Ultimate bibimbap sauce recipe in four ways! Here, you will find four styles of delicious Korean bibimbap sauce.
It covers spicy to non-spicy bibimbap sauce and classic to funky flavor!
As each sauce has a unique flavor profile, you can choose one according to your preference and pair it with your favorite bibimbap ingredients!
Bibimbap is so popular everywhere! It seems like everyone is making it at home nowadays. 🙂 OK. Maybe not everyone…
I’m pretty confident that you already know what bibimbap is, but in case you’re new to this dish, I will briefly explain it.
What is Bimbimbap
Bibimbap is a bowl of steamed rice served with various vegetables (fresh or sautéed), some protein (red meat, chicken, tuna or tofu) and the sauce. To eat, you first mix all the ingredients with a spoon thoroughly.
I have two bibimbap recipes here if you want to see them visually. Bibimbap and Dolsot bibimbap
These are prepared with slightly different ingredients with slightly different techniques, so it’s worth reading about them!
What is Bibimbap Sauce
Now that I explained what bibimbap is, defining bibimbap sauce just got much easier.
Bibimbap sauce is a sauce used in bibimbap before you mix everything. While each bibimbap ingredient plays a part in giving bibimbap flavor, I think the most important flavor note comes from the sauce.
Commonly bibimbap sauce is made with spicy gochujang (Korean chili paste). Some people might call it Korean hot sauce for bibimbap or Korean red sauce for bibimbap because it looks red and is a tad spicy.
But as I briefly noted at the beginning, today I want to show you how to make 4 different styles of bibimbap sauce, including the classic one.
These sauces all taste different and some go better with certain ingredients. Anyway, let’s continue.
How to Make Korean Bibimbap Sauce
*Each of the sauces below are enough for 12 to 15 servings.
**If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my 30 essential Korean ingredients list.
Classic Gochujang Bibimbap Sauce
Some people make bibimbap with just plain gochujang, but that’s just a big NO for me. I love adding some extra flavor! This classic gochujang bibimbap sauce is slightly sweet, zingy and nutty. It’s hugely addictive!
Many people around the world already tried and loved my “gochujang bibimbap sauce”. This recipe is a larger batch of my original bibimbap sauce recipe.
This classic sauce goes well in any kind of bibimbap bowl. Just note that it’s a bit spicy!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 4 tsp vinegar, apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 4 tsp minced garlic
Direction
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix them well.
Funky Doenjang Bibimbap Sauce
I think this doenjang bibimbap sauce might be quite new to many of you. It’s certainly not a mainstream sauce, but nonetheless, it’s a great bibimbap sauce!
Its key ingredient is doenjang (Korean soybean paste, also known as Korean miso paste). So you can expect some funky and slightly pungent flavor!
I think this sauce goes well with vegetarian bibimbap where you use lots of vegetables and tofu. It’s also not spicy.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1.5 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
Direction
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix them well.
Meaty Gochujang Bibimbap Sauce
This meaty gochujang bibimbap sauce is essentially stir fried gochujang with some ground meat. It’s a great condiment to have because it can really save your meal prep time.
It is also a popular dipping sauce for ssambap (Korean rice lettuce wrap) as well.
As a bibimbap sauce, this sauce is not as runny as the other sauces here. Also, this bibimbap sauce requires slightly more preparation than the rest of the sauces here, so I will refer you to check out my instructions from here – stir fried gochujang.
Kid Friendly Soy Sauce Bibimbap Sauce
I love my bibimbap so much, but until recently I didn’t make it as often as I would like. Because, my little girl can’t handle the spicy food well yet. Then I thought why not make a non-spicy bibimbap sauce for her!? I should have thought of it sooner. LOL.
Anyway, this bibimbap sauce is without gochujang and is not spicy. It’s a great sauce for anyone who does not tolerate spicy food well. I based this sauce on my Korean pan fried tofu recipe. How handy!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup soy sauce, regular
- 4 tsp sugar
- 4 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
Direction
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix them well.
How to Store Bibimbap Sauce
Store each sauce in a seperate air tight container and refrigerate. Generally, it’s good for 1 to 2 weeks. (It could last longer, but I would recommend you to do a brief sniff test and a quick tasting to be extra cautious.)
Make sure you only use a clean spoon when getting the sauce out.
Stir the sauce well with a spoon prior to use.
Ultimate Bibimbap Sauce, 4 Ways
Ingredients
CLASSIC GOCHUJANG BIBIMBAP SAUCE
- 1/2 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 4 tsp vinegar , apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 4 tsp minced garlic
FUNKY DOENJANG BIBIMBAP SAUCE
- 1/2 cup doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 1.5 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
KID FRIENDLY SOY SAUCE BIBIMBAP SAUCE
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 4 tsp sugar
- 4 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
Instructions
- Choose your choice of sauce. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix them well.
Notes
- For meaty gochujang bibimbap sauce, refer to this page for ingredients and instructions.
- For storage information, read through the post above.
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
