One-Pot Pho-Style Beef Meatball Soup
with Veggie Noodles & Spiced Broth
- Fish
- Soy
- Wheat
To paraphrase Anthony Bourdain, a good bowl of pho will always make us happy. This iconic Vietnamese noodle soup has a heady broth, deep with beef flavor and fragrant with aromatics, that comes from simmering all day. It’s what inspired our riff with silky ribbons of zucchini and carrots in place of traditional rice noodles. Our shortcut version comes together in minutes instead of hours. Big, tender meatballs cook right in the pot, adding more beefy goodness to the broth—scented with ginger and lemongrass. Finish with a bright squeeze of lime juice and some chili flakes for a big bowl that’s as delicious as it is life affirming.
Ingredients
18 milliliters
Ponzu Sauce
(Contains: Fish, Soy, Wheat)
6 ounce
Carrot
1 unit
Zucchini
3 unit
Pho Stock Concentrate
1 unit
Beef Stock Concentrate
10 ounce
Ground Beef
1 unit
Lime
¼ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
1 teaspoon
Chili Flakes
2 unit
Scallions
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
1 thumb
Ginger
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
¾ teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Trim ends from zucchini and carrot; peel carrot. Using a peeler, shave zucchini and carrot lengthwise into ribbons, rotating as you go, until you get to the seedy cores; discard cores. • In a medium bowl, toss veggie ribbons with one packet ponzu (two packets for 4 servings), salt, and pepper. Set aside to marinate, stirring occasionally. • Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens; finely chop whites. Peel and mince ginger until you have ½ tsp (1 tsp for 4). Quarter lime.
• In a second medium bowl, combine beef*, panko, garlic powder, half the scallion greens, remaining ponzu, one veggie pho stock concentrate, 3 TBSP water, ¾ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp salt, and pepper. (For 4 servings, use two veggie pho stock concentrates, 6 TBSP water, 1¼ tsp sugar, and ½ tsp salt.) • Form into 6 equal-size meatballs (12 meatballs for 4).
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until browned all over, 3-6 minutes (they’ll finish cooking in step 5). (For 4 servings, you may need to work in batches.) • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate. Wipe out any burnt bits in pot if needed.
• Return same pot to medium-high heat. (TIP: If pan seems dry, add a drizzle of oil.) Add ginger and scallion whites; cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. • Stir in 4 cups water (8 cups for 4 servings), beef stock concentrate, and remaining veggie pho stock concentrates; bring to a boil.
• Once broth begins to boil, add meatballs along with any juices from plate. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover. Cook until flavors meld, 8-10 minutes. • Taste and season generously with salt and pepper.
• Divide zucchini and carrot ribbons between bowls; top with meatballs and as much broth as you like. (You may have some broth left over— seconds!) Top with scallion greens, a big squeeze of lime juice, and chili flakes to taste. Serve with remaining lime wedges on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the rich, flavorful broth; some found it bland and added extra seasoning for depth 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Veggie ribbons were time-consuming; several suggested cutting vegetables smaller for easier eating.
- Suggestions: Consider adding rice noodles or quinoa for a heartier meal; try making smaller meatballs that hold together better.
- Portions: Some found it light for dinner; others had plenty for leftovers or added extra ingredients to bulk it up.
- Meatballs: Tender and tasty, though a few had trouble with them falling apart while cooking.
Reviews from our home cooks
We're wild about pho around here, and I've never been brave enough to try to make it at home. Y'all, this broth is as good as our favorite Vietnamese place. It has that same "been cooked for hours by a sweet old granny that's been doing this her whole life" kind of feel. The veggie noodles? I chose poorly, and prepared this after an exceptionally long day. Having to endlessly peel the zucchini and carrots with a peeler was a drag. A mandolin would have been a better choice. Despite that gripe, however, it was totally worth it. I will choose this meal again in a second.
I changed up a few things in the recipe, such as making the meatballs smaller, adding the chili flakes to the meatballs, and sauteeing the veggie ribbons with the ginger before adding beef broth. I also added ramen noodles, pho needs noodles. But the flavors were wonderful and I would recommend this meal. It also needed cilantro and possibly jalapenos.
Probably one of my favorite soup recipes we've gotten from HelloFresh! The veggie noodles were great, and the broth was so rich/full of flavor. Highly reccomend!
We love going out for Pho. This soup has a quality flavor profile & the meatballs were a good touch. We did miss the noodles that come with restaurant Pho.
Delicious! Added ramen noodles and added ginger to mealballs versus broth. Some of the beef went bad, so I opted for 4 large meatballs, not 12 little ones. Adding ramen helped make the dish more filling.
I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I was skeptical if i would like this. I love pho from the Asian restaurant so i gave it a try. It was pretty good. My only complaint was that i needed more panko. My meatballs fell apart. It probably was partly my fault because I didnt have the pan hot enough.
Very light however this recipe is missing some classic ingredients for pho such as star of anise and nutmeg. I think this could be better but it was a good start to build on.
Flavor was awesome. Love the veggies instead of noodles. I was a little worried about the cucumbers but after they were marinated and then in the broth, everything was delicious and hearty. Our only complaint was that this took over an hour to prepare and there were not enough breadcrumbs to hold the meatballs together.
I like the flavor, the meatballs didnt cook up well. My husband wasnt a fan of this dish. I added more spices to this as it was a bit bland as is. Needed more ginger and green onions, or thin sliced white onion would have been good. Decent base to start. Just should be a spicier dish, pho is generally a go-to food when feeling under the weather, and the spices are important. Again, we are used to more traditional made foods. It was ok for an americanized version. And luckily, i do have a cupboard full of spices. Limes i got were all good flavor, but really hard!
Loved the veggie noodles with this! Such a nice crunch to go with the meatballs. This one will be a favorite for sure
