Vietnam
Phở Bò Viên Recipe: Beef Ball Pho

Phở Bò Viên Recipe: Beef Ball Pho

Hanna Tran Hanna Tran | Updated October 16, 2026

Phở bò viên combines pho noodles with beef balls, which gives you one more choice on the pho menu. Besides traditional pho, many people now like pho sate: the sweetness of the broth with the heat of chili sate and the beef balls, a good match for winter weather. You can find all the ingredients at Vietnamese markets.

Phở Bò Viên Recipe: Beef Ball Pho

Ingredients

For the broth

  • 1 kg beef tube bones
  • ½ onion
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons chili sate
  • Some yellow rock sugar
  • Salt, seasonings, anise flowers, cinnamon sticks, cardamom

For the bowls

  • Beef balls
  • 1 piece of soft beef
  • Pho noodles
  • Barbed cilantro, basil, bean sprouts
  • Chili sauce and black sauce
Cinnamon, anise flowers, cardamom and onion for the broth

How to make phở bò viên

1. Prepare the onion, beef balls and beef

Peel and wash the onion, then grill it on a charcoal fire or in the oven.

Slice the beef balls in half.

Beef balls on a plate

Chili and black sauce: ladle the pho into the bowl. Wash the beef and slice it to suit your taste.

2. Prepare the sate and greens

Ladle the chili sate into a bowl and use a spoon to mix all the ingredients.

Clean the barbed cilantro, bean sprouts and herbs, and put them in a basket to drain.

3. Start the broth

Wash the bones, rub them with salt and vinegar, and dip them once in boiling water. Then boil them. Drop the onion, anise flowers, cinnamon sticks and cardamom into the broth, then add a few lumps of yellow rock sugar to make the broth sweet.

Bones, onion and anise flowers in the stockpot

4. Add the sate and the beef balls

Simmer the bones for 30 minutes, then add the sate to the pot one spoonful at a time.

Boil until the bones are soft. Drop in the beef balls, wait for the broth to come back to the boil, and taste it again, adjusting it to your taste.

5. Assemble the bowls

Dip the pho noodles, then put them in the bowl. Dip the beef into the broth and lay the meat on the noodles. Pour over the broth with some of the sliced beef balls.

Serve hot with chili sauce, black sauce, the greens, bean sprouts and chopped green onion.

A finished bowl of pho with beef, beef balls and basil
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