Healthy Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe
Low Carb Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe – A traditional beef pho soup recipe with low carb noodle options to fit into keto and paleo diets.
Why We Love This Beef Pho Soup
Vietnamese Beef Pho Soup has got to be one of my family’s top 3 favorite meals collectively.
Whenever we go out for dinner one or both of the kids always suggests our favorite local Vietnamese restaurant, and one or both parents always agree.
It’s hard to pinpoint why Vietnamese noodle soup is so alluring. After all, it’s a simple broth with meat and rice noodles.
Yet the depth of spicy undertones in the broth and the pop of fresh cool ingredients added at the table make it hard to resist.
Don’t forget to check out all of our paleo and low carb recipes!
Healthy Vietnamese Pho
Although traditional Vietnamese Beef Pho is pretty darn healthy on its own, today I’m sharing a Low Carb Vietnamese Pho Recipe to fit into Paleo, Keto, and Whole 30 diets.
With just a couple of small swaps you can make this tantalizing beef soup fit your New Year diet.
Vietnamese pho recipes can have a variety of proteins added to them including pork, beef, or chicken. This steak pho recipe uses thin slices of flank steak!
Ingredients You Need
For the Broth:
- Coconut oil
- Ginger
- Onions
- Garlic
- Cinnamon sticks
- Star anise
- Cloves
- Cardamom pods
- Fish sauce
- Palm sugar
- Beef broth
- Water
Together these ingredients create a rich complex broth that gets better with age. In fact, making the broth in a crockpot while you are away at work is a fabulous idea!
For ketogenic recipes, remove the tablespoon of palm sugar.
For the Soup:
- Flank steak
- Shirataki noodles
These items are stirred in at the end after the onions and spices have been removed.
Shirataki noodles are grain-free and ultra low carb so they fit into all types of low carb diets.
How to Make Vietnamese Beef Pho Soup
- Sauté the vegetables and spices – This helps release the flavors in the aromatics.
- Slowly simmer the broth – The longer the broth simmers the better the flavor! For this recipe, I suggest simmering the broth for at least one hour. But you can turn the heat down very low and simmer it as long as you like. You can even make the broth a day ahead (like they do in restaurants) for intensified flavor.
- Skim – Once the broth has simmered, scoop out the veggies and spices.
- Add in the noodles and beef – The noodles and thin-cut beef cook quickly. They can be added to the broth just minutes before serving.
- Serve with fresh garnishes – Don’t forget to set out fresh bean sprouts and basil!
Fresh Garnishes:
- Jalapeno
- Basil
- Mung bean sprouts
- Lime
These four items are most traditional. Although scallions and cilantro are also great add-ins!
Tips & Tricks
- Toppings are everything! Serve your pho with all the best toppings like bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime wedges, and sliced jalapeños!
- Serve your pho with chopsticks and a large spoon for the most authentic eating experience.
- Let the broth simmer! The longer, the better the flavor will be!
Get the Complete (Printable) Low Carb Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is pho?
This is a soup that is most common in Vietnam, which contains broth, rice noodles (or miracle noodles), herbs, vegetables, and meats like chicken or pork/steak. This dish is considered to be the national food dish of Vietnam.
How long does this soup last?
This low carb pho soup can stay in your fridge for up to 5 days, but it is very important to store the broth, meats, noodles, and toppings in separate containers. You can also warm it up very fast on the stove.
Can I make this in the slow cooker?
Yes, you can make this recipe in a crockpot. Make sure to sauté the vegetables and spices on the stovetop first. Then slowly cook the broth for up to 12 hours on low, before moving onto to step 4.
More Amazing Healthy Soup Recipes
- Vietnamese Chicken Pho
- Chicken Detox Soup
- Mom’s Epic Beef Stew
- Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
- Lean Green Chicken Soup
- Spicy Thai Soup
- Tomato White Bean Soup
Check the printable recipe card below for the prep time, cook time, total time, and nutrition information. Make sure to share this recipe on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Healthy Vietnamese Pho Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
- 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 5 cinnamon sticks
- 3 whole star anise
- 10 cloves
- 4 cardamom pods, smashed
- 12 cups water
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce (gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar (omit for keto)
- 1 pound flank steak
- 1 pound shirataki noodles
- 4 ounces mung bean sprouts
- 2 jalapeños, sliced
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Place a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion wedges, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom, and coconut oil. Sauté the onions and spices for about 10 minutes, stirring to brown the onions on all sides.
- Pour in the water, beef broth, fish sauce, and sugar. Bring to a simmer. Then lower the heat if needed, and simmer for at least 60 minutes. (P.S. Fish sauce has a funky aroma, but tastes amazing! Don’t skip it.)
- Meanwhile, flash-freeze the flank steak for 30 minutes. It should be frozen on the outside, yet still mostly thawed on the inside. Then slice the steak against the grain into paper-thin pieces.
- Use a skimmer to pull all the onions, and spices out of the broth. Then arrange the mung bean sprouts, sliced jalapeno, lime wedges and basil on a serving plate.
- Add in the noodles to the broth and cook for 2-3 minutes, or according the the package instructions.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the thin pieces of beef. They should be thin enough to cook in the hot broth without additional heat.
- Scoop the pho into bowls and allow guests to add their own veggie garnishes.
This is such a really comforting meal! We will make it again this weekend!
I like this recipe but I am allergic to coconut, is there another oil I can use?
Hi Ruth,
Sure! Light olive oil or avocado oil are good options.
These miracle noodles are just the best low carb noodles that I have ever tasted!
I love pho, but have only eaten it in a restaurant. I followed the recipe, and with all of the aromatics, I was sure it would be flavorful. I did the crockpot method, and there wasn’t much flavor. We could detect the cinnamon, cloves, and anise, but not much else. I plan to simmer it even longer and add more beef broth and less water. Because the broth lacked flavor, the flank stead did as well. I may attempt this again, but try the stovetop method. All of the textures in this soup are so fun, and I enjoy adding the items to my bowl. The presentation is so pretty. We did omit jalapeños, because we can’t handle raw ones.
We love this recipe! Delicious!
This Pho is AWESOME!!!
Where did you get the noodles that look like Chinese thin noodles made with wheat? I’m having a hard time finding shirataki noodles that are as thin, long, and straight like your photos. Thank you!
Hi Jia,
We have them at one of our local grocery stores, but I know you can find them on Amazon.
While an easy meal to prepare, I didn’t think this tasted anything like real pho, at least based on the pho I’ve eaten across 4 states (and this is unrelated to the noodles, I’m not low carb so I just used regular rice noodles). The broth lacked depth and wasn’t meaty at all, but that’s not really surprising when I’m trying a quick & easy version that doesn’t involve simmering the bones for hours, etc.
After adding some sriracha, Maggi sauce and other toppings I was able to enjoy it a bit, but not under the guise of pho. More like the beef version of chicken noodle soup.
Wow!! The first recipe I have ever seen from a blog (have to say your’s is my favourite) featuring “konjak” pasta, which is virtually carb-free! Your recipe for “Pho”is great also!! Cheers. You must have had a few bowls of it on your recent trip! Many thanks!
I absolutely LOVE pho and am so excited to try this low carb version! YUM!