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Vegan Pho

Published: Jan 18, 2020 Modified: Jun 24, 2020 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

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Vegan Pho

This vegan pho is packed with flavor and a perfect blend of spices with shiitake mushrooms and tofu. This is comfort food in a bowl! 

Vegan pho topped with fresh herbs and fresh lime in a black bowl.

Pho is a Vietnamese dish that is usually made with strips of beef simmered in a beef broth. 

So of course we are doing something completely different with this vegan version!

We use veggie broth as the base with charred onion and ginger for a rich roasted flavor, and shiitake mushrooms and tofu which collectively replace the beef. And that is simmered in a broth with delicious spices like star anise, cloves, cinnamon and cardamon. 

Served with rice noodles and plenty of fresh herbs this is flavor packed to the maximum. It is also light and savory and totally gorgeous too.

And if you love gorgeous vegan bowls check out our vegan burrito bowls and our vegan buddha bowls too.

Vegan pho with fresh herbs, lime and chili in a black bowl.

How To Make Vegan Pho

Charred Onion and Ginger:

  • To start with you want to peel and halve an onion and cut a roughly 3-inch piece of fresh ginger into halves. 
  • Rub the onion and ginger halves with sesame oil and place them onto a parchment lined baking tray with the cut sides facing up.
  • Roast in the oven at 390°C for 35 minutes until beautifully charred. 

The Spices:

  • Now you want to prepare your spices. 
  • Add star anise, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamon pods and whole coriander seeds into a spice infuser. 
  • Now your spices are ready. 

Preparing charred onion and ginger and spices for vegan pho.

The Broth:

  • Add vegetable stock/broth to a pot along with sliced shiitake mushrooms and the roasted onion and ginger. Add in the infuser containing the spices. 
  • Bring to the boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. 
  • After 30 minutes of simmering, remove the spice infuser and then remove the roasted onion and ginger from the broth. 
  • Add in some coconut sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sea salt and stir into the broth. 
  • Add in cubed tofu and bok choy and stir in. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. 
  • Now your broth is ready. 

Step by step process photo collage of preparing the broth for a vegan pho.

Assembling your Pho:

  • Ladle the broth over cooked rice noodles in a bowl.
  • Add fresh herbs and garnishes. 
  • You’re ready to serve!

Assembling vegan pho in a black bowl.

How To Serve Vegan Pho

It’s ideal to serve vegan pho over rice noodles and garnish it generously with fresh cilantro, basil leaves, fresh lime, sliced chili and chopped green onions (also known as salad onions, scallions, spring onions).

Squeeze a lime wedge over your soup before eating, stir in the fresh herbs and add some hoisin sauce to your bowl too if you fancy it. 

Serve your bowl of pho with chopsticks and a soup spoon. So you eat your noodles and veggies/tofu with your chopsticks and use the soup spoon for the broth. 

Can You Make It Gluten-Free?

This vegan pho is naturally gluten-free so long as you use a gluten free soy sauce or you can sub the soy sauce for tamari instead. 

Vegan pho with fresh lime and herbs in a black bowl.

Storing Your Pho

Leftover soup can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheated as you like. Either the microwave or stovetop are fine for reheating the soup. And then just ladle it over rice noodles and add your garnishes as usual. 

Make It Ahead

This is ideal to make ahead as you can cook up the broth and the noodles separately and store them in the fridge and then reheat the broth when you’re ready and assemble your bowls. 

Squeezing fresh lime over a bowl of vegan pho.

More Delicious Vegan Dinners

  1. Vegan Ramen
  2. Vegan Paella
  3. Vegan Curry
  4. Lentil Bolognese
  5. Vegan Stuffed Peppers
  6. Vegan Gumbo

Vegan pho in a black bowl with chopsticks.

Print
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Vegan pho

Vegan Pho


★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Author: Alison Andrews
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 50 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6
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Description

This vegan pho is packed with flavor and a perfect blend of spices with shiitake mushrooms and tofu. This is comfort food in a bowl!


Ingredients

For the Charred Onion and Ginger:

  • 1 Onion (Peeled and Halved)
  • 3-inch piece of Fresh Ginger (Halved)
  • 1 tsp Sesame Oil

For the Spices:

  • 4 Star Anise
  • 4 Whole Cloves
  • 2 Cinnamon Sticks
  • 2 Cardamon Pods
  • 1 Tbsp Whole Coriander Seeds

For the Broth:

  • 8 cups (1920ml) Vegetable Stock/Broth
  • 5 cups (250g) Sliced Shiitake Mushrooms
  • 1 Tbsp Coconut Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce*
  • 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
  • 16oz (450g) Firm Tofu (Cubed)
  • 2 Heads Baby Bok Choy

For the Noodles:

  • 8 oz (226g) Flat Rice Noodles (Dry Weight)

For Serving:

  • 1 cup Fresh Cilantro
  • 1 cup Basil Leaves
  • 2 Fresh Limes (Quartered)
  • 2 Fresh Chilis (Sliced)
  • 1/2 cup Green Onions*
  • Hoisin sauce*

Instructions

  1. Prepare the charred onion and ginger: Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
  2. Rub the onion and ginger halves with the sesame oil and place them onto a parchment lined baking tray with the cut sides facing up.
  3. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until charred. You will use this in your broth. 
  4. Prepare the spices. Add the star anise, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamon pods and whole coriander seeds into a spice infuser.
  5. Prepare the broth: Add the vegetable stock/broth to a pot along with the sliced shiitake mushrooms and the roasted onion and ginger. Add in the infuser containing the spices.
  6. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes of simmering, remove the spice infuser and then remove the roasted onion and ginger from the broth. 
  7. Add the coconut sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sea salt and stir them into the broth. 
  8. Add the cubed tofu and baby bok choy and stir in. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
  9. Prepare the noodles: Cook the rice noodles according to the package instructions.
  10. Assemble the Pho: Ladle the broth over cooked rice noodles in a bowl.
  11. Add fresh herbs and garnishes as you like. 
  12. Serve with a squeeze of lime.

Notes

*Use a gluten free soy sauce or switch for tamari if you’d like to keep this gluten-free.

*Green onions are also called salad onions or spring onions or scallions.

*Hoisin sauce is optional but can be quite tasty added in to your bowl. Serve it on the side.

  • Category: Entree, Savory, Gluten-Free
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Vegan, Vietnamese

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Serve (of 6)
  • Calories: 322
  • Sugar: 6.7g
  • Sodium: 1540mg
  • Fat: 5.2g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.1g
  • Carbohydrates: 53.4g
  • Fiber: 3g
  • Protein: 14.9g

Keywords: vegan pho

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About the Author

Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Urja Jain says

    September 20, 2020 at 5:16 am

    Just wondering, do we have to cook the tofu in any way (frying, baking, etc.) before adding it to the broth? I just thought it would add flavor, do let me know!

    Reply
    • Alison Andrews says

      September 21, 2020 at 10:47 am

      No it doesn’t need to be cooked first, it absorbs flavor from the broth.

      Reply
  2. Anna says

    January 22, 2020 at 6:49 am

    If one is looking for something light and yet very wholesome and filling, this is it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Alison Andrews says

      January 23, 2020 at 12:12 pm

      Thanks Anna! 🙂

      Reply

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