This Korean Chicken Stew with Gochujang comes together easily, all in one pot, with only 15 minutes of prep. Boneless chicken thighs and spinach are simmered in sweet, spicy, garlicky chili sauce that's to die for. The key to this easy flavorful recipe is store-bought Gochujang (Korean chili sauce). When you see how easy this amazing sauce is, you'll want to cook everything with it.
Gochujang is Korea's favorite chili sauce and an essential cooking ingredient in Korean cuisine. Gochujang is made from fermented soybeans and chilies. It has a wonderful range of sweet, spicy and umami flavors. You can purchase Gochujang at Asian markets, online and in the Asian section of many grocery stores.
The sauce for this Korean chicken stew has a good amount of Gochujang, mixed with sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and brown sugar. This mixture of ingredients is pure heaven. I have become totally enamored with it and I've been trying out a variety of different recipes using this sauce. Last night I marinated salmon in it - wonderful!
Update: My newest obsession with this amazing sauce is this Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Recipe.
How To Make Korean Chicken Stew with Gochujang
To make the sauce for this stew, store-bought Korean Gochujang Sauce is mixed with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, brown sugar. For the stew, you'll need boneless chicken thighs sliced into bite-sized strips, lots of fresh baby spinach, and green onions.
- Marinate the chicken: Put the chicken and green onion bottoms in a big bowl, add sauce ingredients, toss to combine and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
- Simmer the Stew: To cook the Korean chicken stew, bring ⅓ cup of water to a boil in a heavy pot. Add the chicken and marinade ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. That's it, done. I love that there's only one pot needed here and no messy or oily sautéing. An easy recipe.
- Stir in Spinach and Scallions: After the stew cooks for 30 minutes, throw in the sliced green onion tops and fresh baby spinach leaves and stir until the spinach is wilted. Don't be alarmed if when you add the spinach to the pot it comes up to the top or even higher. Raw spinach is mostly water and it's about ten times more voluminous when raw than when cooked. As soon as the spinach makes contact with heat it will start to deflate. Just keep stirring and tossing the spinach into the hot stew and within a minute or two it will be perfectly incorporated.
How To Serve Korean Chicken Stew
This Korean chicken stew calls out for rice to soak up all the delicious sauce. I've served it with white rice because it's more popular in my house than brown. But I think brown rice would be delicious too and you'll get the added nutritional benefits of a whole grain. While your stew is simmering and filling the air with its incredible aroma, you'll have just enough time to set the table and make a pot of rice.
This Korean chicken stew is best enjoyed hot. I like to serve it in shallow bowls, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and a big self-serve bowl of rice on the side.
Other delicious easy chicken recipes from around the world
- Chinese Orange Chicken
- Curried Butternut Squash, Lentil and Chicken Stew
- Asian Honey Soy Chicken
- Quick Chicken Pizzaiola
- Chicken Piccata
This recipe is minimally adapted from a recipe in Cooking Light Magazine. Cooking Light is one of my long-time favorite recipe sources for delicious healthy recipes.
Here's the recipe for Korean Chicken Stew with Gochujang Sauce. If you try this recipe I hope you'll come back to leave a rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think.
PrintRecipe
Korean Chicken Stew with Gochujang Sauce
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
Description
An easy one-pot recipe for Korean chicken stew with spinach simmered in an addictive sweet and spicy sauce that uses store-bought Gochujang. Serve this with rice for a delicious meal that the whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into ½-inch strips
- 1 large bunch of green onions, cut in half crosswise so the bottoms (white and light green part) are separate from the dark green tops. Cut the bottoms into ½-inch pieces. Slice the tops thinly.
- ⅓ cup Gochujang (Korean chili sauce)
- 2 ½ tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of minced ginger root (from a 3-inch piece)
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 large cloves)
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 8-10 ounces of fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 3 cups of cooked rice (white or brown) to serve with the stew
Garnish: 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Put the chicken, green onion bottoms and all the marinade ingredients: Gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and brown sugar, into a bowl and stir to combine. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes.
- Heat ⅓ cup water over high heat in a Dutch oven or a heavy pot with a lid. As soon as the water boils, add the chicken and all the marinade ingredients. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Give the stew a stir and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes more, to thicken the sauce.
- While the stew is simmering, get your rice cooking.
- Remove stew from heat and immediately add green onion tops and spinach to the pot. Stir and toss until the spinach has wilted from the heat of the stew.
- Divide the stew among shallow bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with rice.
Notes
Nutrition information for this recipe is calculated for the stew only and doesn't include the rice.
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator for websites. We strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but nutrition information can vary based on many factors. If your health and well being is in question we recommend you check with a licensed dietitian or nutritionist.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Korean
Originally published Nov 29, 2018. Updated May 10, 2021 with a few new photos, clarifying details and step-by-step instructions added to the written post. The same delicious recipe!
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Kristiana
I bought Gochujang sauce this week and it is way too spicy for me. I'll just add it to sauces in drops and hope I get the flavor that way.
Lisa Goldfinger
The sauce mixture uses a third of a cup of the Gochujang. I'm sensitive to spicy food and I don't find it too spicy. Perhaps if you use half that amount you'll still have the flavor without too much heat. I hope you enjoy the stew!
Brian
Unbelievably good. Love this dish!
Kim
Hi there,
It seems like I need eat the stew immediately after adding the spinach. Would that be accurate to say? Or can the spinach rest in the stew for a day or two?
Lisa
Hi Kim - The spinach wilts when it gets mixed into the hot stew but the stew is also delicious the next day or the day after, reheated.
Jeff
Fantastic flavor. I used paste and the heat was fine for me but too spicy for my wife. Would double the recipe as barely enough for 2 and maybe try it as a soup as you suggested with less rice involved. I have made several recipes and all have been winners. Made the white chili but would never use the potato masher again as it made a mush of things. I prefer chunks of chicken and beans instead of a blender version of soup. To each their own. Thanks for the wonderful recipes
Lisa
I'm so glad to hear you liked the Korean chicken stew Jeff. Thanks so much for taking the time to report back 🙂
Ayu
Hai.Its so delicious. I shared your pics in ig. Tqsomuch
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The salad is cooked in a short time. Great.
Suzanne Gillis
What a fabulous recipe! I made a double batch last night knowing I would want leftovers. I logged back in to see if there were any suggestions in the comments for how to cut the heat for my kids who complained the dish was too spicy. I used Gochujang paste and I wonder if Gochujang sauce is something altogether different and if it would be less potent? Having never used this ingredient before I may have screwed up and bought the wrong thing. My version does have a significant kick to it. In the mean time, do you have suggestions for how to cut the heat for my kids in our leftovers? Every ingredient I think of to add feels not just right. Thanks for any guidance! And thanks for the recipe!
Lisa
I'm so glad you enjoyed the stew Suzanne. Sorry it was too spicy for the kids. It's likely the paste is more concentrated than the sauce. Generally, the best way to lower the heat is to add full-fat dairy such as cream, yogurt or sour cream. Make sure the stew isn't boiling hot when you add the dairy, to avoid separation. Good luck - let me know!!
Stephanie Pinharry
One of the best recipes I've ever made! Thank you so much Lisa
Lisa
Wow, that's so great to hear Stephanie! I feel that way too!! Thanks for coming back to let me know!