.

How to Make Kimchi Jjigae with Tuna?

You can make this recipe in a ttukbaegi for easy serving and to keep it hot as eat it. However, you can also use a small pot since this will yield a recipe that’s good for 1-2 people.

First, prepare the aromatics by mincing the garlic and slicing the onion and scallions.

Now, in your pot, place canned tuna (with all the oil and sauce), kimchi, onion, scallions, garlic, gochugaru, and water. Set it on high heat, and let it boil and cook for 10-15 minutes. No need to mix it!

In this process, the sour fermented kimchi will mellow down and it will infuse with the tuna oil and the fragrance of the aromatics. As the soup reduces, the flavor will concentrate and will continue to develop and the softened aromatics will absorb all these.

And you’re done! Serve this with a fresh bowl of rice and enjoy!

Additional Tips:

While this recipe by my manager is already good with a clean and light taste, you can add a few more ingredients to make it better!

For additional protein, you can add tofu, mushrooms, and/or eggs. If you want other versions of kimchi jjigae, try Spam Kimchi Jjigae or Pork Kimchi Jjigae.
As it boils, give it a mix and taste. If you find that it’s a bit bland, add any one of these according to what’s available to you:
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Shrimp Paste
- 1/2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1/4 tbsp Soybean Paste
- 1/4 tbsp Hondashi or Dashi
If you find that your kimchi is too sour or spicy, you can balance it out with sugar. If you want additional depth of flavor, garnish the soup with a bit of sesame oil.
Among the stocks you can use for this recipe, I like to use dashi stock the best. You can make one at home by boiling dried kelp, Korean radish, and gutted dried anchovy or this dashi packet for 20-30 minutes.
This is one of those dishes that taste even better when heated the second time so store any leftovers in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or the stove as needed.

Other Kimchi recipes you might like:

Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!

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