I have to admit that I adore pizza in its truest form. But once in a while, it’s even more fun to do something a little bit different from the traditional way. And that’s the beauty of homemade pizza, that you can top it with unconventional toppings.
Both my husband and I love kimchi. If you come over to our house at any time, you’ll find a jar of it in the fridge. We love to use it to make many different things. You’ll find it in my kimchi pork steamed buns, kimchi fried rice, cheesy kimchi pancake, and kimchi tofu meatball stew. We also love simply eating it as a side dish as is customary with every meal in Korea.
Kimchi is a spicy, fermented cabbage which has probiotic properties that are excellent for good gut health. That’s definitely something we all need right now, to keep our immune systems humming along in good health.
Ingredients
You can make the pizza dough yourself or use pizza dough from your favorite pizza joint (ask them if you can buy some dough!) or from the grocery store. You can even get premade pizza crusts to cut down on prep time.
Special hot sauce
To spice up things, I added Gochujang (a spicy Korean chili paste) and some chopped kimchi to the tomato sauce to accompany the kimchi topping. If you do not have Gochujang, you can also use Doubanjiang, which will render it slightly less spicy yet give it a richer complexity.
Toppings
When I make kimchi pizza, I like to keep it simple with the toppings. It’s so nice to enjoy the bold spiciness of the kimchi, though you can have fun experimenting with whatever you have.
Things that work great include crispy fried bacon, thin slices of ham, chunks of Italian sausage, and thinly-sliced asparagus and tomato.
Kimchi pizza might sound weird but you’ll be surprised at how good it tastes. Top it your way and see what you like best!
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Easy Kimchi Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 12 ” (30 cm) thin pizza crusts (or pizza dough)
Sauce (*Footnote 1)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon minced kimchi
- 2 teaspoons gochujang (or 1 teaspoon doubanjiang)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 can (4 oz/113 g) tomato sauce (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Toppings
- 1/3 cup thin sliced kimchi
- 1/2 ball fresh mozzarella cheese , sliced (or 1 cup shredded mozzarella)
Instructions
Prepare the sauce
- Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the kimchi, gochujang, and garlic. Cook and stir occasionally, until the gochujang is lightly toasted, 2 minutes or so.
- Add the tomato sauce and sugar. Stir and cook until bringing to a simmer. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer to thicken slightly, 3 minutes or so. Once done, transfer the sauce to a bowl to cool slightly before using.
Assemble and bake
- Preheat the oven to 550 F (290 C).
- Place the pizza crust on a large baking sheet. Spread 3 tablespoons of pizza sauce in a thin even layer on the pizza crust (*Footnote 2). Spread the kimchi evenly over it, and cover it with a layer of sliced (or shredded) cheese.
- Place the baking sheet in the fully heated oven. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown and the cheese is fully melted.
- Slice the pizza and enjoy!
Notes
- The pizza sauce is enough to make three 12” (30 cm) pizzas. You can freeze the sauce for later or use it as a pasta sauce.
- If you are using a pre-made pizza dough, press the dough with your hands into a 7” (17 cm) circle. Then pick up the dough, toss gently in a circular motion, until it forms a thin, round shape. Alternatively, you can roll out the dough with a rolling pin, just be careful not to lose the outer rim. Dust the baking sheet with semolina flour (or coarse corn flour) before placing the dough to prevent the dough from sticking.
Nutrition
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Nancy
This is fantastic! Definitely adding this to the pizza rotation.
Caryn
Delicious surprise combination!
Arp
Can good kimchi be bought online? I also have a big Asian market nearby but I’m not sure what kimchi to start with.
Maggie Zhu
You can, but I bet you can get better and cheaper ones at your local Asian market. If you go to the market, you’ll find them at the refrigerated section. Usually in a jar with Korean label. I would simply start with a cabbage one from any brand. Sometimes you can also find the store brand in a plastic container. If the market is Korean focused (such as H mart), the store brand is usually very solid.
If you purchase online, Nasoya Kimchi is good. Mother in Law’s is nice too but it’s more expensive.
Arp
Thank you!
Scott
Damn, you’ve nailed the pizza crust – that is looking awesome.
Maggie
That was one of the most difficult crust I ever tried, took more than 24 hours to get prepared and you still need a few hours the same day you cook it. Fortunately I can make a lot of dough and freeze them for later use. The result was rewarding 🙂
Kim Mar
The kimchi pizza is so delicious ! Thanks for this recipe
Adam J. Holland
Beautiful photos! I know this is sort of an accidental invention, but it looks (and sounds) really divine.