This Vegan Pho recipe is easy to make and is infused with warming spices like cinnamon and star Anis. It’s perfect to enjoy as an appetizer or to have a larger bowl for a meal!

A bowl of vegan pho soup with rice noodles, cilantro and green onions

Why you’ll love this Vegan Pho recipe

  • This recipe is perfect for the colder months and the broth is super warming and cozy.
  • This Pho soup comes together in about 30 minutes since it uses a hack to make a quick and simple broth. (So no need to fuss in the kitchen for hours making a homemade veggie stock!)
  • You can enjoy this soup as an appetizer or have a big bowl for a delicious meal that is vegan and gluten-free.

What is Pho?

Pho soup is a traditional Vietnamese soup that can be made with beef broth, chicken broth or vegetarian broth. This recipe for Vegan Pho is made with a quick and easy vegetarian broth. This recipe is inspired by traditional Pho, which is typically made with beef broth and takes hours to make. Since there is traditionally no vegan pho, this recipe is my interpretation of the traditional broth that uses similar spices and flavouring.

Rather than making veggie stock from scratch, we’re going to use store-bought vegetable stock and infuse it with spices to save time. This is a trick I like to do for Asian soup recipes like this pho or this ramen.

Is Pho vegan?

A typical pho broth is not vegan, but you can make a very tasty Vegan Pho broth at home with a few simple ingredients!

Pho Broth

What flavor is pho broth?

The main flavors in pho broth are charred onion, ginger, star anise, cinnamon and cloves. The broth is very fragrant and flavorful.

Is pho broth the same as beef broth?

A typical pho broth is often made with beef broth, so many people think these are the same. But the main difference is all in the flavoring with aromatics and spices. Pho broth can also be made with chicken broth or vegetable broth and will have a very similar flavor to a pho made with beef broth since these will have the same spices and seasoning. This vegan pho broth is packed full of flavour you won’t miss the beef broth.

Does this pho broth recipe have soy sauce?

Pho will often use soy sauce or fish sauce in it to season the broth and make it salty. Since this recipe is vegan, it uses soy sauce. If you want to make a gluten-free pho, just make sure to use gluten-free soy sauce.

What is vegan pho made of?

  • Onion: charred onion is one of the key flavors in a pho broth. You can use a regular white onion.
  • Ginger: Fresh ginger is another key ingredient that makes a pho broth unique. The ginger also gets charred.
  • Spices: this recipe uses a combination of star anise, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. I wouldn’t recommend substituting any of these spices in the recipe. Each one is unique and plays an important role in getting that specific pho flavor.
  • Shitake: dried or fresh shiitake will both work. This helps give a little more richness and umami flavor to the vegetarian broth.
  • Vegetable stock: any of your favourite vegetable stock or broth will work.
  • Miso: I like to use white miso paste, but you can also use dark miso. This will give the broth a little more umami and savoury flavor. Since the broth doesn’t contain any beef or chicken stock, it’s important to add a lot of flavor to make the broth taste rich.
  • Soy sauce: to season. You can also use tamari.
  • Coconut sugar: for a hint of sweetness to balance out the salty and savoury elements.

How to make Vegan Pho

Start by broiling the onion and ginger in the oven for about 15 minutes until blackened on top. Then add them to the pot along with the spices and mushrooms and toast for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. This will help to release the delicious flavours in the spices!

  • Onions, dried shitake, cinnamon, star anise and ginger in a white pot
  • A pot of vegan pho broth with spices in it

Add the veggie broth to the pot, bring to a boil then let simmer on low covered for 15-20 minutes. Strain the soup to remove the spices then add the soup back to the pot with the bok choy and let the bok choy and green onion and cook in the soup on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes until tender.

  • Pho broth in a white pot
  • Vegan pho broth in a white pot with green onions and bok choy

Cook the rice noodles separately and then plate the soup in the bowl with some rice noodles, bean sprouts and herbs.

two bowls of pho soup with noodles and bok choy in them

What should I put in my Pho?

Traditionally a Pho recipe is served with a side of beansprouts, Thai basil and mint.

Though you can serve this Vegan Pho recipe with any type of vegetables you love. For this recipe, I use bok choy and beansprouts. Some other delicious veggies you could add to this soup are:

  • Broccoli/Chinese broccoli
  • Snow peas
  • Cabbage
  • Steamed carrots

How to serve Pho Soup

Pho soup is traditionally served with rice noodles and a side of bean sprouts, mint leaves, Thai basil, lime wedges, hoisin sauce and sriracha that you can add to your soup as you wish. You can also add any vegetables you love to the pho or some soft tofu for some added protein.

It’s best to serve this Vegan Pho in a large bowl so the soup doesn’t splatter everywhere as you eat it. Pho is usually served with chopsticks to pick up the noodles and a large soup spoon to scoop up your soup.

Storing and Freezing Pho Soup

Store this Vegan Pho in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Store the noodles separately to prevent them from becoming soggy.

This Pho broth also freezes well. Freeze just the broth without any of the vegetables or noodles in it. Thaw on the countertop.

A bowl of vegan pho with chopsticks in it

Tips for making this Pho Soup recipe perfectly

  • Broil or roast the onion and ginger in the oven before adding them to the pot. This helps to build up a really nice flavour and will give you a more flavourful rich-tasting broth.
  • Cook the rice noodles separately. If you cook the rice noodles in the broth, they will absorb a lot of the liquid and you will end up with much less soup broth for serving.
  • Top this soup off with a squeeze of sriracha and hoisin sauce if you like! This is a traditional way to serve Pho.

More vegan soup recipes to try

Vegan pho in a speckled blue ceramic bowl

If you tried this Vegan Pho or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!

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Vegan pho in a speckled blue ceramic bowl

Vegan Pho

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Jessica Hoffman
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Cook
  • Cuisine: Vietnamese
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

This Vegan Pho recipe comes together in just 30 minutes for a quick and easy soup that’s packed with flavour

Ingredients

Units Scale

For serving

  • Rice noodles
  • Bean sprouts
  • Cilantro
  • Hoisin sauce
  • Sriracha

Instructions

  1. Place the onion and ginger face down on a baking pan and broil in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until charred on top. 
  2. Add the onion, ginger, star anise, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick and shitake to a pot on medium-high heat and let toast for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. 
  3. Then add the vegetable broth, miso paste, soy sauce and coconut sugar and bring to a boil for 1 minute.
  4. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. 
  5. Strain the soup to remove all the spices then add the green onions and bok choy or vegetables of choice and let cook in the soup on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until tender. 
  6. Serve with rice noodles, bean sprouts, cilantro and green onions.

Notes

Broil or roast the onion and ginger in the oven before adding them to the pot. This helps to build up a really nice flavour and will give you a more flavourful rich-tasting broth.

Cook the rice noodles separately. If you cook the rice noodles in the broth, they will absorb a lot of the liquid and you will end up with much less soup broth for serving.

This broth is even better the next day. Store it in a Tupperware in your fridge and enjoy it the next day for an even more flavourful soup.

Store noodles separately so they don’t become soggy.

Add some soft tofu to this recipe if you want some extra protein! 

*Nutrition information includes 1/2 cup rice noodles per serving 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
  • Calories: 160
  • Sugar: 4g
  • Fat: 2g
  • Carbohydrates: 28g
  • Fiber: 1.5g
  • Protein: 7g