Looking for the ultimate Vietnamese beef pho recipe?! This broth is deep and flavourful, and when paired with toasted aromatics and beef bones this creates the best bowl of pho you’ll ever have

What is pho?

Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a Vietnamese noodle soup made up of an aromatic broth, rice noodles, and meat. Typically it’s made with beef (Pho bo) or chicken (Pho ga). Pho is so well known that it can be found in almost any country around the world.

The broth is what sets pho apart from other kinds of noodle soups. It’s made by simmering beef or chicken bones with aromatics like star anise, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel and so much more.

The broth is simmered for hours to develop a rich broth with so much umami. This is then served over rice noodles and thinly sliced meat such as rare beef or beef brisket. From there you can customize the pho to your own taste with toppings like fresh herbs, lime, beansprouts and various condiments.

While it is time-consuming the end result is so worth it, there’s not much better than a warm bowl of noodle soup at the end of a long day.

What kind of meat should I use for beef pho?

When it comes to making a flavorful beef broth it’s important to not only use bones, but also meat. This adds so much more depth to the broth. I like to use as combination of:

Beef bones

This includes bones like marrow bones like leg, knuckle, and shin, these are usually cut in half or into quarters. The marrow in these bones can seep into the broth as they cook providing a richness to the broth

Bones with meat

These bones give the most flavor as the meat on these bones are typically fattier with more flavor. I recommend using cuts like short rib or oxtail

Beef

Brisket is my cut of choice in this case as it has a delicious beefy flavor and holds up well after hours of simmering in the broth. If it’s too expensive, or not available slow cooking cuts like chuck or gravy beef work well too.

How to make the best beef pho broth?

1. Bring a large stock pot filled with water to a boil and add the brisket, short rib, beef bones, beef marrow, and oxtail

1. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain the water from the beef and wash the beef pieces under cold water until clean
2. Add the beef back into the pot

1. Over your gas burner place the whole onion, shallots and ginger and cook on the direct flame for a couple of minutes until charred (if you don’t have a gas burner you can place them in the grill under high heat until charred, turning occasionally)
2. Add the charred aromatics to the pot with the beef and top with 6L of water
3. Bring the pot to a boil, then turn it down to a low simmer

1. Add the dried squid, fish sauce, salt and rock sugar
2. Simmer the broth for 3 hours, then remove the beef brisket, short rib, and oxtail to set aside
3. Return the broth to a simmer and simmer for a minimum of 1 hour or optimally overnight

1. Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat and add the cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, star anise, cloves, cardamon pod, and coriander seeds
2. Toast the spices for a couple minutes, or until aromatic

1. Remove from the pan and place in a spice pouch, tie the pouch up tightly and add it to the broth
2. Let the spice pouch steep in the broth for 1 hour, then remove
3. Taste and season with fish sauce, sugar and salt
4. Add the beef balls to the broth and boil until cooked through

How to serve Pho

Beef pho is served itself as broth, beef, and noodles, but customization comes at the table. It is typically served with a basket of bean sprouts, thai basil, cilantro, mint, chili, and a mixture of condiments. This is what allows you to customize the beef. Here are a couple of the classics and how they are served:

• Rice noodles: Fresh or rehydrated, cooked dry noodles
• Thinly sliced raw beef: This is served raw and the hot broth that is poured over the beef cooks the meat to the perfect texture
• Beansprouts: Raw, this is served on the side and added as necessary
• Thai basil, coriander, or mint: This is also served on the side with the beansprouts and added as per your taste preference
• Lime wedges: Lime adds a little bit of a zing to your broth, cutting through some of the richness and giving it a cleaner flavor
• Chilli: Chilli adds heat of course!
• Hoisin sauce and Sriracha: Both add an extra oomph of flavor to the dish, as well as some spice from the sriracha

Aromatic Ingredients

• Onion: The onion is charred on a grill or gas stove top to give it extra flavor before it is added to the broth
• Shallots: Shallots add a sweeter flavor than onion, and are also charred on the grill or gas stove top
• Ginger: Ginger helps to balance out the beefiness of the broth while also adding a deeper flavor
• Dried Squid: This is optional, however, this is my secret ingredient to a flavourful broth. Adding the squid gives the broth an umami flavor you can’t achieve from boiling beef alone.
• Fish sauce: Fish sauce adds seasoning to the broth while also adding the classic Vietnamese flavor profile, it may seem like a lot but it is necessary to season the large amount of liquid
• Salt: Salt just adds that little bit of extra seasoning
• Yellow rock sugar: Rock sugar adds sweetness to the broth
• Cinnamon stick: Cinnamon adds flavor a warm, and slightly sweet note to the broth
• Fennel seeds: Fennel adds a mild licorice-like flavor that adds savory notes to the broth
• Star anise: This is an essential spice in pho, giving it a distinctive flavor and aroma. The flavor is warm and peppery with a licorice-like taste
• Cloves: Cloves work together with the other spices to create that classic Vietnamese flavor. They have a stronger, more peppery flavor than the other spices
• Cardamom pods: Cardamom adds a citrusy, floral note to the broth
• Coriander seeds: Coriander seeds are known for their earthy, slightly citrusy flavor

The BEST Vietnamese Beef Pho

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Print Recipe

Looking for the ultimate Vietnamese beef pho recipe?! This broth is deep and flavourful, and when paired with toasted aromatics and beef bones this creates the best bowl of pho you’ll ever have

• Total Time: 5 hours 45 minutes
• Yield: 6–8 bowls 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Broth

• 6L Water
• 500g Beef Brisket
• 4 pc Beef short rib
• 8 Beef tendon balls
• 1kg Beef bones
• 4 pc Oxtail
• 2 large Onion, skin on
• 2 small Shallots, skin on
• 1/2 knob of Ginger
• 1 pc Dried squid (leave out if you don’t have it)
• 1 1/2 Cups Fish sauce
• 2 tbsp Salt
• 2 medium-sized Rock sugar
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 2 tbs Fennel seeds
• 4 Star anise
• 1 tbsp Cloves
• 3 Black cardamon pod
• 1/2 cup Coriander seeds

Assembly

• 1 lb Thin rice noodles, fresh or dry (450g)
• 200g Raw beef sliced
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 sprig Spring onion, thinly sliced
• Beansprouts, to serve
• Thai basil, to serve
• Lime wedges, to serve
• Thinly sliced red chilli, to serve

 

 

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Broth

1. Bring a large stockpot filled with water to a boil and add the brisket, short rib, beef bones, beef marrow, and oxtail
2. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain the water from the beef and wash the beef pieces under cold water until clean
3. Add the beef back into the pot
4. Over your gas burner place the whole onion, shallots and ginger and cook on the direct flame for a couple of minutes until charred (if you don’t have a gas burner you can place them in the grill under high heat until charred, turning occasionally)
5. Add the charred aromatics to the pot with the beef and top with 6L of water
6. Bring the pot to a boil, then turn it down to a low simmer
7. Add the dried squid, fish sauce, salt and rock sugar
8. Simmer the broth for 3 hours, then remove the beef brisket, short rib, and oxtail to set aside
9. Return the broth to a simmer and simmer for a minimum of 1 hour or optimally overnight
10. Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat and add the cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, star anise, cloves, cardamon pod, and coriander seeds
11. Toast the spices for a couple minutes, or until aromatic
12. Remove from the pan and place in a spice pouch, tie the pouch up tightly and add it to the broth
13. Let the spice pouch steep in the broth for 1 hour, then remove
14. Taste and season with fish sauce, sugar and salt
15. Add the beef balls to the broth and boil until cooked through

To Assemble

1. Slice up the beef brisket
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
3. Cook your desired amount of rice noodles according to the packet instructions
4. Rinse the cooked noodles under cool water and transfer it to your serving bowl
5. Ladle over the broth 
6. Top with your selection of sliced brisket, beef balls, short rib, ox tail, marrow, and thinly sliced raw beef
7. Finish it off with thinly sliced raw onion, spring onion, beansprouts, and Thai basil
8. Serve with lime wedges and thinly sliced chilli

• Author: Vincent Yeow Lim
• Prep Time: 45 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 hours
• Category: Noodles
• Method: Intermediate
• Cuisine: Vietnamese

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Bowl
• Calories: 699
• Sugar: 10.8 g
• Sodium: 8403 mg
• Fat: 28.3 g
• Carbohydrates: 69.9 g
• Protein: 41.6 g
• Cholesterol: 143.1 mg