Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup

A Vietnamese pho is a warming bowl of broth gently infused with ginger, garlic and fragrant spices, then loaded with chicken, mushrooms, greens and rice noodles.

This makes a wonderful family meal, and I love putting all of the colourful garnishes on the table and letting everyone finish their own bowl. It makes supper feel rather special, while allowing your children to choose the toppings that they fancy.

The spices are also soothing when you have the sniffles or you need a tummy comforting one bowl meal.

For gluten-free options, please see the notes below.

Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Course Main Courses, Soups

Servings

Calories 318 kcal

Suitable for Special Diet (or adaptable) Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Vegetarian

Ingredients

100 g Noodles (brown or white rice noodles)
1 tsp Sesame Oil (or a neutral oil)
150 g Mushrooms (Shiitake, sliced)
300 g Chicken (ready-cooked and torn into thin strips)
2 tsp Soya Sauce (dark or tamari)
2 Cloves
1 Star Anise
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
6 Spring Onions (white parts halved and green tops finely sliced)
1 thumb Ginger (skin left on and thickly sliced)
3 cloves Garlic (thickly sliced)
30 g Coriander (fresh, stalks and leaves separated and leaves roughly chopped)
1 litre Bone Broth (chicken bone broth or chicken stock)
300 ml Water
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
60 g Cavolo Nero (finely shredded)

Extra garnishes

2 Carrots (medium, scrubbed and peeled into ribbons)
1-2 Chillies (bird’s eye, finely sliced, optional)
1 tbsp Mint (fresh, leaves roughly chopped)
2 tbsp Peanuts (or cashews, salted and roughly chopped, optional(

Instructions

Fill a kettle with water and bring it to the boil. Place the rice noodles in a large heatproof bowl and cover with the boiling water. Leave to soak according to the packet instructions, then drain and set aside.
Heat the sesame oil in a wok or large and deep frying pan. Add the mushrooms and fry for 3–4 minutes until golden.
Add the ready-cooked chicken strips and soya sauce, allowing the sauce to bubble for a few seconds and coat the chicken. Transfer the chicken and mushrooms to a bowl and set aside while you make the broth.
Return the wok to a medium heat. Add the cloves, star anise and coriander seeds and toast for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the white parts of the spring onions, ginger and garlic and cook for a further minute. Add the coriander stalks, chicken bone broth and water.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes so everything cooks through well.
Meanwhile, prepare the toppings: sliced spring onion tops, coriander leaves, carrot ribbons, finely chopped chillies, mint and nuts. Place them in separate bowls ready for everyone to help themselves.
Stir the fish sauce into the broth and taste for seasoning. Carefully strain the broth, taking out the cooked aromatics, then return the broth to the wok.
Add the cavolo nero, chicken and mushrooms. Simmer for 2–3 minutes until the cavolo nero has softened and the chicken is piping hot.
Divide the noodles between wide bowls. Ladle over the aromatic broth, chicken and vegetables, then bring to the table with all the garnishes.

Notes

Feel free to play around with this recipe depending on what you have to hand. You can replace the cavolo nero with finely shredded kale, green beans or sugar snap peas. Try red pepper strips instead of the carrot or swap the mint for fresh Thai basil.

For younger children, leave out the chilli and allow the soup to cool sufficiently before serving.

Vegetarian: Replace the chicken with firm tofu and use vegetable broth or stock. Swap the fish sauce for a vegetarian alternative such as Coconut Aminos.

Gluten-free: Use tamari in place of the soya sauce and check that the rice noodles, broth and fish sauce are certified gluten-free.

Soya-free: switch Tamari soya sauce to Coconut Aminos.

Nut-free: instead of peanuts, use toasted sunflower seeds to sesame seeds to garnish.

The broth can be made a day ahead. Strain and store the broth in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat it until piping hot before adding the noodles, chicken, mushrooms and cavolo nero.

Storage: Cool any leftovers quickly and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Keep the noodles and garnishes separate from the broth where possible. Reheat the broth, chicken and vegetables until piping hot throughout and do not reheat more than once.

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 31gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 1138mgPotassium: 775mgFibre: 7gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 5460IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 112mgIron: 3mgManganese: 1mgMagnesium: 96mgZinc: 2mg

Per serving. Nutrition content in food is never consistent, so take these estimates with a pinch of salt! Also, our recipes tend to use low-GI carbs and sugars, so these values are not directly comparable with shop-bought UPFs.

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