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This vegan phở chay recipe is my answer to all those traditional pho cravings that hit when nearly every Vietnamese restaurant is still pouring beef broth (or sucky instant soup powder garbage) into the pot. It's deeply aromatic (yes, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves are up in the place), rich, and heavenly comforting. This vegan pho broth gets mad flavor from root vegetables, ginger, and apple for subtle sweetness (don't give me that weird stare, Susan, trust me on this.)
Recipe tips tailored to what matters most to you:
The broth and rice noodles are wheat-free. Hoisin on the table is optional, and plenty of brands use wheat, so check yours or skip it.
Make the broth ahead and freeze it, then cook the noodles fresh at go time. They get soggy fast, so never store them in the broth.
Whole spices and scrap-friendly veg make this broth, way cheaper than boxed pho stock. Fried tofu stretches it into a full meal.
Load the bowl up with extra broccoli, bok choy and bean sprouts. Season at the end so you only add as much salt as it actually needs.
No daikon? A turnip works, or just double up on carrots. Pear can take the apple's spot in the broth.
Just slightly burn the onion, ginger and other veggies before you add the water. That little scorch brings out the smoky magic that plain boiling could never touch.
Always taste-test before serving. Those noodles and veggies love stealing salt and flavor.
Cook those noodles last and serve them immediately. Rice noodles get soggier by the minute as they hang out in liquid.
Oodles more tips, step-by-step recipe photos, info on weird ingredients, and FAQs are all still here. I just tucked 'em out of the way so you can start cooking sooner.
If you are making homemade Vietnamese classics at home, this vegan version of Vietnamese pho is a must-make along with my vegan banh mi, Vietnamese spring rolls, and banh flan.
So yeah, the only turbulence you'll be experiencing is your pot overflowing when you make a 3x batch of this next time, because this easy vegan phở chay brings that rich flavor street food market experience straight to your home.
I made this delicious dish tonight, and we really loved the complex flavors. I did not have bok choy this time, but used a little extra broccoli florets, and it was all delicious. Especially the closer you get to the bottom of the bowl! I added a little bit of Sriracha and it was perfect. I've always been a little intimidated by Vietnamese cuisine and Adam's recipes make it very attainable. Slurpy goodness that feels exotic.
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🥰 Why you'll adore this Vegan Pho recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: My vegan Vietnamese recipes are completely cholesterol free and cause no harm to lovable living beings. This is one of the gluten-free vegan recipes you can share with non-veg folks if you want to blow their dang minds.
⏱️ Weeknight-Friendly: You can pull this off in about an hour, and most of that time your broth's just vibing on the stove while you feel productive doing absolutely nothing.
🛒 Easy-Peasy Ingredients: No treasure hunt required, fam. Everything in this phở chay vegan recipe can be found in a regular grocery store or your local Asian market without selling a kidney on the World Wide Web.
Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like I do with all of my vegan recipes, this one was first shared and improved upon with notes and feedback from a team of hundreds of recipe testers.
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.
🍜 Phở Chay Ingredients
The Spices
Cinnamon sticks, cloves, coriander seeds, white peppercorns, star anise, and fennel seeds bring the spice, aroma that's essential to legit pho. If all you've got are the ground versions, they will still work for sure, just toast them in the pan for a shorter time so that they don't burn on you.
Daikon radish
This big crunchy dude makes your broth all gentle and sweet-like without doing too much. If the store's out, swap it with a turnip or double up on carrots. And if you've got daikon scraps sittin' around after making this, you can make somen salad, radish kimchi, or the regular vegan kimchi with 'em.
Apple
Fuji or Gala apples are perfect, but pear is great in pho broth too if that's what's already part of the Carmen Miranda hat you wear at all times when cooking.
Dried rice vermicelli noodles
For this phở, go for the slightly thicker kind, not the whisper-thin ones you'd use in banh bao chay, but not like the mega wide ones (flat rice noodles) you would use to make delicious vegan drunken noodles with either. Follow the package instructions, because all brands and thickness require slightly different cooking/soaking times.
Hoisin sauce
Totally optional, but I love some hoisin on the table for folks who want pho with a hint of natural sweetness. The only thing better to do is to put kecap manis on the table for the same purpose.
Sriracha
Chili oil or chili garlic sauce will also work, but if you're asking for my opinion my homemade sriracha is the classic thing to serve with pho. Otherwise, if you want to just grab one from the store, Huy Fong, Fix, and Ninja Squirrel are the sriracha brands I recommend. Read the labels because a few sriracha brands actually contain fish.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🇻🇳 Vegan Vietnamese Noodle Soup Variations
If you already love phở, you're gonna phở-reak out about a few of the hyper-yummy, but less famous Vietnamese noodle dishes I'm about to turn you onto.
Vegan Mi Quang
These turmeric noodles are less brothy than pho, but my vegan mi quang noodle recipe probably travels better if you are looking for a great meal-prep banger to bring to work with ya.
Bún Riêu Chay
My vegan bun riêu recipe is actually a veganized version of Vietnam's pretty famous crab noodle soup. Anthony Bourdain was quoted as saying "in the hierarchy of delicious, slurpy stuff in a bowl, bún riêu is at the very top." If you are a pho-addict, then take those as fighting words.
Bún Bò Huế
This is a famous central Vietnamese noodle soup that is normally served with beef bones and hyper-stank shrimp paste… but this vegan bún bò huế? Obviously, no beefy boys, or shrimpy guys are harmed up in the recipe, ya big weird goofus.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
📖 How to make vegan pho
Alright noodle freaks, this is the fun part. Skip to the recipe card if you're hangry, or hang here while we turn a pile of plants into Vietnamese liquid gold. Don't pho things up!
Step One
Spice Spice, Baby:
Place the cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, white peppercorns, star anise, cloves, and fennel seeds in a dutch oven or stock pot. Toast over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking occasionally until fragrant.
Step Two
Char You Ready to Rumble:
Add the daikon radish, onion, garlic, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, ginger, and apple to the pot. Dry sauté the vegetables and warm spices for a few minutes. A small amount of char on the veggies creates a slightly smokey complexity in the broth.
Step Three
Stocky Horror Picture Show:
Add the water and bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Step Four
Broth IRA:
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean pot, pressing the solids gently to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids, keep the broth warm over low heat, and season with sugar and salt to taste.
Step Five
Send Noods:
While the broth simmers, bring a separate pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the rice vermicelli, stirring to keep them from sticking. Remove from the heat and let sit until tender, then drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
Step Six
Carrot of Habeas Corpus
Bring the seasoned broth and sliced carrots to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Cook for about 7 to 8 minutes until the carrots begin to soften.
Step Seven
Broc The Casbah
Add the broccoli florets and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until tender but still bright. Add the bok choy and fried tofu, then remove from the heat.
Step Eight
E.T. Pho Home:
Divide the noodles among serving bowls and ladle the hot broth and vegetables as pho toppings over them.
Step Nine
Home a Phởne 2 - Lost in New York:
Add bean sprouts, jalapeño slices, Thai basil, and cilantro leaves as pho toppings. Serve with hoisin sauce and sriracha for individual seasoning.
💡Serving Ideas
Roll up some banh trang cuon with herbs and tofu beside that bowl of pho, then toss in a plate of garlicky rau muống to get extra dark leafy greens in your diet. I always told my kids that greens are the real "meat" of a vegan diet, and I think there is some truth to that.
And if you don't stop what you are doing to rock out some vegan Vietnamese fried chicken, well, you are a scumbag. There. I said it. Scumbag.
Then cool off with chè ba màu, banh da lon, or kem chuoi because you deserve a sweet ending after this spicy lil rollercoaster of a meal. If all that still didn't satisfy you, just book a trip to Vietnam already, dammit.
👉Top tips
Don't be shy to toast the aromatics: Just slightly burn the onion, ginger and other veggies before you add the water. That little scorch brings out the smoky magic that plain boiling could never touch.- Season at the finish line: Always taste-test before serving. Those noodles and veggies love stealing salt and flavor. Adjust the salt then and there for that perfect balance.
- Noodle timing is everything: Cook those noodles last and serve them immediately. Rice noodles get soggier by the minute as they hang out in liquid. Every brand and thickness has its own weird timeline, so follow the package instructions like a responsible adult.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
"Chay" basically means vegetarian or vegan in Vietnamese, so authentic pho chay is the no chicken stock, no fish sauce version of the iconic noodle soup that still hits every flavor note.
It's all about that deep, layered flavor. Toast your spices, char up your veggies, and let everything simmer until it tastes like comfort and chaos had a baby.
Medium-thick rice vermicelli gives you the best chew, but thinner rice sticks totally work. Some folks even make good vegan pho with spaghetti style wheat based noodes, but as far as I am concerned, -f&@k outta here with that.
Northern phở keeps it subtle and savory, while southern phở (which is more prevalent in US Vietnamese restaurants) goes sweeter and loads up on herbs and bean sprouts. Both are fire, it just depends on your taste.
🌡️ Refrigeration:
Let the broth cool completely before you stash it. Pop it into an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store only the broth, tofu, and maybe the carrots. The noodles? Make those fresh every time, because they will suck after being stored.
❄️ Freezing & Thawing:
Freeze just the broth (and tofu or carrots if you want) in portions with a little space at the top for expansion. The herbs and bean sprouts don't belong in the freezer, hun. They'll come back lookin' like expired store-bought frozen veggies. Let your broth thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
🔥 Stovetop Reheating:
Pour the chilled or thawed broth into a pot and warm it over medium heat. Add a splash of water if it's thicker than normal. Once it's plenty hot, ladle the broth over freshly cooked noodles and your crisp toppings like the kitchen god you are.
✌️You'll love these vegan Vietnamese recipes too:
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Easy Vegan Pho Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pho Broth:
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon white peppercorns
- 4 whole star anise
- 8 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3 cups daikon radish peeled and diced
- 1 ½ cups onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 cups carrot diced
- 6 shiitake mushrooms including the stems
- 6 thin slices ginger
- 1 apple quartered
- 16 cups water
- 5 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt or to taste
For the Pho Soup:
- 7 oz. dried rice vermicelli noodles
- 14 oz. Extra firm tofu diced and pan fried
- 1 cup carrot thinly sliced
- 2 cups broccoli cut into small florets
- 2 baby bok choy leaves separated
Toppings:
- 2 cups mung bean sprouts
- 1 jalapeno sliced
- 1 cup Thai basil leaves
- ½ cup cilantro leaves
- Hoisin sauce to taste
- Sriracha to taste
Instructions
- Place the cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, white peppercorns, star anise, cloves, and fennel seeds in a dutch oven or stock pot. Toast over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, shaking occasionally, until fragrant.
- Add the daikon radish, onion, garlic, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, ginger, apple. Dry sauté the vegetables and spices for a few minutes. A small amount of char on the veggies creates a slightly smokey complexity in the broth.
- Add the water to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a clean pot, pressing the solids gently to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids and keep the broth warm over low heat. Season with the sugar and salt to taste.
- While the broth is cooking bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the rice vermicelli and stir the noodles to prevent them from sticking. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the noodles to sit in the water until tender (exact time depends on the thickness of your noodles). Drain and rinse under cold running water and set aside.
- For the soup, bring the broth and carrots to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
- After 7-8 minutes when the carrots are slightly tender, add the broccoli florets. 2-3 minutes later when the broccoli is tender (but ideally still has some life left in it) add the bok choy and fried tofu and remove from the heat.
- Divide the noodles among serving bowls and ladle the hot broth and vegetables over them.
- Serve each bowl of Phở Chay with bean sprouts, jalapeño slices, Thai basil, and cilantro leaves on the side. Offer hoisin sauce and sriracha for individual spice.
Notes
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Paige Davis says
I made this delicious dish tonight, and we really loved the complex flavors. I did not have bok choy this time, but used a little extra broccoli florets, and it was all delicious. Especially the closer you get to the bottom of the bowl! I added a little bit of Sriracha and it was perfect. I’ve always been a little intimidated by Vietnamese cuisine and Adam’s recipes make it very attainable. Slurpy goodness that feels exotic.