Hi friends! I recently updated the original Vietnamese pho recipe that I shared here back in 2013, and also created a vegetarian/vegan pho recipe for our plant-based eaters here as well.
Traditional Pho (with Beef, Chicken, Pork or Shrimp)
Vietnamese Pho Soup
Full instructions for my updated recipes are available here: Traditional Pho or Vegan Pho.
Ingredients
Pho Broth Ingredients:
- 1 large white onion, peeled and halved
- 3- inch piece of fresh ginger, halved lengthwise
- 5 star anise
- 4 whole cloves
- 3 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- 8 cups good-quality beef stock (or chicken or vegetable stock)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- fine sea salt, to taste
Pho Soup Ingredients:
- 8 ounces raw steak*, very thinly sliced
- 7 ounces uncooked thin rice noodles
- garnishes: fresh herbs (cilantro, mint, and/or Thai basil), bean sprouts, lime wedges, thinly-sliced chiles (Thai bird chiles or jalapeños), thinly-sliced onions (green onions or white onions), sauces (hoisin and/or sriracha)
Instructions
- Stir together beef broth, water, onion, garlic, star anise, cloves, ginger, cinnamon stick (and fish sauce, if using) in a large stockpot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and let simmer for at least 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package instructions. (If your package of noodles — like mine — did not have instructions, simply bring a large pot of water to a boil. Then cook the noodles until al dente, about 3 minutes.) Immediately drain the noodles, and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.
- When you are ready to serve the soup, fill the serving bowls about halfway full with noodles. Then cover with the hot broth, and immediately stir in the steak so that it cooks. Top with your desired garnishes.
- (*Most people stir the cilantro, ginger, lime, jalapenos and Thai basil into the broth to give it extra flavoring, but you don’t necessarily need to actually eat those ingredients whole.)
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
thanks for this recipe! I’m not able to find some ingredients where I live, but I let my fingers do the typing and found all I needed on Amazon.
You’re welcome, Mary! We’re glad you were able to order some of the ingredients you need to make this. We hope you enjoy the pho!
When making the broth do you use a tea bag of some sort for the ingredients, scoop them out or drain? I look forward to making this since it’s only 30 mins. I don’t have the time to make “real” broth. Thanks
I just read a few comments and I wanted to share how I make my homemade beef broth.
I used beef bones with marrow and two chicken feet (for extra gelatin) from a local farmer so I know the meat was good and healthy. After roasting them for about an hour, I cooked them in my crockpot for two days with about a gallon of water and a few Tbsp of apple cider vinegar. The family doesn’t care for the smell when I make the broth, but they sure love the food we make with it!!
Cindy, that sounds amazing, thanks for sharing! I love the idea of adding the apple cider vinegar, I’ll have to try that!
This was incredible!
Thanks for sharing!! Next time we’ll add the beef to the broth for a min or so before serving since I couldn’t cut it thin enough to cook well in our bowls, and hubby wants to add mushrooms! Wonderful dinner and we all got to personalize our own dish! Awesome for a family meal!!
Made this tonight for dinner!! I have been craving Pho for a while and we do not have a Vietnamese restaurant in our town. Very impressed at the amazing flavor! Will definitely be making this again soon! Thanks!!
But isn’t original pho soup cooked overnight?
I made this last night, it was just really incredible. The broth is deliscious! We have a Vietnamese restaurant that serves Pho and I love to get it in the winter and I wanted to be able to make it at home and this recipe is perfection! My Asian market only had huge bags of Star Anise but they did have some that was ground so I used that, about 1/4 tsp. I was afraid that the ginger was getting too strong so I scooped it our after the broth simmered for 20 minutes. The noodles I bought had directions and said to soak them for 1 hour in warm water and then cook in boiling water about 3 minutes.
This is a great recipe. We have a Vietnamese restuarant and I always love their Pho when it is cold, so it is great to have a recipe I can make at home. My local Asian grocery had HUGE bags of star anise so I bought a bottle of ground star anise instead and used only 1/4 tsp figuring I could add more if I needed to. Also, since I was trying to recreate what I know, after bringing broth to a boil, I remved the ginger so it wouldn’t be too strong. Great recipe!! We loved it!!
This was…ok. A good start, but it wasn’t “beefy” enough. Another person commented about the need for beef bones and they are very right. In lieu of those would it work to let the pot summer uncovered for a few hours to concentrate the flavor? The spices were good and we added thin sliced turkey sausage. Also needed to salt and pepper to taste. Thanks for posting!
if you want a real authentic pho taste you need to use beef bones. The marrows from the bones is what make it ‘pho’