Vegan Pho with Tofu

Our delicious Vegan Pho is the perfect recipe for you if you want to slurp up a big hot bowl of noodles.

The spiced broth combined with rice noodles and fresh herbs is just the perfect combination for a healthy meal that will warm up your body.

Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup traditionally served with fresh herbs and meat. The vegan version of this meal was easy to find around Vietnam as many people avoid eating meat for a few days a month. It is pronounced "Fuh", just so you know!

We travelled around Vietnam for around six weeks and I lost count of how many bowls of Vegan Pho we had. I already knew back then that I needed to find the perfect recipe to keep enjoying this delicious noodle soup at home. This soup is a combination of many things we love: piping hot spiced broth, fresh greens, rice noodles and marinated tofu on the top.

Ingredients

Vegan Pho Broth Ingredients

The ingredients used for the broth are basically fresh ginger and onion and a combination of different spices. As the broth is made with few ingredients, you want them to be good quality ones.

Ginger. Use 3 to 4 pieces of fresh ginger. Cut the ginger into 8 cm or 3 inches long and 2 cm or 1 inch thick pieces.

Onion. To make our Pho broth we use white onion cut into quarters.

Spices. The spices you need to make a tasty Pho are cloves, coriander, black pepper, star anise, cinnamon and chili flakes. Use good quality whole spices when possible as they will provide a deeper flavour. If you don't want to get all these spices as you won't normally use them for cooking, you can get a Pho spice seasoning pack, that will work perfectly for this recipe.

Vegetable Stock. To prepare the broth, you can use stock cubes or homemade broth. Of course, the taste you get with a homemade broth is nicer, but it does take longer. If you prepare the broth in advanced, it can save you up some time when cooking the Vegan Pho. Here is our recipe for Homemade Vegetable Broth that we use often in our recipes.

Soy Sauce or Tamari. Before serving, we add some soy sauce or tamari (gluten-free) to add some extra umami flavour into the soup.

Toppings

A proper Pho should be always served with a good amount of fresh herbs such as coriander, basil or mint and different toppings to add some texture, colour and flavour to the dish.

Noodles. Pho is served with Pho rice noodles. Pho noodles should just contain rice flour and water. Make sure that your noodles don't have any tapioca or added ingredients to make them stickier. The best way to cook the noodles is by following the packet instructions and when they are cooked, leave them in ice-cold water so they won't keep cooking. When the broth is added to the noodles, it's meant to be eaten fast, so the noodles won't overcook and suck up the broth.

Fresh herbs. Vietnamese food is one of the healthiest food in the world and part of it, it's thanks to the green vegetable salads that are normally served with their meals. A balanced meal is expected to have a good amount of greens. Pho is served with different types of fresh herbs and leaves. We serve our pho with fresh basil, coriander and mint. Feel free to add lettuce, spinach, pak choi or even briefly steamed broccoli.

Tofu. Pho is known to be really healthy as well for the amount of protein that the dish contains. To balance that part of the dish, we add marinated tofu. We cook the tofu with some soy sauce, sriracha and maple syrup before adding it to our Pho.

Green chilis. If you enjoy spicy food, thinly cut green chilis or jalapeños will bring that extra spiciness to the dish.

Lime. Serve the pho with some lime to add before starting your meal to add some tanginess to the soup.

You can always add more or fewer toppings to your taste. Other ideas would be bean sprouts, marinated mushrooms, red chilis, pak choi or spring onions.

How to prepare the Vegan Pho Step by Step

1. Cut the ginger into slices and the onion into quarters. Place on a baking tray and char the ingredients placing them under the grill (broiler) for 10-15 minutes. Make sure you turn them around when they have charred on one side. This step will give your Pho a delicious smoky flavour. If you want to speed up the cooking time, you can cook the onion and ginger in a large pot with coconut oil. Make sure you heat the pot to medium-high heat to be able to slightly burn the ingredients. Before adding your spices, lower the heat.
2. Heat some coconut oil in a large pot to medium heat. Add the charred onion and ginger and the spices. Stir for a couple of minutes so the spices are fragrant and toasted.
3. Add the vegetable stock and bring it to a simmer. Leave cooking for 25-30 minutes. Placing a colander on another large pot, strain the broth so the spices, ginger and onion and left out.
4. Add the soy sauce or tamari and salt to taste. You will need to adjust the salt depending on your stock. We normally have unsalted stock for our toddler so we add a good teaspoon of salt.
5. To prepare the tofu, cut a block of tofu into cubes. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a frying pan to medium heat. Add the tofu and when it starts to golden, add soy sauce, sriracha sauce and maple syrup. Stir for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
6. Cook the rice noodles following the packet instructions. When cooked, drain the water and leave them soaking in cold water to stop them from cooking further.
7. To serve the Pho, place the rice noodles in a soup bowl, add the broth, and the tofu and immediately add your toppings. Serve hot.

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4.92 from 23 votes

Vegan Pho with Tofu

Delicious Vegan alternative to the traditional Vietnamese dish, Pho.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: Vegan pho

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

Soup Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 2 onion quartered
• 1 piece of fresh ginger sliced
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 6 star anise
• ½ teaspoon chilli flakes adjust for extra spiciness
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 6 cloves
• 2 teaspoon coriander
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
• 2 litre homemade stock
• 300 g rice noodles

Tofu

• Block tofu
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

Toppings

• Green chilis thinly sliced
• Lime
• Fresh herbs Coriander, Basil and Mint

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Cut the ginger into slices and the onion into quarters. Place on a baking tray and char both ingredients placing them under the grill (broiler) for 10-15 minutes. Make sure you turn them around when they have charred on one side.
• Heat some coconut oil in a large pot to medium heat. Add the charred onion and ginger and the spices. Stir for a couple of minutes so the spices are fragrant and toasted.
• Add the vegetable stock and bring it to simmer. Leave cooking for 25-30 minutes.
• Placing a colander on another large pot, strain the broth so the spices, the ginger and onion and left out.
• Add the soy sauce or tamari and salt to taste.
• To prepare the tofu, cut a block of tofu into cubes. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a frying pan to medium heat. Add the tofu and when it starts to golden, add soy sauce, sriracha sauce and maple syrup. Stir for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
• Cook the rice noodles following the packet instructions. When cooked, drain the water and leave them soaking in cold water to stop them from cooking further.
• To serve the Pho, place the rice noodles in a soup bowl, add the broth, the tofu and immediately add your toppings. Serve hot.

Other Asian-style Noodle Soups:

• Spicy Miso Ramen
• Thai Coconut Noodle Soup
• Vegan Khao Soi