If you want a “quick pho” then try this Easy Vietnamese Pho recipe. No it’s not authentic because it doesn’t require hours and hours of rendering bones, but the addition of aromatic spices to beef broth really makes this quick recipe really delicious.
Have you ever made Vietnamese Pho before? If you have or know someone who’s serious about their Pho, then you know that you need to go to the butcher and buy a bunch of marrow filled bones, ox tails and a big beef brisket and cook them for hours and hours and hours with onions and ginger and spices which results in the most amazing beef broth you will ever taste.
For those of us that don’t have the ability, or time, to take on such a project I have adapted the recipe to have delicious Beef Pho (pronounced Fuh) on your table in less than an hour. Yep, no 18 hours of braising bones or 60 minutes or less.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Flank Steak
- Rice noodles
- Garnishes: Carrots, Sliced Onions, Cilantro, Bean Sprouts, Jalapeño, Hoisin sauce, Sriracha, Nam Pla
- Beef broth or stock
- Black peppercorns
- Sea salt
- Ginger
- Spices: Bay leaf, Star anise, Fennel seeds, Cardamom pod, Cinnamon stick, Whole cloves, Coriander seeds
How to make this recipe
Add ginger and peppercorns to beef stock. In a tea strainer basket or a piece of cheesecloth add the remaining spices and close the tea strainer securely (or tie off the cheesecloth) and add to the broth. Bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the rice noodles according to the package. Drain just before serving or the noodles will stick together. Slice flank steak super thin against the grain. Cut into strips that will be bite sized. Slice all veggies super thin and arrange on a plate for serving at the table.
To serve: add a portion of noodles to a bowl, ladle beef broth over and shake the bowl a bit to incorporate the beef broth into the noodles. Lay the slices of raw meat over the noodles and add another ladle or 2 of broth. The boiling beef broth will cook the meat in your bowl. Garnish with veggies and sauces of choice at the table.
Vietnamese Pho Recipe
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Ingredients
Pho Broth
- 10 cups beef stock
- 8 black peppercorns, whole
- 1 inch piece ginger, peeled
- 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
- ½ star anise, break the pod in half
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1 cardamom pod, or 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 cinnamon stick, or 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 8 whole cloves
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
Garnishes
- ½ lb flank steak, sliced thin against the grain (freezing for 10-15 minutes will help in cutting the steak ultra thin)
- 8 oz rice stick noodles, cooked and drained according to package
- 1 lime, wedged
- cilantro
- basil leaves
- mint leaves
- carrots
- garlic, minced or sliced
- bean sprouts
- hoisin sauce
- yellow onion, sliced
- green onion, sliced
- jalapeño, sliced
- Nam Pla, or other fish sauce
- sriracha, or other hot sauce
Instructions
Pho Broth
- Add beef stock to a large stock pot. Toss in the ginger and black peppercorns. In a tea strainer basket or a piece of cheesecloth add the remaining spices and close the tea strainer securely (or tie off the cheesecloth) and add to the broth. Bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rice noodles according to the package. Drain just before serving or the noodles will stick together.
Assembly
- Slice flank steak super thin against the grain. Cut into strips that will be bite sized. Slice all veggies super thin and arrange on a plate for serving at the table.
- Add a portion of noodles to a bowl, ladle beef broth over and shake the bowl a bit to incorporate the beef broth into the noodles. Lay the slices of raw meat over the noodles and add another ladle or 2 of broth. The boiling beef broth will cook the meat in your bowl. Garnish with veggies and sauces of choice at the table.
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Nutrition
*Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Hi! I’m Heather
I’m Heather, a recipe developer and content creator based in Vancouver, Washington. I started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006 because I believed weeknight dinners shouldn’t be boring and gourmet shouldn’t mean complicated. I’m also the co-founder of Spiceology, so safe to say I think about food for a living. Stick around for recipes that actually make it into your regular rotation.
a simple weeknight pho recipe – that is NOT traditional but comes in handy when you want a warm bowl of deliciousness
This looks amazing!
My G would LOVE me to make this!
You need to come to my house and teach me a GOURMET things or two! xo
Thanks for your SWEETNESS Heather!
Love your style…and YOU!
xo