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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Amazing taste for 30 minutes effort! Love it!
Made this tonight because I have a cold and was craving pho. This recipe was perfect! So easy to make, even in my weakend state. Hubby loved it too! Definitely hit the spot and we will be adding this recipe to our regular repertoire! Thank you!!
Hi Chungah,
I have very thinly sliced beef strips and would like to make beef pho. Do you think this recipe would work with beef?
Yes, absolutely.
This was excellent. Thanks!
This looks delicious! I am a new subscriber and really don’t know which recipe to try first! They all look good! Thanks so much for having recipes that actually call for ingredients you have on hand!
This looks so good! I am pinning this — have to make some soon! 🙂
I LOVE PHO and I love your recipes! I’m so thrilled you have a recipe for this and I can’t wait to try it!
Can’t wait to make this! Not a big fan of chicken thighs so I was going to use breasts – do you think that will change the flavor?
Not at all!
Thank you, Chungah! This has become a staple now in my house. So easy, so quick and so delicious. Great recipe.
Since a little after New Year I came with a resolution to cook 1 new dish every week (or Sunday really) to be organized, eat different things and to save money by buying all my shopping at once.
I cooked this one twice now! I absolutely love it! Such a great dish.. and super quick to make.
Cooked one chicken version and one beef version.
Thank you!
So simple to make and I had all the ingredients on hand. My family loved this pho recipe! My 3 year old daughter kept asking for more broth, it was so good.
I used beef broth instead, it was better than our favorite Pho takeout! Any nutritional info available?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
DELICIOUS! Thank you for this recipe, so easy I could make it while sick and have my favorite sick food!
This was really, really good. I couldn’t find hoisin sauce for a reasonable price (I’m in Japan – things are hit or miss), so I used sweet bean sauce and added star anise and cinnamon, and it was wonderful! Also, learned a tip about pho noodles (my pack had no instructions) and soaked them in cold water for about 20 minute, then boiled just a few minutes until done, drained them and dunked the colander into cold water. From there, added the broth, etc. Anyway, my nearest restaurant serving pho is too far and too expensive to get to regularly, so I’ll definitely be making this quick and delicious recipe when I have a craving.
I’ve made this twice in the past week! It is so super easy and tasty I honestly have cravings. I used chicken tenderloins sliced thin the second time & it tasted great that way also. It tastes just as good leftover!
This is a great recipe. I make it twice a week and it never fails. Thanks
Made this soup last night. I cheated and used rotisserie chicken. I thought I would mess this up but this soup was so good! It’s definitely going on the regular rotation. Thank you for this recipe.
Made it for lunch today and only made one cheating change: rotisserie chicken! Delicious! I used chicken broth. Now if you could just teach me how to make lemongrass chicken like my favorite Vietnamese place…
Thanks for being my go-to stop for recipes and inspiration. Keep going!
I could eat Pho everyday. Even my son loves it, and he’s the pickiest eater. I’ve never made it at home though. Your recipe sounds easy too. Looking forward to finally making it at home. Wish me luck! 🙂
I don’t have any allergies, but fish sauce doesn’t agree with me at all. Any substitutes ? No other asian product bothers ( hoisin, soy sauce, curry paste, thai peppers LOL ).
You can try to omit the fish sauce as needed.
OMG! I made the Pho last night and it was awesome! My husband loved it and could eat as much as he wanted (2 huge bowls). I used beef broth, beef boullion, and shabu shabu (suggested by another reader). Will be making the Pho again. I love your recipes!