Vegan Pho with Tofu

Feeling like slurping up a big hot bowl of noodles? Our Vegan Pho with tofu is definitely your best choice! Easy to prepare, umami-packed, and absolutely delicious, this Pho will leave you craving another bowl!

Why will you love this recipe?

We love authentic flavors. If you have been following us for a bit now, you may know how much we enjoy cooking and eating Asian-style food. We always try to make them as authentic as possible using plant-based ingredients.

Healthy meal. 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.

Easy to prepare. Once you have the right ingredients, which are mostly spices, you can make Pho regularly. We have it at least twice a month for its simplicity and flavors.

Brings you back to Vietnam. Have you visited this amazing country? If you have, this dish will bring you directly back to Vietnam. The aroma, flavors, freshness, and deepness of this Vegan Pho recipe, are just like the ones you can get there.

Our Easy Vegan Pho recipe is:

• Gluten-free if you use tamari instead of soy sauce
• A noodle soup
• A Vietnamese-style recipe
• Hearty
• Umami-rich
• Healthy
• Easy to make

How to make Vegan Pho Soup

Ingredients

Noodles. Pho is served with Pho rice noodles. Pho flat rice 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.

Tofu. We choose extra-firm or firm tofu as our main protein for Vegan Pho. To make the tofu extra flavorful and a little crispy, we pan-fry the tofu with some soy sauce or tamari, sriracha, and maple syrup before adding it to our noodle soup.

Ginger. When making pho, you want to make sure you get the right ginger. Small ginger is normally way more flavorful than bigger ginger (Chinese).

Onion. For this recipe, we use white onion. Alternatively, you can use shallots, green onion, leek, or yellow onion.

Spices. The spices you need to make a delicious and aromatic broth are whole cloves, coriander seeds or ground coriander, black pepper, star anise, cinnamon stick, and chili flakes. We like adding a little five-spice powder as well. 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 contains a spice mixture. Other spice that you can add if you have at home is fennel seeds.

Vegetable Stock. For vegetable stock, we use a gluten-free brand. To reduce the amount of salt in this recipe, you can simply use homemade broth or water instead.

Soy Sauce or Tamari. Before serving, we add some soy sauce or tamari (gluten-free) to add some extra umami flavor into the soup. You can alternatively, add some vegan fish sauce. You can find an easy recipe for homemade vegan fish sauce here, by Minimalist Baker.

Garnish. A proper pho needs to be served with loads of fresh leaves. For our Pho, we like adding some fresh mint leaves, cilantro, and basil or Thai basil. Other great choices are lime wedges and jalapeños. Feel free to add lettuce, spinach, pak choi, or even steamed broccoli.

Step-by-Step Method

1. Cut the ginger into slices and the onion into quarters. Place on a baking tray, using a baking sheet, 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 flavor. If you want to speed up the cooking time, or simply skip using the oven, you can cook the onion and ginger in a large pot with coconut oil or on an open flame. 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.
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. Pan-fry 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. If you like extra crispy tofu, you can deep-fry or air-fry the protein.
6. Cook the rice noodles following the package directions. When cooked, drain the water and leave them soaking in cold water to stop them from cooking further.

All you need to do now is to assemble your bowl of Pho. Place some noodles on a bowl, then add the broth, and your favorite toppings and garnishing.

Variations

Change the plant-based protein for your Pho. Although our vegan version of the traditional Pho calls for tofu, feel free to try making this meal with other plant-based proteins such as vegan "beef", "duck" or "chicken". Some options include tempeh, seitan, or oyster mushrooms. You may also want to try marinating your alternative protein in a mixture of soy sauce and garlic for even more flavor.

Make it spicier or mild. Our Vegan Pho recipe comes out medium spicy (food spicy food lovers). You can adjust the spice level by adding more chili flakes or reducing the amount of it. Aside from the chili flakes, you can add sriracha, chili oil, or jalapeño for an extra spicy kick.

Change the toppings. The classic combination involves ingredients such as bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and mint, but you can easily customize your vegan pho with your favorite veggies. Try adding fresh basil, thinly sliced red cabbage, or even mushrooms. Don't forget the traditional garnish of lime wedges.

Add vegetables. Adding more vegetables to your vegan pho is not only a way to boost its nutritional content but also allows for a wider range of flavors and textures. Some great choices are thinly sliced bell peppers, sliced shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, carrots, bok choy, or even spinach.

Serving Suggestions

This vegetarian Pho recipe is a hearty and filling main dish. You can serve it with some fresh and light sides such as a salad, or some Summer rolls.

Assembling

We like assembling our Tofu Vegan Pho like in a Vietnamese restaurant.

To assemble your vegan pho, place a generous portion of noodles in the bottom of a deep large bowl. Pour the flavorful broth, tofu, and your choice of toppings and garnishing.

Fresh herbs, such as fresh cilantro, basil, or mint, are essential when enjoying a proper vegan pho recipe. You can also add bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños or green chilis, and wedges of lime for a burst of fresh flavor. Using lime is particularly useful as it helps to cut through the rich broth and brighten the entire dish.

You can slightly adjust the amount of broth based on your preference, but the noodles should be well submerged.

Store and Reheat

To store any leftovers, simply place the cooled soup and noodles in separate airtight containers. We recommend storing the broth and noodles separately to prevent them from becoming too mushy upon reheating. This way, you can enjoy the perfect texture when you reheat your vegan pho.

You can freeze the broth once is ready, before adding noodles. It will stay good for months. Use small size containers to freeze individual portions, or a bigger size container to freeze a larger portion.

FAQ and Tips

Vegan Pho with Tofu

Delicious Vegan alternative to the traditional Vietnamese dish, Pho.

4.76 from 25 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: Vegan pho

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 435kcal

Ingredients

Soup Ingredients

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

Tofu

• ▢ 400 g firm 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.

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Nutrition

Calories: 435kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 2413mg | Potassium: 210mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1165IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 202mg | Iron: 3mg

Other Asian-style Noodle Soups:

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