Best kimchi in the UK reviewed
Here we will give a hands-on, taste-tested review of some of the UK’s best and most popular kimchi, including ones from Vadasz, M&S and Loving Foods.
We’ll look into the benefits, ingredients, nutrition and flavour of these popular kimchi.
You might also be interested in reading our popular article on the best probiotics in the UK if you want to add more healthy microbes to your diet.
Please note this article contains some affiliate links.
What is kimchi?
Kimchi is a traditional food product from Korea. It is made by fermenting cabbage and other vegetables. Its red colour comes from the red chilli powder used, however it is not overly spicy, rather it has a deep and warming heat.
Kimchi is a living product full of probiotics (ie live beneficial microbes) and prebiotics such as cabbage, garlic, onion and spring onion which feed the good microbes in your gut.
So in kimchi you are not only getting the beneficial microbes, you are also getting the best food to feed them - it’s a true superstar of gut health foods!
Vadasz kimchi
Vadasz kimchi is a vegan kimchi with simple, natural ingredients. Being vegan means it doesn’t include fish sauce or shrimp paste as a traditional kimchi would.
The ingredients are: Chinese leaf cabbage, carrots, spring onion, sea salt, chilli powder, ginger and garlic.
It also doesn’t include any added sugar, thickeners, flavour enhancers or preservatives which are sometimes found in commercial kimchi.
Flavour
The aroma is complex, with cabbage, garlic and a citrus hint showing most.
The flavour is also complex and not easy to describe! It has a lovely deep chilli flavour which is not too spicy. It also has lovely refreshing lemony sourness which very well with the chilli. And the garlic and ginger provide a deep background flavour.
Despite there being no traditional umami-giving ingredients (eg fish sauce), it isn’t obviously lacking in this area at all.
Overall, the taste is very good. It’s moreish, refreshing and satisfying.
Cost and availability
You can buy a 400g jar from Tesco or Sainsburys for £4.50.
Summary
Rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Verdict: Vadasz kimchi is a great tasting vegan kimchi with simple, natural ingredients.
Pros
lovely, complex taste
natural ingredients
high in prebiotic fibres
good source of vitamins from the vegetables
various health benefits from the ginger and garlic
very low in sugar
Cons
not a wholly ‘traditional’ kimchi which would include fish products (if that bothers you)
Read our full review of Vadasz kimchi.
Our favourite gut health products in the UK
YourBiology Gut+ probiotic not only offers 10 strains of probiotics, but also includes two types of prebiotics, three digestive enzymes and vitamin D for gut health support. All this means it offers a lot more benefits for gut health and general health than most probiotic supplements do
Healthpath gut health test is the UK’s most comprehensive gut health test. It tests over 100 biomarkers, checks your digestion and immune response, analyses leaky gut and provides a clear and understandable report on your microbiome
YourBiology SuperGreens+ is a superfood and greens supplement which makes it very easy to get a huge amount of nutrition - vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fibre, polyphenols and more - in one glass. Great for supporting gut health, skin health, energy, mental clarity and immunity.
Read more about the best gut health products in the UK.
M&S classic kimchi
M&S classic kimchi is great, but it is not really a ‘classic’ kimchi because it doesn’t contain fish sauce or shrimp paste like a traditional kimchi would. It is better called a vegan kimchi.
The ingredients are: napa cabbage (66%), radish (10%), carrots (10%), garlic, red chillies, tamari soy sauce (water, soybeans, salt, vinegar), miso (water, soybeans, rice, salt), onions, ginger, salt and dried kombu seaweed.
So instead of using a fish product for umami flavours, this vegan kimchi uses miso, soy sauce and seaweed.
In summary, it’s a very natural kimchi and doesn’t include any added sugar, thickeners, flavour enhancers or preservatives.
Flavour
The aroma is rich and complex, with the ginger and maybe some miso coming through most. There’s a lot going on and it’s quite hard to describe adequately!
The flavour is also very deep and complex (and again hard to convey in words). There’s a lot of umami notes and a nice, deep chili flavour that is medium hot. There’s also nice lemony acidity and a good crunch from the various vegetables.
Overall, the taste is excellent. It’s rich, satisfying and very moreish. They have done a great job and providing a very umami flavour in a vegan kimchi without fish products. My only minor criticism is that there’s perhaps a little too much carrot and not enough radish.
Cost and availability
We bought a 275g jar from M&S for £4 - which is on the more expensive end of the market.
Summary
Rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Verdict: M&S classic kimchi is a vegan kimchi with a brilliant complex flavour.
Pros
excellent, complex taste
natural ingredients
high in prebiotic fibres
good source of vitamins and minerals from the vegetables
various health benefits from the ginger, garlic and kombu seaweed
very low in sugar
Cons
more expensive than others
not really a ‘classic’ kimchi with fish products (if that bothers you)
Read our full review of M&S classic kimchi.
Loving Foods Hot ‘n’ Smoky Kimchi
Loving Foods Hot ‘n’ Smoky Kimchi is an organic, vegan kimchi with a unique flavour.
Specifically it contains: cabbage, pak choi, radish, spring onions, ginger, chilli, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, garlic, tamari (soy sauce) and Celtic sea salt.
In case you were wondering, the tamari is added to give a deep umami flavour.
It is a very clean product and doesn’t contain any concerning additives.
Flavour
The aroma is quite complex with the smoked paprika and cayenne pepper primarily coming through.
The taste is equally complex. Initially you get the heat of the chilli and cayenne pepper as well as the ginger, followed by a deep smoky taste and finishing with the slight funkiness of the fermented cabbage and other vegetables. But as the heat and other flavours build on the palate you notice the funkiness less and less. You also sometimes get a strong hit of spring onion.
The spiciness is at a good level for me (as someone who doesn’t like things too spicy). It’s a nice light to moderate heat which doesn’t build to overpowering as you eat more.
Overall, I think the taste works very well. It is deep, multi-layered and moreish.
Cost and availability
A 475g jar costs £7.95 from the Loving Foods website.
Summary
4.75 stars out of 5.
Verdict: Loving Foods Hot ‘n’ Smoky Kimchi is a unique, delicious and addictive vegan kimchi which is also organic.
Pros
great, unique taste
organic and free of any concerning additives
good source of vitamins from the many vegetables
various health benefits from the ginger and garlic
great source of fibre
Cons
more expensive than others (but as you would expect from an organic, small batch, live product)
it’s not a strictly traditional kimchi (if that bothers you)
Our favourite gut health products in the UK
YourBiology Gut+ probiotic not only offers 10 strains of probiotics, but also includes two types of prebiotics, three digestive enzymes and vitamin D for gut health support. All this means it offers a lot more benefits for gut health and general health than most probiotic supplements do
Healthpath gut health test is the UK’s most comprehensive gut health test. It tests over 100 biomarkers, checks your digestion and immune response, analyses leaky gut and provides a clear and understandable report on your microbiome
YourBiology SuperGreens+ is a superfood and greens supplement which makes it very easy to get a huge amount of nutrition - vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fibre, polyphenols and more - in one glass. Great for supporting gut health, skin health, energy, mental clarity and immunity.
Read more about the best gut health products in the UK.
Health benefits of kimchi
Kimchi has many health benefits, especially related to its probiotic and prebiotic content.
Probiotics
One of the main benefits of kimchi is the probiotics (ie live beneficial microbes) it contains.
But because of the usual ‘wild fermentation’ process in making kimchi - which means it is fermented using the microbes already present on the cabbage, other ingredients and fermentation equipment - we don’t know exactly what strains are present and the quantity of them.
However this wild fermentation process (as opposed to inoculating the kimchi with specific bacterial strains as you might in commercial kefir or yoghurt) means there should be a huge diversity of microbes in kimchi.
Learn more about the benefits of probiotics.
Postbiotics
Postbiotics are essentially beneficial things microbes produce during fermentation. These include healthy short-chain fatty acids which nourish our gut lining and may help reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Prebiotics
Kimchi is fantastic for gut health because it contains prebiotics as well as probiotics. Prebiotics are fibre which feed the good bacteria in your gut and help them multiply. The cabbage, garlic, onion and spring onion often in kimchi are all prebiotic vegetables.
Read more about the benefits of prebiotics.
Garlic
Kimchi usually contains garlic which has a range of health benefits including supporting immune function as well as reducing cholesterol and blood pressure. It is also a good source of antioxidants as well as various vitamins and minerals such as manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C and selenium.
Read more about the benefits of garlic.
Ginger
Ginger has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. It can also contribute to digestive health, weight loss and healthy blood sugar levels.
Read more about the benefits of ginger.
Chilli powder
The chilli powder (or red pepper powder) used in kimchi contains capsaicin which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that protect cells from damage and reduce inflammation.
Capsaicin is also high in vitamins A and C which support immune function. It also aids digestion by increasing the secretion of gastric juices.
Read more about the benefits of capsaicin.
Vegetables
Kimchi is a good source of vegetables and usually contains cabbage, onion and spring onion.
Apart from being high in fibre, these vegetables support digestive health and heart health as well as boost the immune system. Collectively they provide various antioxidants, vitamins C, K, B6 and folate, as well as minerals like potassium, calcium and manganese.
Kimchi can also contains radish, daikon and other vegetables.
Uses for kimchi
Kimchi is great as a side dish to many meals and excellent with any form of breakfast eggs. It is fantastic in a kimchi cheese toastie - which I personally think is the most comforting vegetarian snack there is!
Otherwise it could go on burgers, wraps, Mexican food, soups, salads and much more.
Factors we consider in our ratings
The factors we consider when doing a review (and the weightings of each of these) may vary depending on the product we are testing, but here are the key general factors we consider when we settle on a rating for a product.
Health benefits
We find out how the product will be good for your health and outline the benefits for you in simple language. This often involves doing research so you don’t have to. We often link to scientific studies or articles summarising scientific findings so you can dig deeper if you want to.
Things detrimental to health
We want to highlight where a product might include something bad for your health - even if it might be good for you in another way. This could include such things as pointing out certain additives it contains or high sugar levels.
How it’s made
This will vary depending on the product, but we want to see a quality process for making it and quality ingredients. For example, we want to see a kombucha traditionally fermented with lots of different microbial strains and we want to see a yoghurt made with fresh milk and not milk powders.
Price
While we expect quality products to be more expensive, they still have to be priced within reason. On the other side of things, a product which is priced very competitively will get a ratings boost based on the value it provides.
Flavour
For some products flavour won’t be a factor (eg probiotic tablets), but for others, like yoghurt or kimchi, flavour is a key aspect because these products are made to be enjoyed as well as being healthy! We will try to be as subjective as possible and describe the flavour in detail so you can get an idea of whether you would like it or not.
Our favourite gut health products in the UK
YourBiology Gut+ probiotic not only offers 10 strains of probiotics, but also includes two types of prebiotics, three digestive enzymes and vitamin D for gut health support. All this means it offers a lot more benefits for gut health and general health than most probiotic supplements do
Healthpath gut health test is the UK’s most comprehensive gut health test. It tests over 100 biomarkers, checks your digestion and immune response, analyses leaky gut and provides a clear and understandable report on your microbiome
YourBiology SuperGreens+ is a superfood and greens supplement which makes it very easy to get a huge amount of nutrition - vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fibre, polyphenols and more - in one glass. Great for supporting gut health, skin health, energy, mental clarity and immunity.
Read more about the best gut health products in the UK.
Your reviewer
This article was written by Travis, the founder of this website, long-time gut-health enthusiast, science nerd and passionate kombucha maker of over 10 years!
Related articles
