Healthy Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
15 mins
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Cook Time
1 hr
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Total Time
1 hr 15 mins
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Servings
8 servings
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Calories
136 kcal
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Course
Main Course, Soup
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Cuisine
Vietnamese
Healthy Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe
Description
The Healthy Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe starts by sautéing fresh sliced ginger, quartered onion, garlic cloves, and warming spices including cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, and smashed cardamom in coconut oil to develop deep flavor. Water, beef broth, fish sauce, and palm sugar are added and simmered for at least one hour to create a rich broth.
Flank steak is flash-frozen to ease thin slicing, then cut paper-thin against the grain. The broth is strained of solids, then noodles are cooked directly in it. Adding the thin steak slices at the end allows them to cook gently in the hot broth, preserving tenderness. The soup is served with garnishes such as fresh basil, mung bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños, and lime wedges for brightness.
This recipe offers flexible noodle options like shirataki for low carb or zucchini noodles, with rice noodles as a traditional alternative. Longer simmering or day-ahead preparation intensifies the broth flavor. It can also be prepared in a slow cooker after initial sautéing. Fish sauce adds characteristic umami despite its pungent aroma.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 inch ginger sliced, fresh piece
- 1 large onion peeled and quartered
- 5 cloves garlic smashed
- 5 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole star anise
- 10 cloves
- 4 cardamom pod smashed
- 12 cups water
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce (gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar (omit for keto)
- 1 pound flank steak
- 1 pound shirataki noodles
- 4 ounces mung bean sprouts
- 2 jalapeno pepper sliced
- 1 cup basil fresh leaves
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- Place a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion wedges, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom, and coconut oil. Sauté the onions and spices for about 10 minutes, stirring to brown the onions on all sides.
- Pour in the water, beef broth, fish sauce, and sugar. Bring to a simmer. Then lower the heat if needed, and simmer for at least 60 minutes. (P.S. Fish sauce has a funky aroma, but tastes amazing! Don't skip it.)
- Meanwhile, flash-freeze the flank steak for 30 minutes. It should be frozen on the outside, yet still mostly thawed on the inside. Then slice the steak against the grain into paper-thin pieces.
- Use a skimmer to pull all the onions, and spices out of the broth. Then arrange the mung bean sprouts, sliced jalapeno, lime wedges and basil on a serving plate.
- Add in the noodles to the broth and cook for 2-3 minutes, or according the the package instructions.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the thin pieces of beef. They should be thin enough to cook in the hot broth without additional heat.
- Scoop the pho into bowls and allow guests to add their own veggie garnishes.
Notes
- If shirataki noodles are unavailable, substitute with raw zucchini noodles or traditional rice noodles if low carb is not required.
- Simmer the broth for up to 2 hours or prepare a day ahead to deepen flavor before adding noodles and steak.
- For slow cooker preparation, sauté spices and aromatics first, then slow cook the broth up to 12 hours on low before finishing steps.
- Flash-freeze steak for easier thin slicing against the grain to ensure tenderness in the soup.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 8servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 136 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1.25cups | |
| Calories | 136kcal | 7% |
| Carbohydrates | 4g | 1% |
| Protein | 14g | 28% |
| Fat | 6g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Cholesterol | 34mg | 11% |
| Sodium | 628mg | 26% |
| Potassium | 336mg | 7% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 1g | 2% |
| Vitamin A | 45IU | 1% |
| Vitamin C | 8.2mg | 9% |
| Calcium | 68mg | 7% |
| Iron | 1.7mg | 9% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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