The decision to become a vegetarian is a big one, but you may ease into it with the help of these tasty vegetarian meals from Vietnam.
Vegetarianism in Vietnam is a way of life, and these vegetarian dishes will show you that you can live your values and yet eat wonderful food. So, without further ado, here is the most complete list of mouthwatering vegetarian dishes from Vietnam.
1. Cà Ri Chay (Vegetarian Vietnamese Curry)
My mother makes the best Cà Ri Chay, a Vegetarian Vietnamese Curry, and it is SO rich and creamy that it is almost made for dipping bread into it. Slow cooking in a fragrant pot of herbs and spices renders the veggies fork-tender.
2. Vegetarian Banh Cuon
The goal of this site is to share vegetarian alternatives to traditional Vietnamese dishes. Many of my friends have switched to a vegan or vegetarian diet in the past few years, and I’ve found that many of my old favorites are now off-limits.
My biggest satisfaction as a home cook is providing delicious meals for my loved ones, but when I realized that they couldn’t eat much of what I prepared, I was motivated to change that. This is the first of many Vietnamese vegetarian dishes to come. My vegetarian banh cuon recipe is as follows.
3. Vietnamese tofu
It is customary to fry the tofu for this Vietnamese-inspired meal before adding it to the flavorful sauce, but if you are oil-averse like I am, roasting the tofu in the oven is a great alternative. Since the tofu will be served in the sauce, I figure you won’t miss out too much on the crispy texture because the meal will be healthier overall.
However, I did fry it for the photos because, frankly, fried food looks nicer in pictures and that is always a factor when photographing food.
4. Crispy Vietnamese Crêpes – Bánh Xèo (Vegan)
Vegan Vietnamese crepes loaded with herbs and veggies are a tasty and nutritious alternative for those who enjoy Asian cuisine. They may be made without the use of animal products and are simple to prepare.
To keep things vegan-friendly, I went for a vibrant mix of shredded carrots, mushrooms, sprouts, and fresh herbs.
Choose fillings that don’t take forever to prepare and won’t produce a huge mess after they’re heated up. To prepare the mushrooms for the crepe filling, I browned them in a skillet.
The remaining vegetables I picked cooked in no time at all, so I just sprinkled them on top of the crepe before rolling it up.
5. Vietnamese Lemongrass Chili Tofu (Dau Hu Chien Sa Ot)
Vegans and vegetarians alike rave about the Southern Vietnamese delicacy Dau Hu Chien Sa Ot, or Vietnamese Lemongrass Chili Tofu. Before being fried to a golden, crispy, and aromatic state, tofu is marinated in a mixture of minced lemongrass and bird’s eye chile.
6. Vegetarian Vietnamese curry soup
This soup has a lot of flavor yet is surprisingly simple to make. In less than an hour, you may have it ready to eat, and you need just one big stockpot to do it. After the onions, garlic, and ginger have been simmered down and softened, curry powder and grated lemon zest are added for flavor.
Vegetable broth and unsweetened coconut milk complement the hearty vegetables (green peppers, carrots, cremini mushrooms, and red potatoes) that make up the bulk of this soup. Add a splash of color and brightness to the final product by garnishing with fresh cilantro just before serving.
7. Fresh And Easy Vietnamese Noodle Salad (Vegan Bún Chay)
Prepare this quick and easy vegan version of the traditional Vietnamese noodle salad, Ban Chay, in only 30 minutes.
While “bun chay” is the most common name for this meal in the area, I’ve also heard it referred to as “Vietnamese rice noodle salad,” “Vietnamese vermicelli noodle salad,” “Vietnamese bun recipe,” “bun Vietnamese salad,” and “Vietnamese noodle salad,” among other titles.
8. Vegetarian Pho
Strips of beef are used in the traditional preparation of pho, and fish sauce is used to season the soup. I made mine vegetarian by subbing shiitake mushrooms for the meat and using tamari (or soy sauce) in place of the fish sauce.
About two years ago, I experimented with a vegetarian version of pho that, thanks to the use of vegetable broth and the omission of meat, was practically fat-free. As a result, there wasn’t enough substance to it and the flavor was flat. So that the mushrooms would have more taste and texture in this variation, I sautéed them in oil. Success!
To further highlight the subtle flavors of the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and ginger, I used a blend of vegetable broth and water. Therefore, you may wish to add extra salt again later on in the cooking process. (I used a rather orangey broth for the images, but yours will be clearer in color and flavor.)
9. Bi Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Shredded Pork)
Vegetarians can enjoy bi chay, a Vietnamese meal that takes inspiration from the traditional preparation of shredded hog flesh and skin. Tofu, jicama, carrots, sweet potatoes, mung bean noodles, and toasted rice powder go into this vegetarian main meal. It’s a staple that can be used to spice up a wide range of Vietnamese vegetarian dishes, from bi chay spring rolls and banh mi sandwiches to rice noodle bowls (bun bi chay) and more.
10. Bún Riêu Chay (Vegetarian Tomato Noodle Soup)
Light and aromatic, with the most delicious tangy flavor, this Bn Riêu Chay is a vegetarian noodle soup. The fruit and vegetables used to sweeten the stock are stunning, and the dish is topped off with tomato-infused garnishes and a silky tofu mixture. It’s the kind of meal that makes you feel all fuzzy inside.
11. Chả Giò Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Spring Rolls)
Vietnamese Vegetarian Spring Rolls, or Ch Gi Chay, are deep-fried till golden brown and served with a vegan “fish” sauce.
Wrapped in a leaf of lettuce with some rice noodles, fresh herbs, and pickled radish and carrots ( Chua), this is a popular street food in Thailand.
12. Nước Chấm Chay – Vegan Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
This sauce is a staple in Vietnam and goes with a wide variety of foods. This vegan nc chm chay has the perfect harmony of sweet, salty, fermented, and acidic flavors.
My family also enjoyed dipping with a mixture of basic fish sauce (nc mm) and diced jalapeño peppers. In addition to the rest of the meal, this was used to dip fish, shellfish, or blanched meats. Unlike nc chm chay, it is not designed to be used as a finishing sauce.
13. Cabbage And Glass Noodle Stir-fry
The cabbage stir-fry with glass noodles and scrambled eggs that is shown here is not only simple but also affordable and satiating. In addition to that, it is suitable for vegetarians! It is substantial enough to serve as the primary course for one or two people, and it is also delicious when served as a side dish as part of a more extensive meal.
14. Vegan Bánh Tráng Nướng (Vietnamese Grilled Rice Paper)
This traditional Vietnamese delicacy is commonly referred to as Vietnamese pizza. It is made with a rice paper sheet that has been grilled until it is crispy, then topped with vegan egg, sausage, corn, and a generous amount of green onions. After that, a substantial amount of mayonnaise and sweet chili sauce is poured over it!
15. Chè Thái Recipe (Vietnamese Fruit Cocktail)
Sounds energizing, doesn’t it? Just imagine a scoop of delicious lychee bits, jackfruit slices, chewy jellies, and icy cold coconut milk. Chè Thái is more than a simple fruit salad or soup; it’s a treat that leaves you wanting more.
This sweet is so easy to whip together since it calls for canned tropical fruit, which is always on hand and can be altered to suit your tastes.
More Recipes:
16. Bánh cuốn chay – Vietnamese Vegetarian Steamed Rice Rolls
This meal can be referred to as either bánh cun or bánh t, depending on where in Vietnam you hail from. Bánh cun means “folded cakes/noodles” in English, whereas bánh t means “wet cakes/noodles” in Vietnamese. Even though our version is cooked covered in an oiled pan, I believe the English term for them is Vietnamese steamed rice buns.
For as long as I can remember, whenever I thought of bánh t, I saw it being steamed, not pan-fried, and usually consisting of extremely thin sheets of rice noodle. Both come topped with ch l a, or Vietnamese sausage, as well as cucumber, herbs, and fish sauce. However, bánh cun is often packed.
17. Vietnamese Lime Iced Tea
Vietnamese Lime Iced Tea, also known as Tra Chanh Hanoi, is a popular beverage among Hanoi’s youth. This traditional Vietnamese cocktail may be prepared with only a few simple ingredients.
I find that this recipe yields the best results when made at home. Edit it as you see fit. You can make this refreshing drink with just five simple pantry staples: tea bags, water, limes, honey, ice.
Using loose leaf tea will yield better flavor. Even though tea bags are more convenient, loose leaf tea is always better.
18. Peanut Sticky Rice
Glutinous rice and peanuts make for a healthy and flavorful combination in this easy recipe for Peanut Sticky Rice (Xoi Dau Phong). It’s a great mix of starchy and mealy with a hint of sweet and salty, and it’s topped with a crunchy peanut sesame coating. Peanut Sticky Rice may be eaten as a delicious hot breakfast or as a satisfying snack at any time of the day.
This is a simple meal that requires little effort. The use of a rice cooker makes this dish incredibly simple to prepare. On Sundays, I like to prepare a big pot of Peanut Sticky Rice (when I do most of the meal prep for the week). Then I measure it all out into individual servings and store it in the fridge. I’m set for the week’s worth of morning meals. Simple as pie!
19. Vietnamese Papaya Salad
This salad can be ready in about 10 minutes and requires no baking or cooking. The salad is prepared by chopping the veggies and mixing in the dressing.
Instead of the less sweet and more difficult to come by green papaya, I opted for the more widely available and more aromatic orange kind. Pairs wonderfully with the zesty lime dressing that adds an extra layer of crispness. Herbs such as mint and cilantro are used for added taste.
20. Vietnamese Carrot and Radish Pickles
Growing up, I always found that the Vietnamese carrot daikon pickles my family made were a bit on the salty side rather than the sweet. The food from my father’s home region of Northern Vietnam is less bold, less spicy, and less sweet than the food from the South, where he was raised.
Dad would often tell Mom, “not to add too much sugar” when he saw her pickling enormous jars of veggies for the women who worked in her nail salon, most of whom grew up in the sweet South and were accustomed to its distinctive cuisine.
My family recipe for Vietnamese carrot daikon pickles has undergone several iterations as I’ve sought the optimal nutritional balance for my own eating habits and preferences. While I’ve always like the tangy, salty brine of pickles, I’ve recently come to appreciate the somewhat sweet balance that’s often achieved. The recipe’s tastes are a combination of the two.
21. Lemongrass Chili Mushrooms
As a child, I didn’t learn much about vegetarian Vietnamese Buddhist food because my family is Catholic. Fish sauce was used frequently to add flavor and umami to the many vegetarian options on the menu (dam da, in Vietnamese). Not even Cameron Stauch’s Vegetarian Viet Nam has recipes that are exclusively vegetarian, like this lemongrass chile mushroom stir-fry.
22. Vietnamese Scallion and oil Sauce
The scallion and oil combination is a common topping for Vietnamese dishes. Bn ch gi (egg rolls with noodles), tht nng (grilled pork), bánh hi, sn nng (pork chops), bánh bèo, cm tm b, and many more recipes include it as an ingredient or topping. It pairs splendidly with grilled meats or Asian cuisine made with rice or noodles.
- Prepare scallions by cleaning them and slicing them very thinly.
- Oil should be heated over a medium flame. After 30 seconds, drop an unbroken egg to see if the temperature is safe. It’s done when it starts to sizzle.
- After slicing the scallions, add them to the skillet and toss them about for approximately 30 seconds, or until they soften.
23. Bubble Tea
During the hot summer months, bubble tea is a refreshing beverage option. Bubble tea (/) is a Taiwanese specialty consisting of sweetened milk tea with chewy tapioca balls (/boba/) suspended in the drink. Black and jasmine tea, as well as fruit tastes like strawberry and honeydew, and even taro, a root vegetable frequently used in Asian cooking, can be found in bubble tea.
24. Instant Pot Vegan Pho
- Char the daikon radishes, onions, cabbage wedges, and halves of ginger in a dry pan or over an open heat. Put aside for the moment.
Brown some mushrooms in some olive oil right in the same pan.
Add 2 liters of water and the charred ingredients/mushrooms to the Instant Pot. Make sure everything is immersed by pressing down, and don’t go over the maximum fill line or the pressure cooker won’t come to pressure. - Pressure Soup takes 15 minutes to cook on “Sealing” vent. After it’s done cooking, you may either let the pressure out naturally or by opening a valve (be careful as there will be a lot of steam with this amount of liquid).
- You may take out the mushrooms but not the cabbage, onion, ginger, or daikon. Steep the star anise, coriander seed, cardamom, cassia bark (or cinnamon), and cloves in a nut bag or fine mesh strainer for 10 minutes.
- Add 3.5 tablespoons of mushroom broth powder, then top with your preferred pho toppings.
25. Vietnamese Sticky Rice With Hand-cut Mung Bean (Xoi Xeo)
The golden, sticky rice in Xoi Xeo, a traditional Vietnamese dish, is soft and chewy, while the mung beans and fried shallots are both nutritious and delicious. Many people in Hano enjoy this traditional breakfast.
26. Vietnamese Coffee
Vietnamese coffee struck me with its way of brewing and serving as much as its rich flavor, sweetness, and suitability for a cold day. On the table, the coffee was served in a tiny, transparent, thick glass with a layer of condensed milk at the bottom and a stainless steel Phin Vietnamese filter on top.
Dripping coffee had already begun to mingle with the sweetened condensed milk in the glass. Philip, who wanted Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sua dá), received a similar arrangement, plus an additional glass full of ice.
After the coffee had finished spilling, we mixed in the sweetened condensed milk by stirring. As for me, I could eat mine right away. Philip poured his brew over the ice in the glass, and it was ready to drink.
27. Vietnamese Three Color Dessert
This simple recipe for Three Color Treat (Che Ba Mau) is a refreshing dessert that evokes the tastes of summer. This meal, which goes by the name “Rainbow Dessert,” is as visually stunning as it is delicious. Indulging in this cold, sugary delicacy is the pinnacle of summertime pleasure.
To get just the right amount of sweetness, I like to make this dish at home. When I get Three Color Dessert at cafes or banh mi/sandwich places, it’s often very sugary. If you create it yourself at home, you may customize it to your tastes. Enjoy!
28. Banana Tapioca
Che refers to a class of sweets popular in Vietnam. As in pudding and sweet soups.
Over a hundred distinct varieties of che may be prepared with minimal effort in the kitchen. Making Che just only for a saucepan, stovetop, and strainer.
Luckily, most of the ingredients for che may be stored indefinitely (such tapioca pearls and coconut milk) in your kitchen pantry. Other than that, just use some fruit.
29. Vietnamese Avocado Shake
method for making a Vietnamese avocado shake according to the old school methods. Each dish of this Sinh t b’ has half a cup of condensed milk, making it very sweet. It’s not mandatory to use this much; I just felt it to be the sweet spot. This is more like a milkshake than a smoothie, and if you want to go all out on the decadence, you can add some coffee and chocolate syrup to make it taste like an Indonesian avocado smoothie. Try different things until you discover the one you like most.
30. Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
To make Vietnamese iced coffee, brewed dark roast coffee is poured over ice and sweetened condensed milk, a popular beverage in Vietnam. Author Andrea Nguyen turns this traditional drink into a creamy ice cream in her best-selling cookbook, Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors.
To your relief, an electric hand mixer will suffice in place of an ice cream maker. After a few hours in the freezer, you’ll have a rich, velvety, coffee-flavored frozen dessert that’s easy to make thanks to the addition of whipped cream.