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    Oh My Veggies » Vegetarian Recipes » Vegetarian Appetizers

    30-Minute Vegetarian Pho

    Published: Apr 30, 2014 · by Julia Mueller · Updated: Feb 15, 2021 · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    30-Minute Vegetarian Pho
    The first time I went out to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant with my family, I was very unsure of what to expect. I had the misconception that the meal would be your run-of-the mill greasy, heavy food, requiring a great deal of extra sweat time at the gym. I was surprised and delighted when I ordered pho soup and was presented with the largest bowl of fresh and flavorful ingredients I had ever happened upon in public.

    For those of you who are unfamiliar, pho (pronounced ‘fuh’) soup is a classic Vietnamese dish. A typical pho includes rice noodles in broth, a combination of raw and sautéed vegetables, fresh herbs, and rare sliced steak. Since we’re making this meal meatless, we left out the steak and added in meaty sautéed shiitake mushrooms. I sautéed the shiitakes in butter and hoisin sauce, but you can easily switch out the hoisin for soy sauce or liquid aminos.

    30-Minute Pho Recipe

    The broth for a traditional pho usually involves a whole lot of spices and a whole lot of simmering--sometimes for up to 3 hours if you're making the stock yourself! I wanted to make a pho that was doable for a weeknight meal, so I simplified things by making a quick ginger broth instead. I usually serve my pho with store-bought hoisin sauce and chili garlic sauce so that people can mix and match sweet and spicy flavors as desired.

    30-Minute Vegetarian Pho
    You can easily add your favorite vegetables to this 30-Minute Vegetarian Pho too. Since it is spring time, you can throw in asparagus, snow peas, fennel, or sliced radishes; for summer, try thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash or green beans. Tofu, seitan, or cooked slices of tempeh can be added to up the protein in this recipe too. Pho is highly customizable, so everyone can assemble their own bowls with their favorite add-ins. Who doesn't love that kind of dinner?!

    Recipe

    Pho Soup with Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms

    30-Minute Vegetarian Pho

    A streamlined version of pho with a simple ginger broth base and shiitake mushrooms to make it meatless!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Email Recipe
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Course: Main Course, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American, Vietnamese
    Diet: Vegetarian
    Keyword: 30-Minute Vegetarian Pho, pho recipe, Vegetarian Pho
    Servings: 4 to 6 servings
    Calories: 119kcal
    Author: Oh My Veggies

    Ingredients

    • 64 ounces homemade or low-sodium vegetable broth
    • 6 green onions  thinly sliced
    • 1 tbsp fresh ginger peeled and grated
    • Salt to taste
    • 1 ½  tbsp butter
    • 6 ounce shiitake mushrooms ough stems removed
    • 1 ½ tsp hoisin sauce
    • 2 tsp sesame oil
    • 1 ounces rice noodles cooked according to package instructions
    • 8 ounces bean sprouts
    • 2 jalapeño peppers thinly sliced

    For serving

    • Fresh cilantro, basil, lime wedges, hoisin sauce, and chili garlic sauce or sriracha
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • In a large pot, combine the vegetable broth, green onion, grated ginger, and salt. Bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
    • While the broth is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 6 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently.
    • Stir in the hoisin and sesame oil and cook until the sauce thickens and coats the mushrooms, about 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
    • Divide the rice noodles between four to six large bowls, then fill each bowl with the ginger broth. Add bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños, shiitake mushrooms, fresh basil, and cilantro and serve with lime wedges, hoisin, and chili garlic sauce.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 119kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 5gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 54mgPotassium: 300mgFiber: 5gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 276IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 1mg
    Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!
    « Raspberry, Pear and Cacao Nib Kamut Cake
    This Week's Meatless Meal Plan | 05.05.14 »

    Vegetarian Appetizers, Vegetarian Main Dishes, Vegetarian Recipes 30 minutes or less, main dishes, Make it Meatless Series, mushrooms, soup

    Julia Mueller from The Roasted Root

    About Julia Mueller

    Julia Mueller writes the food blog, The Roasted Root, and is the author of Delicious Probiotic Drinks and Let Them Eat Kale!. A Lake Tahoe native, Julia loves to play outdoors, and enjoys developing recipes that are nutrient-dense and approachable to make any night of the week.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Monique says

      December 07, 2014 at 2:17 pm

      This recipe is sooo simple & delicious! I'm making it again for the family next week.
      Thanks so much!

      Reply
    2. Rebecca says

      December 19, 2014 at 7:15 pm

      Where is the recipe for the broth?

      Reply
      • Anon says

        December 23, 2014 at 9:40 pm

        I assume this recipe calls for store-bought vegetable broth. You know, broth in the carton?

        Reply
        • Lauren says

          July 12, 2016 at 9:17 pm

          She probably is referring to the cartons of vegetarian pho broth starter seeing that all spices are missing from this recipe. It's made by Pacific and sold at whole foods with the vegetable broths

          Reply
    3. Dee says

      January 12, 2015 at 5:37 pm

      What would be a good winter vegetable to add? I have some extra butternut squash, but not sure if it is suitable for this recipe... Thinking of adding some broccoli now.

      Reply
    4. Dee says

      January 12, 2015 at 6:20 pm

      Would broccoli or edamame work as a vegg in this recipe ( or other winter veggie?)? I have some butternut squash, but I'm thinkin' that may not work.

      Reply
      • Rachel says

        May 02, 2015 at 12:58 am

        I have had vegetarian pho with broccoli florets in--just tonight actually--and it was delicious! It also had big chunks of baby bok choy, carrot slices, and mushrooms in it, and it was SO good! I've only had pho that I've made myself at home (hardly authentic), but now I might try to replicate the recipe I had tonight.

        Reply
    5. Manju @ Manju's Eating Delights says

      January 13, 2015 at 12:05 pm

      Love this recipe....have been enjoying a lot of soup daily and I was hunting for a good Pho recipe. Found this on pinterest and came straight over and so glad I did 🙂 Cant wait to try this 🙂

      -Manju

      Reply
    6. Beth Gardner says

      January 25, 2015 at 5:03 pm

      This dish, pho, is fantastic! My only replacement was 'not beef' broth instead of vegetable. I will definitely make it again.

      Reply
    7. Reagan the recipe hoarder says

      February 19, 2015 at 9:02 am

      I love these bowls! May I ask where you got them from?

      Reply
    8. Kerstin LaCross says

      March 26, 2015 at 1:41 am

      This was super good and I'll be making it again; or at lease the broth to serve with wonton. But I feel that you should specify in the recipe to use Thai basil, not sweet basil ('regular').

      Reply
    9. Fee says

      March 28, 2015 at 6:54 am

      Very tasty! I substituted pea sprouts for bean sprouts and added some wheat sprouts. I like how this is very quick and does not require hours for the broth.

      Reply
    10. Alice and Calum says

      March 30, 2015 at 3:49 pm

      Had our first bowl of pho a few weeks ago in a lovely Vietnamese restaurant in Manchester and absolutely loved it, so we decided to try and make our own. We found this recipe and added out own tweaks to it.
      This pho beats the pho we had at the restaurant. Absolutely delicious and so straight forward.
      Thanks!

      Reply
    11. Jeremy E. says

      May 22, 2015 at 9:53 am

      I know this post is old, but it seems silly to include butter because simply using olive oil makes this recipe healthier and vegan, and it won't alter the taste drastically.

      Reply
    12. Louise says

      August 16, 2015 at 8:58 am

      This might be tasty but there is literally NOTHING about this that's pho. Maybe just calling it Asian inspired soup would be more accurate, otherwise this is just terrible cultural appropriation

      Reply
      • Shawn says

        November 28, 2015 at 12:51 am

        I agree; I am Vietnamese and this almost made me cringe when I saw the ingredients. I appreciate the thought it in making it quick and easy for a weeknight meal, but what makes it "pho" are the five spices (anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, and coriander seeds). You can easily find these spices at an Asian supermarket (there are options where all the spices for pho are conveniently in one package/mesh bag that you can simply throw into the broth) and it does not require any more time allotted in this recipe. I am glad everyone who tried this recipe loved it, but if you want it a bit more authentic the spices are a must.

        Reply
        • Audrey says

          March 21, 2016 at 3:43 pm

          Would pre-mixed five spice do the trick or are the ratios off to be good in pho? I have a jar already but might mix my own if its horrible like pre-mixed "curry" powders.

          Reply
      • Alex says

        February 03, 2016 at 6:28 am

        When you brought up "cultural apropriation" my eyes rolled so far to the back of my head that I nearly choked on them. Needless to bring up the fact that pho, the cuisine itself, had its origins in French and Chinese cooking, but never mind that fact. "Cultural appropriation" is somethin mg only evil imperialist whites do, and is not at all something that has been going since the written word and human culture took form, and it's actually HOW culture itself takes shape. You're all a bunch of shitlords, go retake your ethnics courses.

        Reply
      • Alex says

        February 04, 2016 at 4:29 am

        Oh boy, "cultural appropriation", one of my favorite buzzwords. If you want to throw out that card, you better go back to history, where pho itself was "culturally appropriated" from French and Chinese dishes. Or does that rule only apply to whites? Guess I should have listened to my ethnic studies teacher.

        Reply
    13. Diana B. says

      September 09, 2015 at 1:07 am

      Made this today with beef broth and it was so spot on it surprised me! Used a lot of mung beans in place of noodles and it was a delicious low carb pho! I'll def. be making this again!

      Reply
    14. Connor says

      November 06, 2015 at 11:13 pm

      Please note that the prep time for this recipe is longer than 30 minutes, as the prep time needed for the rice noodles is not accounted for in the recipe.

      Otherwise, good recipe.

      Reply
    15. KJ | Om Nom Herbivore says

      December 27, 2015 at 7:21 pm

      This sounds super simple and delicious! Pho is awesome!

      Reply
    16. Gabby says

      January 17, 2016 at 3:29 pm

      I don't use butter in any recipes but don't really tend to replace it... would it work without? or could I just use a tiny bit of coconut oil or...?

      Reply
    17. Samantha Coughlan says

      April 11, 2016 at 11:49 pm

      Made this today!
      I wanted a nice warm and tasty dish for autumn nights this week and have found a winner in this recipe.
      So easy to make - even I didn't screw it up! (Trust me, it happens alot)
      I didn't have sesame oil (booo) but I used veg oil and added sesame seeds to it to coat the mushies!
      Oh yeah, and no shiitakes either so regular button/ cup mushrooms it was - next time I'd love to make the recipe with no veering from the ingredients 🙂

      Reply
    18. Stevie Thomann says

      April 12, 2016 at 10:29 pm

      I made this for dinner tonight and OMG it was delicious! Easy to prepare and I switched out the butter for olive oil to make it vegan, definitely going to be making this a lot!

      Reply
    19. April says

      July 30, 2016 at 7:18 pm

      Was looking for vegan recipes when I stumbled across this. Looks really good, and will work for me if I skip the butter.

      One note: most traditional pho broth bases are overnight works, not just 3 hours. The complexity of said broths are the pride of whomever makes it. Kinda like spaghetti sauce in Italy: the basics are pretty standard, but the nuance is determined by the family recipes.

      Looking forward to enjoying your fresh and quick take on this yummy standard.

      April

      Reply
    20. Marcia says

      May 28, 2020 at 7:54 pm

      Are you supposed to boil the noodles separately or do they cook in the bowl once you pour the boiling broth over it??

      Reply
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    Nicole is a life long vegetarian and the author of the popular vegan cookbook, Weeknight One Pot Vegan Cooking. She loves sharing her recipes and showing the world just how easy and delicious meatless meals can be!
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