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This vegan bò kho chay is the deeply spiced Vietnamese stew that'll make your kitchen smell friggin' insane without having to simmer a boneless beef shank stock in a slow cooker for hours on end. Hyper-rich brick-red broth, with plenty of fresh lemon grass stalks to go around, and hoisin glazed lion's mane mushrooms emulating the beef noodle soup vibes without a single cow being harmed.
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If you've ever side-eyed traditional Vietnamese beef stew recipe and thought, dang, I want to be involved with that whole situation but without the violence to animals, congrats. You're on the right blog.
This Bò Kho Chay keeps everything people love about the classic Vietnamese stew. It's aromatic AF. Mad chunky potatoes and carrots to go around made super tender with lemongrass anatto broth. Same comfort zone as vegan pho, vegan bún riêu, and mi quang noodles but way quicker to get on the table, and mad beefy too. Weeknight-doable Vietnamese food but dinner-party impressive.
Aight, let's rock this seriously darn good stew. I know you're tired of the good ol' American beef stew.
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🥰 Why you'll adore this vegan bò kho recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: This bò kho chay, like my other Vietnamese vegan recipes, delivers full Vietnamese stew energy without any beef, chicken stock, fish milk, snake legs, or dog eggs. Plus, if gluten-free vegan recipes are your spirit animal, this one understands your feelings.
🌿 Smells Like You Know What You're Doing: Lemongrass and warm spices take over the kitchen so hard that roommates, neighbors, and pets start asking what time din din is.
⏱️ Low Effort, High Flex: You do some stirring, some simmering, and suddenly it looks like you slaved over a pot all day when in reality, you just threw it together after spending your whole day planning a museum heist or whatever.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Hundreds of testers get their hands on my vegan recipes before you ever see them and I make the recipes pretty awesome because of all the feedback I get from them long before hitting publish.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🥘 Vegan Vietnamese Beef Stew Ingredients
Lion's Mane Mushrooms
Lion's mane mushrooms are those wild-looking white puffball things that somehow pull off a steak-like texture without trying too hard. I use them in my vegan fajitas too because they refuse to stop working in dishes that used to be all about meat.
If you can't find lion's mane, rehydrated dried vegan beef (the TVP kind) or some lightly pan-fried seitan will step in pretty nicely in this recipe.
Hoisin Sauce
This is used for glazing the mushrooms and giving them a slightly sweet caramelization around their outsides. Vegan oyster sauce or kecap manis can work in place of it if you have one of those on hand, but not any hoisin.
Sriracha
Chili oil or chili garlic sauce will both do the job, but rocking this with some homemade sriracha is the greatest thing since sliced Bready Krueger.
Otherwise, Huy Fong, Fix, and Ninja Squirrel are solid store-bought options. Just check the labels if you are buying sriracha, because some brands sneak fish in there for absolutely no reason.
Annatto Powder
That deep red color you recognize from bò kho and vegan bún bò Huế comes straight from annatto. In the Philippines it usually goes by achiote powder and people use it to make pancit bihon. Paprika or Kashmiri red chili powder are alright to use in place of it, but neither will make the broth quite as deeply red.
Lemongrass
I recommend using fresh lemongrass, and using the dried external leaves you pull off of the stalks to throw some bandrek together.
Frozen grated lemongrass or lemongrass paste can substitute, just use a couple of tablespoons.
5-Spice Powder
Chinese 5-spice adds a whole heck of a lot of aromatic warmth and complexity fast. If you can't get any, use a mix of cinnamon, star anise, clove, and fennel in small amounts.
Creamer Potatoes
These hold their shape while soaking up oodles of flavor, giving the stew some big ol' chunky potato bits that make you super-happy. If you can't get these little baby potatoes, small fingerlings are a good alternative, or you can just rock some nice big chunks of peeled yukon gold potatoes. Just figure 1 bite size piece to replace each creamer potato in the recipe.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
📖 How to make vegan Vietnamese stew
You can absolutely raw-dog this recipe using the card at the bottom and hope for the best. Or you can follow the steps below and cook like someone who definitely knows what they're doing (you know damn well you don't)
Step One
Shroom with a View:
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds, once the oil is hot, add the whole lion's mane mushrooms and cook them for 2-3 minutes on each side, until lightly golden all around.
Step Two
Ralph MariNader:
In a cup or small bowl, whisk together the hoisin sauce, sriracha, water, annatto powder, cinnamon, and coriander until smooth.
Step Three
Saucetin Powers:
Pour the sauce over the mushrooms and cook them in it for another couple of minutes, flipping and pressing them flat with a metal spatula until most of the sauce caramelizes and absorbs into the mushrooms.
Step Four
Stabby Stabby:
Remove the mushrooms from the pan and let them cool. Once cooled, slice them and set aside.
Step Five
The Lemongrassion of the Christ:
Strip off the dried outer leaves from the lemongrass, cut the cores into 4-inch-sections, and firmly bash them with the side of a cleaver or heavy knife.
Step Six
Mary Shallot's Frankenstein:
Heat the olive oil in a wide pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. After 90 seconds, add the lemongrass and shallots and cook, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes until softened and aromatic.
Step Seven
Sim Simmer Who's Got the Keys to My Bimmer:
Add the ginger, annatto powder, 5-spice powder, potatoes, carrots, vegetable stock, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the broth thickens slightly.
Step Eight
Stewwy Lewis and the News:
Remove and discard the lemongrass stalks. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt if needed, then ladle the stew into a large bowl and garnish with sliced shallots, cilantro, and bird's eye chilies before serving.
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💡Serving Ideas
This bò kho chay needs vegan bánh mì or any Vietnamese baguette, no discussion. The crusty baguette goes in, comes out drenched, and suddenly everyone is suspiciously quiet, except for the sound of eyes rolling back in heads.
Otherwise, this partners up naturally with other Vietnamese dishes like lemongrass tofu, ca ri chay, bánh tráng trộn, mi xào xì dầu, or a big bowl of Vietnamese sticky rice as a complete and absurdly tasty meal.
Just want more meaty stuff to rock with this? You could do a LOT worse than my vegan Vietnamese fried chicken. Just sayin.
For dessert, rock some bánh flan, chè ba màu, kem chuối, banh da lon, or chè khoai môn. All vegan, all mad lovely.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Bò kho is a deeply spiced Vietnamese beef stew that's basically what happens when French colonialism left behind baguettes and beef but Vietnam said "cool, we're doing this our way now."
You've got tender slow-simmered beef chuck and large carrots swimming in a brick-red broth loaded with lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, annatto seeds, green onion, and all the aromatics that make your kitchen smell ridiculously good. It's traditionally served with crusty bánh mì for dunking, or spooned over rice or your favorite noodles. That deep red color comes from annatto oil, and five spice is doing most of the flavor work so you don't have to stand there measuring out a million tiny jars.
Obviously, this vegan version is a little different but keeps the cows where they belong: frolicking in the cow club where they play the trumpet in a 10-piece brass band that plays non-stop bovine boogie bangers.
Pretty much nope. The stew itself is barely spiced, not fiery. Heat usually comes from garnishes like bird's eye chilies or black pepper, so everyone can adjust their bowl to taste.
🧊 Refrigeration
Let the stew cool completely, then transfer it to an airtight container with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and know that the flavors actually deepen as it rests.
❄️Freezing
Once fully cooled, portion the stew into freezer-safe containers, leaving a little space at the top for expansion. Freeze for up to 3 months for best flavor and texture. Make sure to label and date the container so you know what the heck it is in 5 weeks from now.
🌬️ Thawing
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator for the smoothest texture and most even reheating. If you're short on time, you can thaw gently on the stovetop over low heat, stirring occasionally.
🔥 Stovetop reheating
Transfer the stew to a pot and reheat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add a little bit of vegetable stock or enough water for the best result if the broth has thickened too much.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Vietnamese soups:
Learn to make your fave Vietnamese street food bangers in this super-fun cooking class with Chef Adam Sobel!
Bò Kho Chay Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Beef:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 8 oz. lion's mane mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 3 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon annatto powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon coriander
For the Stew:
- 2 stalks lemongrass dry outer leaves removed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup shallot diced (or red onion)
- 1 teaspoon annatto powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon 5-spice powder
- 12 creamer potatoes peeled (or other baby potato variety)
- 1 ½ cups carrots peeled and roll cut
- 10 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
To Serve:
- Thinly sliced shallots
- Cilantro
- Sliced bird's eye chilies
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. After 90 seconds when the oil is hot add the whole lion's mane mushrooms and cook them on all sides for 2-3 minutes until lightly golden all around.
- In a cup or small bowl, whisk together the hoisin sauce, sriracha, water, annatto powder, cinnamon, and coriander.
- Pour the sauce onto the mushrooms and cook, flipping and pressing the mushrooms down flat with a metal spatula until most of the sauce has caramelized and has been absorbed by the mushrooms.
- Remove the mushrooms from the pan, and allow them to cool. Once cool, cut into slices and set aside.
- Remove the dried outer leaves from the lemongrass, cut the core of the lemongrass into 4 inch sections and bash them firmly with the side of a cleaver or heavy kitchen knife.
- Heat the olive oil in a wide pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the lemongrass and shallots. Cook, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes until the shallots are softened and aromatic.
- Add the ginger, annatto powder, 5-spice powder, potatoes, carrots, vegetable stock, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring the stew to a boil. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the broth has thickened slightly.
- Remove and discard the lemongrass stalks. Adjust seasoning with additional salt if needed. Ladle the stew into bowls and garnish with sliced shallots, cilantro, and bird's eye chilies before serving.
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Marj says
Tasted authentic!! Must try