Easy Vietnamese Beef Pho (Noodle Soup)
This Vietnamese Beef Pho (Noodle Soup) recipe is filled with delicious tender beef from the short ribs and tasty broth. This dish is made in an Instant Pot without the long hours of simmering. All you have to do is grill all the aromatics in the pot, and then add all the ingredients and press the button for delicious beef pho!
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 309kcal
Ingredients
- 10 cups water
- handful dried shrimp
- 3 (~600 grams) short ribs (bone-in)
- 3 (~600 grams) beef ribs
- 1 onion
- 1 shallot
- 4 inch ginger
- 12 cloves garlic
- 6 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon fennel
- 3 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1.5 teaspoon rock sugar (5 small pieces) or white sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon MSG (optional but recommended)
Garnish (all optional but recommended)
- thai basil
- sliced jalapenos
- sliced onions
- bean sprouts
- lime
- fresh pho noodles
- sliced rib eye or beef
Instructions
- Add 10 cups water, beef ribs, and beef short ribs so they submerge in the water. Set Instant Pot to ‘Saute’ on Custom Setting on High Temperature. Let it boil for 15 minutes to get all the impurities out.
- While the beef is boiling, chop your aromatics such as onion, garlic, and shallot and cut them in smaller pieces.
- After 15 minutes of boiling, you will see that the water has become grey, and the impurities have risen to the top. Pour out the water and rinse the beef ribs until they look clean and there's no blood stuck to the beef. Set aside. Wash you Instapot so it's extra clean too and wipe it dry.
- Next, grill all aromatics and spices: onion, shallot, 4 inch ginger, 12 cloves of garlic or 1 bulb, 6 star anise, small cinnamon stick, coriander, and fennel. Grill until golden brown, it should take 5 or so minutes.
- Then, add all the beef, dried shrimp and 10 cups water. Add your seasonings: 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1.5 teaspoon rock sugar (5 small pieces) or white sugar, 1.5 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon msg (optional but recommended). Turn settings to pressure cook on low for 45 minutes (custom setting). Press start button.
- Once your beef pho is done, start making your rice noodles. Soak them in boiling water for 5 minutes and strain. Set noodles aside. This ensures that your noodles stay al dente and not too mushy versus putting the noodles in the pot while cooking the broth.
- Your soup is ready! Open the pot and take out all the onions, garlic, corriander, fennel and spice bag. Spoon out the oil at the top of soup, it’s a lot of it! Set the oil aside and put in the refrigerator as the oil will solidify and you can eat your leftover broth.
- Boil your broth by setting it on ‘high’ on the saute function. To assemble your bowl, add your noodles at the bottom of your bowl. Add some sliced rib eye and beef balls. Then, add your boiling beef broth on top. Garnish with bean sprouts, cilantro, onions, sliced jalapenos and squeeze of fresh lime.
Notes
Expert Tips
- Rinsing the Beef: Make sure you boil the beef bones first! Then, you need to properly rinse the beef so there's no beef blood or bone shards in your soup. Clean and clear broth is key to a good pho broth!
- Grilling Aromatics: Don’t skip grilling the aromatics and spices—it adds a depth of flavor to the broth that makes a big difference.
- Boiling the Broth: Make sure the broth is boiling before ladling it over raw sliced beef to cook it instantly in your bowl.
- Skim the oil at the top of pot after boiling your broth! There's a lot of oil after cooking the bones and short ribs. If you don't you will feel that your noodle soup will taste greasy!
Nutrition
Calories: 309kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 2065mg | Potassium: 740mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 12IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 4mg