Known for its vibrant flavors and fresh ingredients, Vietnamese cuisine has quickly become an American favorite. There are now almost 8,000 Vietnamese restaurants in the country. But while bánh mì—a sandwich fusion of Vietnamese and French textures and flavors—is undeniably popular, another dish takes the top spot for many US consumers. Pho, a comforting, fragrant, and aromatic noodle soup, is hard to beat. While you can order a hearty bowl of pho from many restaurants, it’s also simple to make this iconic dish from home. And it’s easy to make it vegan.
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What is pho?
Pho is a soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and protein. It’s usually made with beef or chicken, but tofu and mushrooms are also popular choices. The exact origin of the dish is still up for debate, but most experts agree that it hails from Northern Vietnam, and started to become popular in the early 20th century.
Pho may be a relatively new dish, but it is the result of a long and complex history. Like many Vietnamese recipes, pho likely represents a blend of cultures. France occupied Vietnam in the late 19th century, while much of the country’s early history is linked closely with China.
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“Rice noodles and other spices used in making the broth undoubtedly have a connection with Chinese people in the north,” Alex Tran, a Vietnamese chef and food writer, told the BBC. “However, beef is not the daily meat of the Vietnamese as we use buffaloes for farming. Only under the French colonial regime did the consumption of beef start to appear and bloom.”
Today, pho is loved not just in Vietnam and the US, but all over the world. It is incredibly adaptable and can be customized to suit most tastes and preferences. If you want to make pho at home, here are some of the best brands and recipes to try.
Where to get the best vegan pho: 5 brands to check out
1Get Cultured Box
Founded by Mimi Nguyen, who was evacuated from Vietnam in 1975, this brand is all about helping you make the best, most authentic versions of Vietnamese recipes from home. The Get Cultured Box mission is to make traditional, homemade Vietnamese cuisine accessible globally. It is not a totally vegan brand, but it does offer plant-based options, like its DIY Pho Kit with shiitake mushrooms.
Check it out
Miracle Noodle
2 Miracle Noodle
Wellness-focused, plant-based noodle brand Miracle Noodle offers a wide range of delicious, healthy meal options, but one of the best is arguably its Vegan Pho Noodles. Packed with a medley of vegetables, they are warming, aromatic, and delicious. Plus, they’re high in fiber and low in calories.
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Ocean’s Halo
3 Ocean’s Halo
Seaweed brand Ocean’s Halo offers a wide range of vegan broths, including Ramen, Miso, and No Chicken. One of its most flavorful options is its Pho Broth, which is the perfect base for the traditional Vietnamese dish. Plus, it’s a good source of vitamin D and iodine.
Check it out
4 Samabila
Pho can be made with many different protein sources, but, as highlighted above, one of the most common is beef. If you’re craving that signature beefy flavor, you need to check out Samabila. The vegan brand offers a delicious umami-rich Viet Beef Phở Powder, which has all the same flavor, but none of the actual animal products.
Check it out
Annie Chun’s
5 Annie Chun’s
Annie Chun’s specializes in healthy, Asian-inspired cuisine. To enjoy the brand’s take on Vietnam soup, all you need to do is pop the noodles in the microwave after adding water and wait for two minutes. It’s easy, low in fat, and delicious.
Check it out
How to make pho: 5 vegan recipes to try
If you’ve got a little bit more time on your hands, it’s easy (and rewarding) to make pho from scratch. Check out these five vegan recipes to learn more.
The Viet Vegan
1 Authentic Vietnamese Vegan Pho
This tasty plant-based soup from The Viet Vegan “rivals the beef version,” the recipe developer notes. It’s packed with shiitake mushrooms, carrot, charred cabbage, daikon, and onions, all of which work together to provide a delicious combination of smoky and sweet.
Get the recipe
Carina Skrobecki Photography
2 Vegan Pho-Inspired Zucchini Noodles
This flavorful dish is loosely inspired by pho, so it’s not 100 percent accurate to the real thing. It is, however, packed with anti-inflammatory spices and features healthy zucchini noodles as the base. If you need more protein, it will taste delicious with seasoned fried tofu.
Get the recipe
Lazy Cat Kitchen
3 Vegan Pho With Spicy Tofu
In this recipe, the Lazy Cat Kitchen takes inspiration from cookbook author and pho expert Andrea Nguyen by flavoring the broth with nutritional yeast extract for an extra boost of umami. The result is a light soup that is still filling and packed with flavor.
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Veggie Anh
4 Vegan Pho With Tofu and Mushroom
King oyster mushrooms and tofu bring a delicious meaty texture to this vegan pho recipe, which Veggie Anh created. It’s nourishing, hearty, and bursting with flavor, especially when it’s served with green onions and herbs.
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Good Chef Bad Chef
5 Vegan Pho With Plant-Based Chicken
If beef flavor isn’t really your thing, then this recipe from Good Chef Bad Chef offers a way to make a chicken pho, but without the actual chicken. The recipe blog combines chicken-free pieces with plant-based ingredients like bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, and spring onions to create a meaty, satisfying, nutritious vegan dish.
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Charlotte is a writer and editor based in sunny Southsea on England’s southern coast.
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