Korean Gochujang Sauce Burger with Kimchi
If you love sauces, particularly ones with a kick of sweet and spice you’re going to love our Korean Gochujang Burger recipe. It’s a savory, sweet and spicy sauce that is a staple in Korean cuisine and a popular table top condiment. One bite and you’ll love the flavor bomb of our gochujang burger recipe.
What is Korean Gochujang Sauce?
It’s a classic Korean staple that is both a sauce or marinade. Gochujang sauce is a rich red chili condiment that can be used on anything and everything: vegetables, seafood, chicken, pork, beef and probably even ice cream. If not on ice cream now, it will probably show up at a food festival or fair near you. The rich sweet, spicy, garlicky and umami flavors are delicious. Gochujang sauce is usually in paste or sauce form and found in every Korean market. There’s so many options, it can be intimidating when a whole aisle in the Korean market is filled to the brim with Gochujang sauce. Yup, it’s that vital to Korean cuisine and down in our Southern California Korean supermarkets, there’s never ever a shortage of different brands and variations. There’s so many to choose from, it can be dizzying and dreamy all at once.
Korean Gochujang Burgers
Adding gochujang to burgers is AMAZING. Think of it as a super flavorful Asian bbq sauce and you’ll know exactly how tasty these burgers are going to be. We’ve been obsessive about gochujang sauce lately and adding it to our grilling menu is an absolute must. Everyone who takes a bite into these burgers always say “what is this incredible flavor?!”. Yup, it’s a strong flavor at first, but when it’s integrated into the burger concept, it’s crazy yummy. It’ll take your burger game up 10 notches, for sure. If you want to serve a plant-based vegan burger, here’s a great recipe for vegan meatballs. Just make the platnt based meatballs into a burger patty and you’re set! It grills just like real meat. Now there’s something for everyone.
Video Making Korean Burgers with Gochujang and Kimchi
Where to Buy Gochujang?
It can be found in most major grocery store chains in the Asian grocery aisle. We were at a food festival and free bottles of Gochujang sauce were being passed around like free shots of Bourbon. Everyone was grabbing what they can and obviously, there was quite an obsession to this sauce. Two of the companies that were handing it out were calling it “Spicy Sweet Korean Ketchup”, which is aptly named because it’s pretty much spot on. These two bottles were developed and packaged more for the Western palate because it’s “squeezable” and it was in 8 oz bottles, which is significantly smaller than most gochujang tubs found at Korean Markets. Either way, we were addicted to the sweet and spicy flavors on fries, vegetables and of course, burgers!
Darker and thicker than many gochujang sauces. Similar to bbq sauce in flavor & texture. We see it as more of a Korean bbq sauce than the typical Korean “ketchup”.
Brighter red in color and flavor. The red chili flavors come through without being too spicy. Equally delicious, just different from the Bibigo.
This is a popular gochujang paste. Thicker than the sauces, but can easily be thinned down to your liking with water or other liquids.
Kim Chi Topping on Burgers
The sauce is marinading inside this Korean Gochujang burger recipe before grilling and then drizzled on-top again after grilling is outstanding. The flavors are screaming out of each bite and it’s no wonder these Korean flavors are so popular in grilling. Topped with some extra Korean kimchi pickles for the extra flavor and now this burger has become a grilling favorite. Sure, you don’t have to kimchi on the burger. You can always add your own favorite slaw or crisp lettuce and tomato. With the gochujang sauce on top, you won’t really need any other ketchup or mustard. Trust us, the flavors from the sauce on top is enough to make you crave another round of Korean burgers the following weekend. It’s a great way to serve up burgers that’s different and flavorful, especially if you’re friend are daring enough to enjoy the heat and the pungent kimchi.
Korean Kimchi Burgers with Gochujang Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground Beef or Pork (455g)
- 2 cloves Garlic , minced
- 1 Tablespoon Gochujang sauce (15ml) , plus extra for spreading
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper , or to taste
- 1 cup Kimchi , or to taste
- Lettuce
- 1 Green Onion , sliced
- 3-4 Hamburger Buns
- Additional Optional Burger condiments: lettuce , Mustard, Fried Shallots, Onions
Instructions
- In medium bowl, mix ground beef, garlic, gochujang sauce and black pepper.
- Divide into 3-4 portions and shape burger patty. Try not to over-handle the meat while making the patties. The less compressed the meat is, the better the texture of the filal burger.
- Heat grill over medium-high heat (if you have that option) or set up for direct grilling over coals. Scrape the grates clean to minimize sticking.
- Grill for about 3 minutes on each side or until cooked.
- Assemble the burgers: lay bottom bun, lettuce, patty, extra gochujang sauce, kim chi and green onions on top. If you want, add any of your favorite burger toppings. Place the top bun on the burger and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
What to Use Gochujang for?
Other than these burgers, we know it’s great for so many things. Here’s some delicious ideas and inspirations:
- Dip. This is great as a dip for french fries, veggies, crackers or chips.
- Marinade! Try gochujang in your next marinade. Add a few tablespoons for a nice umami flavor and kick of heat.
- Stir fry sauce. When stir frying, add a good squeeze of this flavorful gochujang on your veggies, meats and even fried rice.
- Add it as a topping or finishing sauce over your grilled meats or grilled vegetables.
- Pizza or Pasta sauce! Drizzle gochujang over your pizza or pasta sauce.
More Easy Recipes:
- Check out all our Burger Recipes including the Juicy Lucy and Homemade Teriyaki Burgers.
- Korean cut short ribs with Ginger soy marinade
- Zucchini noodles with Korean pork and Kim chi
- Ramen hack with Korean pork and kimchi
- This recipe was originally published in 2017. More of our Burger Recipes including the Juicy Lucy and Homemade Teriyaki Burgers.
Adding kimchi to this burger was just amazing. I love the flavors with the Gochujang as well.
The kimchi and Gochujang was so great in this burger. I can’t wait to make this all summer long.
Hard to resist this recipe! Tastes delicious, easy to make and it looks pretty… very little else one can look for in a recipe! Thank you for sharing!
This Gochujang sauce gave this burger such an amazing kick. I also really loved the kimchi you added.
Great recipe! I used Gochujang paste. Burgers tasted terrific. My son had a request. His burger had peanut butter on the bun instead of mayo and he LOVED it.
These are delicious!
Thanks so much! We love the flavors so much too.
Hope I could find this Gochujang sauce at the supermarket to make this burger. Luckily I have kimchi in the fridge. Thank you for sharing the recipe! Gonna try it soon.
Amazing recipe, It looks like easy and delicious. Thanks for Sharing.