This easy Korean vegetable pancake recipe (Yachaejeon) is a traditional Korean side dish. Veggie-packed with crispy, golden brown edges and a chewy middle, and served with a delicious dipping sauce. This side dish will be a family favorite in no time!
What Makes This Recipe Great
This Korean vegetable pancake recipe is healthy, savory, and absolutely delicous. Korean vegetable pancakes are also called “Yachaejeon” in Korean, which translated is yachae = vegetables, jeon = pancakes.
I used to eat savory Korean pancakes regularly growing up, and they were always my favorite. They are a staple during traditional celebrations like Lunar New Year and Korean harvest season. I love them because they are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and served with a delicious dipping sauce.
Whether you’re preparing for a holiday or need a flavorful side dish, you will love this traditional Yachaejeon recipe.
Watch a Short Video of this Recipe
Ingredient Notes
Vegetable Pancake Batter
Egg: Use your favorite egg replacement for vegan vegetable pancakes.
Flour: You can use all-purpose flour instead of rice flour if you aren’t gluten-free.
Vegetables: I use a mix of green onions, carrots, zucchini, and yellow onion, cut into thin slices.
Oil: I used avocado oil, but you can use whichever cooking oil you prefer.
Dipping Sauce
Coconut Aminos: I use this instead of soy sauce because it is a flavorful, gluten-free alternative.
Rice Vinegar: This is a very mild vinegar that has a sweetness to it. It’s great for Asian-inspired sauces.
Green Onion: Adds amazing flavor. Chop for the dipping sauce.
Sesame Oil: Some people use sesame seeds, but I prefer the toasted flavor of sesame oil in my dipping sauce.
Gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes): This will add a kick of heat, but it’s totally optional.
Recipe Step by Step
- Slice all the vegetables into thin, bite-sized pieces before you begin. Combine all ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
- Crack and whisk the egg in a large mixing bowl. Add in rice flour, baking powder, and sea salt.
- Slowly stir in cold water until a batter forms – you might not use all of the water. It should be the consistency of a crepe batter. Add more water if the batter seems too thick.
- Stir in the veggies until fully combined.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet or cast iron pan over medium-high heat.
- Add half of the batter to the pan and spread evenly. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the bottom turns crispy and golden brown.
- Flip the pancakes, then add another tablespoon of oil at the edge of the skillet. This will make it flow down to the bottom of the pancake. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from the skillet and repeat with the rest of the batter.
- Serve your Korean vegetable pancake immediately with dipping sauce.
Tips & Tricks
Storage: Store leftover pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator and follow reheating instructions below.
Reheating: Yachaejeon is best eaten right away for the perfect crispy texture. However, these pancakes can be reheated in the air fryer at 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes per side.
Vegetables: These Korean vegetable pancakes are easy to adjust according to your liking. You can use mushrooms and/ or bell pepper as well.
Recipe FAQs
Typically, a Korean vegetable pancake is packed with sliced veggies, eggs, and all-purpose flour. I used rice flour to make my pancakes gluten-free. Some choose to use an egg replacement to make them vegan.
There are 456 calories in one Korean vegetable pancake using my recipe exactly. Cut into triangles, and serve as a side dish or appetizer!
You can try an egg replacement if you want your Yachaejeon to be vegan. The flour is a binding agent, so you cannot skip this step. However, you can use an alternative gluten-free flour or regular flour of your choice.
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Easy Korean Vegetable Pancake | Yachaejeon
Video
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup cold water plus more if needed
- 4 green onions cut into 2 inch pieces and white parts sliced in half
- 1 carrots julienned
- 1/2 zucchini julienned
- 1/2 onion thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp avocado oil or your favorite cooking oil
Dipping Sauce
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 green onion chopped
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp gochugaru Korean chili flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Slice all the vegetables before you begin. Combine all ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
- Crack and whisk the egg in a large mixing bowl. Add in rice flour, baking powder, and sea salt.
- Slowly stir in cold water until a batter forms – you might not use all of the water. It should be the consistency of a crepe batter. Add more water if the batter seems too thick.
- Stir in the veggies until fully combined.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add half of the batter to the pan spread evenly. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the bottom turns crispy and golden brown.
- Flip, then add another tablespoon of the oil at the edge of the skillet so it can flow down to the bottom of the pancake. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from the skillet and repeat with the rest of the batter.
- Serve your Korean vegetable pancake immediately with dipping sauce.
Notes
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Absolutely delicious! I definitely used a pan that was too small, but the leftovers heated up perfectly in the air fryer. For me it was even better the second day, as was the dipping sauce. What a perfect way to get in more veggies!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Stacie. Thank you so much for leaving a review!!
Do you think there’s a way to make these with an AIP egg substitute? I’m largely AIP but have reintroduced white rice amongst other things, but egg whites sadly don’t seem to agree with me! I also don’t eat most common vegan egg substitutes (no flax eggs or aquafaba), and definitely want to avoid commercial egg replacements. Gelatin doesn’t tend to work so well in things that are served warm, so I don’t think that would work. I was wondering about adding some tapioca or arrowroot to the batter, perhaps? Obviously it won’t be quite the same but it might help stick the batter together more and make it a little more moist.
You might be able to do it eggless if you use cassava flour. The batter might not hold as well, but it’ll still work if you work with it gently!
Made it today. Simple and delicious!
Thank you!
So yummy! I added red pepper and cabbage and it was delicious. I was out of sesame seeds so mixed a bit of tshini into the sauce. Will certainly make again.
This has become a staple in my house. I love that it combines veg and starch; and you can literally add any vegetable ends you have in the fridge.
Have this cooking right now, but mine is unable to hold together. I’m very adept at gluten free cooking, so I’m not a stranger to rice flour. I used Glutinous rice flour however, and wonder I’d thst was a mistake. I chose it because I figured I wanted it “starchy” in this recipe, since others I have looked at called for added starch. I also added a little bit of xanthan gum for binding, but I wasn’t able to successfully flip it as a whole. Instead it broke into pieces. I left the cooked pieces to cool slightly on a wooden cutting board, and by the time I had the next pancake in the pan and turned to taste the first, it had gone from crispy & golden to soft & soggy. So I’ve put the pieces in the air fryer to see if that helps.
Should I have chosen just plain rice flour instead?
I definitely recommend regular rice flour! Glutinous rice flour is very different in composition and won’t work for this recipe.
This was delicious, had it last night. Thank you for the recipe.
So happy you enjoyed it!