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Home » Easy Rice Dishes For Dinner

Tteokbokki with Cheese

Apr 24, 2022 · Modified: Nov 27, 2023 by Emily · 1 Comment

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Prepare yourself for an extraordinary experience with this incredible tteokbokki with cheese recipe!

Brace yourself for a taste that will tantalize your taste buds and make your mouth water uncontrollably.

This dish is so incredibly scrumptious that it will undoubtedly leave you craving for more.

Spicy tteokbokki with cheese in a frying pan.
Jump to:
  • What is Tteokbokki?
  • Why You'll Love This Recipe
  • Cost To Make
  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • Tips for Success
  • Substitutions / Variations
  • Storage
  • FAQ
  • Other Rice Cake Recipes
  • More Mains Recipes
  • Recipe
  • Comments

This tteokbokki with cheese is spicy tteokbokki with a twist. It has the perfect balance of spicy and savory.

This cheese tteokbokki recipe is comfort food, highly addictive, and oh so delicious!

Traditionally, tteokbokki is made without cheese and is a spicy rice cake dish. Tteokbokki originates from Korea and is a popular street food.

In Korean, the word “tteok” means rice cake, while the word “bokki” means something that is fried.

Combining the two words tteokbokki translates loosely to stir fried rice cake.

If you are after other tteokbokki recipes, you might like to try rose tteokbokki or jajang tteokbokki.

What is Tteokbokki?

Tteokbokki is a rice cake in a cylinder shape. They are chewy in texture and soft. You can purchase them fresh or frozen.

Korean rice cakes being held in a hand.

For this recipe I was unable to get fresh tteokbokki, so I used frozen.

If you are using frozen tteokbokki, be sure to bring them to room temperature before you add them to the mixture. To do this, simply soak them in warm water.

Tteokbokki rice cakes soaking in water.
Frozen tteokbokki soaking in water.

If you are using dry tteokbokki, submerge them in water to allow them to soften.

When tteokbokki is cooked it becomes chewy with a bit of a bite to it in the middle.

The starch found in the cakes helps to create a thick sauce which gives the tteokbokki dish the perfect sauce.

Adding cheese to tteokbokki is a relatively new addition. This is because cheese wasn’t as readily available in Korea before.

The addition of cheese to this usually spicy dish provides the perfect balance in flavor. So, if you are worried you can’t handle spicy food, fear not!

If you are still a bit hesitant to try this dish, you could also reduce the amount of chili flakes or chili paste in it to make it less spicy.

In this recipe for cheese tteokbokki, I use mozzarella cheese, however, any other cheese can be used that you would use for pasta or pizza.

For example, you could use cheddar cheese. Or a mix of mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

  • It takes under 30 minutes to make and is so addictive. The combination of chewy rice cakes and cheese with the chili in this dish provides the perfect balance between spice and savory.
  • What’s more is that it has under 12 ingredients.
  • It is so simple to make and is budget friendly.
  • Quick and easy to make, perfect for those lazy weekends or busy weeknights.

Cost To Make

Estimated cost = $3.10, or $1.03 a serve

Ingredients

Please note that below is a guide for some of the ingredients we used in the recipe. The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.

Tteokbokki with cheese ingredients.
  • Fresh/frozen Korean rice cakes: Can be found at your local Korean store.
  • Korean soup stock / dashi: If you are unable to get dashi, you can use water instead or an Asian style chicken stock/broth.
  • Mozzarella cheese, grated: This will go on top of the cooked tteokbokki and sauce. It helps reduce the spiciness of the dish when eaten with the sauce. It mellows the spiciness of the dish down.
  • Sesame oil: To garnish
  • Green onions/scallions: Finely chopped, to garnish
  • Sesame seeds: Lightly toasted, to garnish
Tteokbokki with cheese sauce ingredients.

Tteokbokki Sauce

  • Korean chili flakes (gochugaru): This adds a “kick” to the tteokbokki. It can be increased or reduced as to your needs. I was unable to get gochugaru which is finer chili flakes. I used more coarse chili flakes instead.
  • Korean chili paste (gochujang): This also provides spice to the dish. As with the chili flakes, you can adjust this to suit your liking. If you add less, the dish will not be as spicy. This holds more spice than the chili flakes.
  • Granulated sugar: This helps balance out the spiciness of the chili flakes and chili paste.
  • Soy sauce: Provides saltiness to the dish.
  • Minced garlic

Instructions

Step 1 - If you are using frozen rice cakes. In a bowl large enough to hold your rice cakes, submerge the rice cakes in warm water. This will bring them to room temperature. If you are using fresh rice cakes, you can skip this step.

Step 2 - In a small bowl, combine chili flakes, chili paste, granulated sugar, soy sauce, and minced garlic. Mix until well combined.

Sauce for tteokbokki in a bowl.

Step 3 - Heat a large frying pan over medium to high heat. Add soup stock and rice cakes.

Bring to the boil. This will gradually cook and soften the rice cakes. Stir the rice cakes gently so that you do not break them.

Step 4 - Add the sauce to fry pan and gently stir until the sauce and stock are well combined. Allow the mixture to boil until it thickens.

Step 5 - Once the sauce has thickened to your liking, lower the heat, and gently push all the rice cakes to the centre of the pan. This will help the cheese stay above the sauce instead of sinking into it.

Placing cheese on top of tteokbokki with sauce.

Step 6 - Sprinkle the mozzarella over the top and place a lid on the pan. Cook until the cheese has melted. Remove from heat.

Serve hot with scallions, sesame seeds, and sesame oil on top.

Tips for Success

  • Gently stir the rice cakes to slowly release the starch from them and so you do not break them.
  • Do not have the heat too high when cooking otherwise the rice cakes may stick to the bottom of the pan. Using a non-stick pan helps them not to stick to the pan.
Tteokbokki with cheese on top in a bowl.

Substitutions / Variations

You could make this with any kind of cheese you’d like.

If you are unable to get dashi stock, you can substitute chicken stock. However, it will have a different taste.

Storage

Best stored in a fridge once cooled down in an airtight container. This tteokbokki with cheese can last up to 1 week in the fridge.

Tteokbokki can be reheated in a microwave or on the stovetop.

FAQ

What goes with tteokbokki?

Tteokbokki goes perfect with a variety of foods. For example, you could have it with rice balls, pickled radish, or fish cake soup.

There are also different sauces you can make with tteokbokki, such as the traditional spicy chilli sauce used in this recipe, and jjajang tteokbokki.

What does tteokbokki taste like?

Tteokbokki tastes chewy and very filling. Depending on what sauce you pair with the tteokbokki, it can be spicy or sweet.

Other Rice Cake Recipes

If you love rice cakes as much as we do, you might like to try some of our favorites like milk rice cake, ube butter mochi, rice cake toppings, potato mochi, mango mochi, jajang tteokbokki, chocolate mochi, reindeer Christmas rice cakes, Nutella mochi, and Asian rice cakes.

Tteokbokki with melted cheese on top in a pan.

Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below! We'd love to hear how it turned out.

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Recipe

Close up of tteokbokki with cheese on a plate.

Tteokbokki with Cheese

Emily
Traditional tteokbokki with a twist! Tteokbokki with cheese provides the perfect balance of spice and savory.
5 from 1 vote
PRINT RECIPE PIN RECIPE
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
ESTIMATED COST : $3.10, or $1.03 a serve
Course Main Course
Cuisine Korean
Servings 3 serves
Calories 730 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Rice Cakes

  • 500 grams (1.10 pounds) Korean rice cakes fresh or frozen
  • 2 cups (480ml/grams, 16.93 ounces) Korean soup stock (dashi) or water
  • 1 cup (225 grams, 7.94 ounces) mozzarella cheese grated
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil to garnish
  • Green onions (scallions) finely chopped, to garnish
  • Sesame seeds lightly toasted, to garnish

Sauce

  • 1 teaspoon Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
  • 1 tablespoon Korean chili paste (gochujang)
  • 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic

Instructions
 

  • Submerge rice cakes in warm water to bring them to room temperature, if you are using frozen rice cakes. If you are using fresh rice cakes, you can skip this step.
  • Combine chili flakes, chili paste, granulated sugar, soy sauce, and minced garlic in a small bowl. Mix until well combined.
  • Add soup stock and rice cakes to a large frying pan over medium to high heat. Bring to boil.
  • Add sauce to fry pan and gently stir until the sauce and stock are well combined. Allow the mixture to boil until it thickens.
  • Once the sauce has thickened to your liking, lower the heat, and gently push all the rice cakes to the centre of the pan.
    Sprinkle the mozzarella over the top and place a lid on the pan. Cook until the cheese has melted. Remove from heat.
  • Serve hot with scallions, sesame seeds, and sesame oil on top.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serveCalories: 730kcalCarbohydrates: 102gProtein: 33gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 1080mgPotassium: 287mgFiber: 7gSugar: 3g
Nutrition Disclosure
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it went!

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Comments

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Dale says

    June 12, 2022 at 9:55 am

    5 stars
    I've never heard of tteokbokki before. this looks like a nice easy recipe to make. I think I will try it this weekend.

    Reply
Author image.

Hi, I'm Emily! There's much more to rice than just cooking it on the stove. It's so versatile and you can create so many beautiful dishes with it. From puddings and desserts to main meals and even finger foods. There is something for everyone!

More about me →

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