At the time of King Sung Jong in 1482, a deputy officer delivers the order from the King to bestow poison on deposed Queen Yoon as a death penalty. Chief civil administration officer Lee, SeJoa and Royal Military Guard Seo, ChunSoo visit deposed queen Yoon’s house to execute the death sentence. Deposed Queen Yoon says “You will pay for what you have done today” as her last words and passes away

8 years has passed and the story now takes place in March, 1504. Seo, working as a smith, and Park, as a homemaker, have settled down in a rural village where butchers, one of the bottom classes of the time, live together As Park’s best friend and colleague NaIn Han has advised, they are hiding themselves from certain incidents they got involved in by disguising themselves as low-class people. Soon, Seo and Park have a daughter named JangGeum

Not able to bear her hunger, JangGeum enters DugGoo’s brewery to ask for some food. She is falsely charged as a thief but DugGoo’s wife feels affection for JangGeum and takes her in. JangGeum helps around the brewery with everyday errands

Court lady Han prepares a new dish for the King’s midnight meal and serves it. Because of Court lady Han’s exceptional culinary skills, the incident goes unnoticed by others, including the King. However, JangGeum and YeonSaeng get penalized for their behavior

While JagnGeum is practicing pine nut preparation under the moon light, she gets the chance to talk to GeumYoung. Not knowing who GeumYoung is, JangGeum tells her that the rest of SaengGakSi group have been complaining about her. GeumYoung teaches JangGeum how to prepare pine nuts

Even after she becomes an adult, because JangGeum still cannot keep her curiosity under control and has to see for herself whatever she needs to know, she sometimes gets in trouble and is penalized by washing dishes with SaengGakSi. Court lady Choi prepares a royal meal for Princess HyoHyey, who has been refusing to eat for 6 days, using the secret recipe only available to the predecessors in charge of the Royal Kitchen. However, Princess HyoHyey still refuses to eat and breaks down from hunger

Every Court Lady and SaengGakSi, including Court Lady Jung, tries their very best to spare JangGeum’s life. Fortunately, JangGeum is released from NaeGumWi (the Royal Military Guard) but she is about to get forced to leave the palace. Owing to Court Lady Jung and Han’s efforts and sacrifices, JangGeum is sent to DaJaeHun (a place where medical plants are being cultivated)

Every Court Lady and SaengGakSi, including Court Lady Jung, tries their very best to spare JangGeum’s life. Fortunately, JangGeum is released from NaeGumWi (the Royal Military Guard) but she is about to get forced to leave the palace. Owing to Court Lady Jung and Han’s efforts and sacrifices, JangGeum is sent to DaJaeHun (a place where medical plants are being cultivated)

On her way back to the palace, JangGeum stops by the Royal library to drop off a letter for Jung, WoonBaek and encounters Min, JungHo. On the day she returns to the Royal kitchen, she starts preparing for the NaIn Qualification Exam. After a hard day’s work is over, JangGeum enjoys studying under the moonlight with her colleagues, YeonSaeng and ChangI

The jurors of the NaIn Qualification Exam including the Chief Court Lady decide to disqualify JangGeum on the basis of her inability to keep the ingredients. However, thanks to the unexpected appearance of the Queen Mother, who is satisfied with dish JangGeum has prepared for the exam, JangGeum passes. The night before commencing the NaIn training, the ceremony of taking the oath of implicit agreement between female employees of the palace takes place in the training residence

A cold noodle dish cooked with mineral water is highly praised by King JoongJong, and GeumYoung and JangGeum win recognition from Court Lady Han. Court Lady Min and JoBang are held responsible for the food poisoning and not allowed to access ToiSunGan (One of the Royal kitchens in the palace). This gives JangGeum the chance to access ToiSunGan, where her mother has hidden a recipe book she has written

Chief Court Lady stops Court Lady Jung while taking JangGeum and GeumYoung to Royal Military office for a trial. Chief Court Lady persuades Court Lady Jung, but doubting her intention, Court Lady Jung gives Chief Court Lady 24 hours. Choi, PanSool plots to save GeumYoung and Choi family

JangGeum proves that the cause of the Prince being paralyzed is not from the food poisoning but from ginseng, maximizing the effect of nutmeg by taking ginseng and nutmeg herself. Although paralysis symptoms have faded, JangGeum suffers from losing her sense of taste and has hard time seasoning the food. On the day of celebrating Chief Court Lady’s birthday, JangGeum assists Court Lady Jung in preparing a beef casserole, as per tradition, but Chief Court Lady is dissatisfied with the food

Court Lady Han encourages JangGeum by allowing her the chance to cook smothered prawn and Tofu Casserole. Court Lady Choi reveals to GeumYoung the secret recipe book handed down by former Chief Court Ladies in charge of the Royal Kitchen. Gang, DukGoo and his wife come across Min, JungHo and find out he is a Royal Military Guard Officer

Court Lady Han orders JangGeum to cook bean paste soup to serve King JoongJong. The King is very satisfied with the dish. Court Lady Jung explains to King JoongJong that the reason for sauces turning sour is because of pollen, which intrigues him

Court Lady Choi and GeumYoung are stunned when King JoongJong speaks very highly of the whale meat dish JangGeum has cooked. Court Lady Choi suggests that JangGeum be tested whether she should stay at the Royal kitchen despite the fact that her culinary skills are outstanding. The Queen mother carefully suggests to King JoongJong that his plan to personally appoint the Chief Court Lady in charge of the Royal Kitchen is not the best idea

Court Lady Han and JangGeum lose the first competition. Court Lady Han scolds JangGeum for only concentrating on finding good ingredients and recipes rather than cooking with her utmost sincerity and sends her to the sanitarium, where a nursery Court Lady is recuperating. YoungLo, YeonSaeng, and ChangI try to take JangGuem’s place while she’s absent but fail to endure Court Lady Han’s training

GeumYoung witnesses JangGeum and Min talking to each other in the temple and returns to the palace feeling miserable. GeumYoung looks back into the past and wrangles with her feelings for Min. A subject for the second competition has been decided and Court Lady Han prepares for it by herself

Chief Court Lady reports to the Queen mother that employees are being released from the palace due to the plague and that Court Lady Jung is among them. The competition gets cancelled and Chief Court Lady plots to appoint Court Lady Choi as Court Lady Jung’s successor. At last, the Queen mother appoints Court Lady Choi as the acting Chief Court Lady of the Royal Kitchen during Court Lady Jung’s absence

Court Lady Choi and GeumYoung serve ManHanJunSuk (all kinds of oily delicacies) to the chief ambassador and Oh, GyumHo asks him to punish Court Lady Han and JangGeum. However, the chief ambassador turns down the ManHanJunSuk and requests that Court Lady Han and JangGeum prepare his meal during his stay. After finding out the medicine she’s been given is slowly poisoning her, Court Lady Jung writes a letter to request Chief Court Lady to visit her residence outside the palace

Court Lady Han looks back up on her days spent with NaIn Park, JangGuem’s mother, and decides the dish she will prepare for the Royal Culinary Competition. Court Lady Choi is confident about the competition and prepares for it. But Choi, PanSool plots another consipiracy

Knowing Court Lady Han has not yet returned, the Queen mother tries to stop the competition but the Queen’s earnest request to continue the competition changes Queen mother’s mind. JangGeum prepares a chicken dish following her mother’s recipe and Court Lady Choi enters the competition with a steamed suckling pig dish. Escaping from the food storage, Court Lady Han returns to the palace where the competition is underway and carefully watches the competition

Court Lady Jung falls ill and gets removed from the palace as the Royal regulations do not allow anyone but the King and his immediate family to die in the palace. Chief Court Lady explains the injustice of the Royal Culinary Competition to Queen Mother. Moreover, she reports to Queen Mother that Court Ladies from other departments are not willing to serve Court Lady Jung due to her low class background

Queen announces the rematch between Court Lady Choi and Han to the palace and decides the subject for the competition should be rice cooking. Only two of them are left in the competition field to carry out the competition. To fairly decide the winner, Queen decides to have Court Ladies to vote the winner

YoungLo steals the account book JangGeum has been working on and takes it to Court Lady Choi. In that account book, the letter which Na-In Park has left JangGeum is stuck between the leaves of the book. Court Lady Choi is shocked to find NaIn Park’s recipe book and returns the account and recipe books

JangGeum and Court Lady Han find out that the letter unveiling the secret of the death of NaIn Park has disappeared. Court Lady Han suspects Court Lady Choi of instigating YoungLo and locks YoungLo up in the food storage to keep her from contacting Court Lady Choi. JangGeum seeks out Min for help

King JoongJong falls into a faint after returning from his trip to a hot spring, where he has recovered his health with a hot-spring cure and duck dish prepared by Court Lady Han. Even the Royal Medical department is unable to find the exact cause and the palace is in an uproar. After being informed about the incident, Choi, PanSool meets the royal doctor Jeong, YoonSoo to plot against Court Lady Han and JangGeum

As chief Royal Military guard insists, everyone relating to the incident, including Court Lady Choi and JangGeum, gather to the Royal Kitchen. The opinions regarding sulfur-fed ducks, which are used to prepare the King’s meal, are conflicting. They decide to test the exact same dish serve to King to HongI

JangGeum tries to escape to HanYang City but fails every time. One day, JangDug, a government servant, tells JangGeum how to escape. However, JangGeum fails to escape again and is taken back to the government office

JangGeum finds out the only way for a government slave to return to the palace and goes to JangDug to learn medicine. JangDug teaches the medicine skills to JangGeum, who strives to learn more. King JoongJong finds YeonSaeng crying for her dear friend JangGeum and sympathizes with her

Unable to forgive herself for making a mistake in performing acupuncture on JangDug, JangGeum studies hard to better herself. Min, JungHo leaves JeJu Island with JangDug to escort 300 horses. During JangDug’s absence from the JeJu medical center in a government office, JangGeum takes charge

JangGeum is taken to the royal military guard office for interrogation. Min, JungHo visits the royal military guard office to prove JangGeum’s services in defeating Japanese pirates, knowing that JeJe Island’s governor has made a false report. Min stays at the royal military guard offices as ordered by the chief officer, and JangGeum and GooMan return to JeJu Island

Entering JeonEuiGam’s (the royal medical department in charge of educating and administration work) training area JangGeum faces difficulties straight away. Sin, IkPil, the chief medical educator, finds it objectionable that JangGeum has cured the son of HoPanDaeGam (a noble class). Min, with the effort to unveil Oh, GyumHo and his associates’ unlawful acts, requests cooperation from places he visits

While diagnosing patients’ illnesses with SinBi, JangGeum realizes that she has been solely relying on her limited knowledge of medicine rather than diagnosing the illnesses with humbleness to get the complete picture. JangGeum gets a second chance to take the exam of distinguishing medicines. Shin advises her that a medical doctor needs to be a thoughtful person rather than a smart person

GeumYoung is surprised to see JangGeum at an office of eunuch department. Court Ladies from the royal kitchen and royal medical department gather at the palace as the Queen begins showing symptoms of miscarriage. JangGeum follows them to the palace as well

JangGeum questions the result of examination of pulse and prescription for the Queen. Eventually the Queen complains about the pain while YoulI is performing acupuncture. JangGeum speaks of her doubts and the result of the pulse examination

The Queen Mother refuses all medical treatment and loses her temper with the King. The Chief Court Lady Choi takes advantage of the situation and uses Queen Mother to take care of the GongSinJeon issue. Discharged official Lee, HyunWoo takes Queen Mother’s side to plot against JoaChangSung and Shin, IkPil and to go against King JoongJong’s will

The Queen Mother starts to receive medical treatments but her condition grows worse as she has waited too long for the treatment. While Shin is busy looking for a cure, JangGeum prepares pills for the Queen Mother. The Queen and Jung, YoonSoo are offended when they find out the ingredients used to prepare the pill and demand to change the royal doctor in charge

The King requests JangGeum to prepare rice cakes for his midnight meal as he misses having it ever since he tasted it at the royal Culinary Competition. GeumYoung finds out about this and feels miserable. YeolI plots to get rid of JangGeum and JangGeum invites misunderstanding by her superiors and colleagues

Min, JungHo follows JangGeum to save her and finds JangGeum in despair. As they leave the town, they encounter the people who are confined to the village. JangGeum talks to the village people, who are outraged with betrayal, and sends Min out of town to get medicine

JangGeum visits Court Lady Choi’s residence to provide medical treatment for food poisoning. Even though he has no alternative, Court Lady Choi feels uneasy about having JangGeum treat her. Oh, GyumHo petitions the King regarding Min’s disobedience and Min is discharged from his duties

While SinBi examines YeonSaeng’s pulse in front of Sin, IkPil, YeolI’s mistakes become obvious. Sin questions YeolI about an erroneous diagnosis but she won’t cooperate. JangGeum takes this as a opportunity to unveil the truth about sulfur fed duck incident

JangGeum is taken to NaeSiBoo for taking out the daily report on the King’s health but gets released with the help of the Lord SangSun. Thinking this is a golden chance to get rid of JangGeum, Court Lady Choi protests to Lord SangSun but he turns her down. Choi, PanSool and Court Lady Choi take advantage of the position SangChaek (a position in the eunuch department) and corners Lord SangSun for protecting JangGEum

To unveil the truth about sulfur fed duck incident, they confiscate articles from the royal kitchens and Choi’s business to thoroughly investigate. In GeumYoung’s confiscated spice box, a poisonous mushroom is discovered and Court Lady Choi but GeumYoung strongly protests. On the other hand, JangGeum gets closer to finding out the answers to the doubts about King JoongJong’s diseases

With help of JangGeum, Court Lady Choi and GeumYoung clear themselves of a false accusation of using poisonous mushroom in the King’s meal. JangGeum and Jung, YoonSoo have conflicting diagnoses and prescriptions, and JangGeum is put in charge of providing treatment to King JoongJong at last. Court lady Choi and GeumYoung firmly believe that Jung, YoonSoo has plotted against them

JangGeum’s prescription betters the King’s health and wins King and Queen’s hearts. Min has found a clue which will unveil Oh, GyumHo’s wrongdoings and concentrates on the matter. The erroneous diagnosis of Jung is discovered and as things go against their will, Oh, GyumHo and Choi, PanSool decide the fate of Jung, who knows secrets about them

YoungLo visits JangGeum with a bill received from Oh and Court Lady Choi, hoping to negotiate, as she cannot trust neither Oh nor Court Lady Choi. Court Lady Choi also visits JangGeum for atonement for her sin of killing NaIn Park. Suspecting Oh plotting against her, Court Lady Choi kidnaps YoungLo heading towards SaHunBoo

In front of SaHunBoo, everyone involved in the incident gathers and the testimony of Court Lady Choi and Oh conflicts. Witnesses are called upon and the truth is unveiled. JoaChanSung, newly appointed as a ChooGookGoan, indicts Oh, Court Lady Choi and everyone involved in the incidents

JangGeum leaves the palace to look after the community health center. Having tried her best to follow her mother and Court Lady Han’s will, JangGeum sincerely delivers treatment to her patients while dating Min. One day, JangGeum is called upon by the King JoongJong and is ordered to carry out an act she is not able to as a royal doctor

After hearing the news of King JoongJong appointing JangGeum to become his royal doctor in charge, Min hands in a letter of resignation and leaves the palace. Min and JangGeum leave everything behind and take on a journey. Despite Queen, YeonSang, and DoJeDo’s advice, JangGeum carries out the King’s order, which causes upheaval in the royal court…

The Queen is shocked to find out that her own son, KyungWonDaeGun is suffering from smallpox. The only thing Queen can do to help her son is to hold a sacrifice ceremony wishing her son well. KyungWonDaeGun’s health takes a turn for the worse and Queen calls for JangGeum

Despite the opposition of JoaWeeJung and WooWeeJung, Min carries out King JoongJong’s order and creates a doctrine. Although she was one of her pupils, Shin, IkPil wishes to serve JangGeum as his superior officer out of pure admiration. King JoongJong visits JangGeum at the royal doctor’s office

King JoongJong is jealous of Min as JangGeum reveals her feelings about Min to the King. On his way to visit Min, JungHo, King JoongJong eavesdrops on JangGeum and Min’s conversation and feels jealous and angry. Through the king, the queen’s mother’s pressure intensifies regarding the demand given to Jagguem

Jang Geum's suggestion to perform surgery on the King is received with displeasure. Jang Geum is reunited with Min Jung Ho as she is sent away from the palace