Cheater Pho (Asian Noodle Soup)
With this simplified version, you can have homemade pho on your table in 30 min or less. It doesn’t get any easier!
Pho is a super popular Vietnamese noodle dish. It’s also one of those amazing hangover foods that comes in particularly handy during your college days.
But pho typically takes hours and hours of simmering, which is simply too long for those busy weeknights. Now with this cheater version here, you’ll still have homemade pho, made from scratch of course, in 30 min or less.
And if rice noodles are difficult to find in your area, feel free to substitute any other kind of noodles here to your liking – ramen, udon, angel hair pasta, etc.
Quick dinners are meant to be exactly that. Quick and easy, not leaving you with crazy ingredients that you can’t find at your local grocery store.
So there you have it – this cheater pho is quick, comforting and just so darn easy.
Cheater Pho (Asian Noodle Soup)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dried rice noodles
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoons fish sauce
For the garnishes
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
- 2 limes, halved
Instructions
- In a large pot of water, cook rice noodles according to package instructions; drain well and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the stockpot. Add garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in chicken stock, hoisin sauce and fish sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately with rice noodles and chicken, garnished with onion, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, jalapeno and limes, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Since I found this recipe, we eat it at least once a week, it’s amazing! What’s even more amazing is that we’ve actually found a recipe we both love so much that we can eat it once or twice a week. I add siracha to the broth, and use soya sauce instead of fish sauce. Use the real ginger root people! Ginger powder just is not the same for this recipe. It’s also very versatile. Our favourite way is made just like this with bok choy. Another really good way was a beef and broccoli version. Steak strips, beef broth, and broccoli, yum!
How is this over 600 calories per serving? I can’t seem to figure it out?
I entered the recipe into My Fitness Pal, and came up with 380 calories per serving. The chicken stock seemed to be the ingredient that varied the most, depending on the brand, but I can’t imagine that it would DOUBLE the calories!
I just had pho for the first time last month and have been craving it ever since. I can’t wait to try this!
I made this last night — it was good for a quick “cheater” version of Pho but not NEARLY as delicious as real Pho. Something was definitely missing in the flavor. It left me disappointed and wanting real Pho — but it wasn’t terrible. I didn’t like the chicken thighs (grossed me out) – next time I would use white meat or thin cuts of beef.
What cut of beef could I use if I can’t find Shabu Shabu?
Hi Tracie. The recipe actually calls for 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Oh my Goodness this looks amazing – such great flavors and recipe:)
I’ve made this soup multiple times over the past year. It is so easy to make and so very flavorful! We recently started making it with shrimp and it is defiantly a household favorite. Thank you for the recipe!
Excellent, excellent, excellent! Just made this and it is incredible. Easy and delicious. So ‘clean’ tasting. Will be making again and again. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
What causes the high sodium
Most likely the chicken stock. You could use a low sodium option to lower it.
Love this recipe! Very simple and tastes great! I tried this with homemade beef bone broth and added a nice flavor overall! Looking forward to checking out more recipes on this blog 🙂
I just made this for a few people who don’t eat anything out of their normal suburban American diet as an attempt to expand their horizons. It was easy to cook, and prepare, and tasted wonderful. Even my bland family really enjoyed this recipe with little adjustment (couldn’t find bean sprouts). I highly recommend this.
This was easy and delicious. I sautéed using sesame oil and added lemongrass. Otherwise I followed the recipe. Yummy!
This Pho was absolutely damn delicious!!! My family loved it. I will be adding this to our family menu rotation. Thanks!!!
Hello! this sounds amazing but i’m wondering, is the 626 calories per serving or is it for all 4 servings?
The nutritional information is for each serving.
What brand and thickness of rice noodles do you use?
I use Dynasty Maifun Rice Sticks. It is available at Target.
That can’t be the correct nutritional content per serving??
Yes, it is.
This was delish!!! I added about a tablespoon of Thai spices, three star anises, and a little hot chili sauce with a combo of chicken and beef stock. My husband is on a low carb diet so we substituted shiraka noodles in place of the rice noodles! Thanks for such a quick and easy pho! We’ve made this multiple times now, so glad I pined this one!!!
This was ridiculously good! My husband hates soup (and I made it anyways!) – and he loved it! So much so that he said declared it the best ever first time recipe and suggested that we add it to our regular rotation. The only changes we made were: no garlic, no fish sauce and we did a combo of beef stock (4c) + low sod chicken stock (2c). It was sooo good!
Can you add bokchoy?
Yes!
I made this last night and was really impressed. I couldn’t get enough.
I made a couple of adjustment to my own liking- I used chicken breast instead of thighs; I also used green onion instead of regular onion and didn’t add the fish sauce.
It was very tasty, and my husband said it tasted just like the restaurants. I will definitely be making this again, especially since it takes so little time to prepare.
I love this recipe!
not a bad cheat recipe but definitely DO NOT do number one first. Wait until the literal last minute when everything is ready before you make the noodles…they only need about 20-30 seconds in boiling water or they will become mushy and will certainly be mushy and stuck to one another if cooked before taking the rest of the steps.
I completely agree! I made the noodles last, so that it was a quick transition from boiling water to the serving bowl.