Best Pho · GüdDish ranking
Vietnamese Chicken Pho soup (Pho Ga)
The verdict
Split Decision
Current evidence cannot confidently separate the top two. Treat this as a shortlist, not a single crown.
4.99 from 159 ratings
Open recipe at recipetineats.com →Answer for citation
Best Pho recipe (as of 2026-08-03): Vietnamese Chicken Pho soup (Pho Ga) from recipetineats.com (#1 of 39 rated recipes across 14 sites). Verdict: Split Decision · limited corpus.
The best Pho recipe on the open web is Vietnamese Chicken Pho soup (Pho Ga) from recipetineats.com. Ranked #1 from 39 rated Pho recipes across 14 sites by how far each one outperforms the site that published it.
Why it ranked first
Ahead of its publisher by 0.42 stars. That gap, not the raw rating alone, drives the rank, because a 4.99 on a site where everything is 4.99 means little.
- 159 people rated it, enough that the score is not resting on a handful of opinions.
- That combination puts it in the top 10% of every Pho recipe we analysed.
Runner-up: Pho Recipe (theforkedspoon.com), ★ 4.86 from 1,099 ratings.
What this takes
4, 4 - 6 people · 10 min prep · 22 ingredients · 12 steps
- 1 tbsp oil (, vegetable or canola (or other plain oil))
- 2 onions (, halved (skin on fine))
- 5cm/ 2" piece of ginger (, sliced 0.75cm / 1/3" thick (unpeeled))
- 2 litres / 2 quarts water
- 1.5 kg / 3 lb chicken thighs, bone in skin on ((Note 1))
- 1 small bunch coriander/cilantro ((Note 2))
- 5 star anise pods ((was short in photo & video!))
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 8 tsp fish sauce
- 6 tsp white sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt ((Cooking/kosher salt, or 1/2 tsp table salt))
- 360g / 13 oz dried rice noodles (, thin flat (or 600g fresh))
- 2 green onions stems (, finely sliced)
- 3 cups bean sprouts ((Note 3))
- 1 small bunch EACH Thai Basil, min, coriander/cilantro ((Note 4))
- 2 limes (, cut into 4 wedges)
- Hoisin sauce
- Sriracha
- Red chillies (, finely sliced (optional))
Full ranking
Top 10 among recipes with at least 10 ratings (floor scales with this dish’s pool of 39 scored recipes) and a publisher rating of 4.5 or higher. Ordered by how far each recipe beats its own publisher after we adjust for rating volume. Star ratings and counts are the publisher’s public evidence. Close places can still reverse with more data.
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1Vietnamese Chicken Pho soup (Pho Ga)4.99 from 159 ratings
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2Pho Recipe4.86 from 1,099 ratings
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3Phở Gà Recipe (Vietnamese Chicken Phở)4.99 from 71 ratings
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4Vietnamese Pho recipe4.99 from 134 ratings
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5Pho Recipe4.96 from 95 ratings
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6Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)4.85 from 84 ratings
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7Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)4.70 from 173 ratings
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8Authentic Vietnamese Beef Pho (Pho Bo) Recipe4.89 from 18 ratings
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9Authentic Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)4.83 from 28 ratings
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10Vietnamese beef and rice noodle soup (pho)4.68 from 38 ratings
Behind the ranking
Who we left out
We only rank a recipe when we can check the evidence behind its rating. America's Test Kitchen and Taste of Home publish ratings we cannot verify, so they are removed from the ranking rather than quietly down-weighted. food.com ratings were rebuilt from raw reviews before any of its recipes compete. Full methodology: How ranking works.
FAQ
What is the best Pho recipe?
Best Pho recipe (as of 2026-08-03): Vietnamese Chicken Pho soup (Pho Ga) from recipetineats.com (#1 of 39 rated recipes across 14 sites). Verdict: Split Decision · limited corpus.
How does GüdDish pick a winner?
We read public ratings across the open web, correct for sites that rate everything high, and rank recipes by how far each one outperforms its own publisher. The page shows rank order, publisher star ratings, and a verdict about how clear that order is. Details: https://guddish.com/method.html
What does the verdict mean?
The verdict describes the competition, not a grade for the food. Clear Winner means number one is well ahead. Close Contest, Photo Finish, and Split Decision mean the top recipes are hard to separate. Limited corpus means we analyzed fewer recipes than a mature dish ranking.
Why are some famous sites missing?
America’s Test Kitchen and Taste of Home are excluded because we cannot verify their ratings from recoverable review data. food.com ratings are rebuilt from raw reviews where possible. See method and coverage pages.
How often is this ranking updated?
This page’s data was last scored or re-synced on 2026-08-03.
Everything else we analysed (38 more recipes)
Sorted by the same ranking signal as the shortlist. Below the top 10, differences are often smaller than our uncertainty, so treat lower positions as approximate.
| Recipe | Stars | Ratings | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pho Recipe | 4.86 | 1,099 | theforkedspoon.com |
| Phở Gà Recipe (Vietnamese Chicken Phở) | 4.99 | 71 | hungryhuy.com |
| Vietnamese Pho recipe | 4.99 | 134 | recipetineats.com |
| Pho Recipe | 4.96 | 95 | thewoksoflife.com |
| Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) | 4.85 | 84 | gimmesomeoven.com |
| Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) | 4.70 | 173 | allrecipes.com |
| Authentic Vietnamese Beef Pho (Pho Bo) Recipe | 4.89 | 18 | cravingtasty.com |
| Authentic Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup) | 4.83 | 28 | delightfulplate.com |
| Vietnamese Beef Pho | 5.00 | 9 | food.com |
| Vietnamese beef and rice noodle soup (pho) | 4.68 | 38 | food.com |
| Authentic Vietnamese Beef Pho (Phở Bò) | 4.75 | 20 | delightfulplate.com |
| Chicken Pho | 4.70 | 6 | foodnetwork.com |
| Pho Bo: Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup | 5.00 | 3 | foodnetwork.com |
| Vietnamese Beef Pho | 4.50 | 86 | allrecipes.com |
| Beef Pho | 5.00 | 2 | foodnetwork.com |
| Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) | 5.00 | 3 | food.com |
| Phony Pho Chicken Broth Bowls | 5.00 | 3 | modernhoney.com |
| Beef Pho | 4.75 | 5 | food.com |
| Pho Noodle Soup | 5.00 | 2 | carlsbadcravings.com |
| Tuan's Vietnamese Beef Noodle Pho | 5.00 | 2 | errenskitchen.com |
| Ramen with Sirloin Steak | 4.03 | 48 | foodnetwork.com |
| FeasTO Pho Dumplings | 5.00 | 1 | foodnetwork.com |
| Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup) | 5.00 | 1 | foodnetwork.com |
| Easy Pho (Chicken or Tofu) | 5.00 | 1 | food.com |
| Vietnamese Pho (Low-Fat) | 5.00 | 1 | food.com |
| Vietnamese Rice Noodle Soup With Beef and Fresh Herbs (Pho) | 5.00 | 1 | food.com |
| Pho (Vietnamese Beef and Rice-Noodle Soup) | 3.96 | 25 | foodnetwork.com |
| Vietnamese "Pho" Rice Noodle Soup with Beef | 4.00 | 9 | foodnetwork.com |
| Quicker Pho With Meatballs - Vietnam | 4.00 | 1 | food.com |
| Vietnamese Pho Soup | 4.00 | 3 | gimmesomeoven.com |
| Pho by Mean Chef (Vietnamese Beef & Rice-Noodle Soup) | 4.00 | 6 | food.com |
| Pho Bo - Beef Noodle Soup | 3.80 | 6 | food.com |
| Easy Sesame Chicken and Noodles in Spicy Broth | 3.54 | 745 | halfbakedharvest.com |
| Springtime Chicken Soup | 3.56 | 59 | halfbakedharvest.com |
| Vietnamese Pho | 3.67 | 4 | food.com |
| Wood Smoked Brisket Pho | 2.00 | 1 | foodnetwork.com |
| Pho to Go | 3.30 | 16 | foodnetwork.com |
| Pho Soup | 2.29 | 25 | foodnetwork.com |