Grilled Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli Bowl, or Bún Bò Xào, is everyone’s favourite Vietnamese noodle salad…at home! Perfectly marinated, then grilled Vietnamese beef is a delicious topping to fresh vegetables and vermicelli noodles.
Grilled Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli Bowl
While it may seem like there are a lot of ingredients in this dish, each component has a role to play in the overall flavour explosion.
Grilling the marinated meat is very quick while slicing the carrots may take just a bit longer. Once you have all the components ready to go, it’s very easy to assemble each bowl.
Vietnamese food is so fresh and delicious, from perfectly marinated Lemongrass Grilled Pork Chops to Fresh Shrimp Salad Rolls, I love it all!
Life is Busy, Eat Simple…Eat Well!
Life is busy. Cooking delicious meals and eating healthy when you’re busy is such a pain in the ass…it’s so easy to just hop in the car or pick up the phone to call for delivery.
I’ll be the first to admit that I find eating out and delivery services way too convenient.
I crave food from specific restaurants (like Grilled Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli) depending on the mood I’m in and there can sometimes be weeks where I don’t cook anything other than the basics to keep the boys going.
Too much of a ‘good thing’ though, and I find myself getting moody from not spending enough time in the kitchen. I’m in a serious love-hate relationship with cooking, especially during the summer.
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My Vietnamese Favourites
One of my go-to cravings is Vietnamese food and especially Vietnamese Grilled Beef. I LOVE fresh salad rolls with shrimp in them (so much I did a post on them HERE), hot and spicy noodle soups (Pho), Vietnamese Subs, and the vermicelli noodle bowls otherwise known as ‘Bun‘.
Other than perhaps being a little high in carbohydrates (that’s a lot of rice noodles!) and salt, I consider these bowls to be quite healthy, especially when they are chalk full of fresh veggies and herbs as well as lean protein.
What Goes Into a Bowl of Grilled Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli
While they look quite simple at first glance, there’s a little bit of prep involved in order for them to achieve maximum flavour.
I like to prep my ingredients ahead of time and buy my beef pre-sliced from a nearby Korean Market. It’s the kind that comes pre-sliced for hot pot but you can marinate it and use it in this dish.
Then, when it’s time to eat, it’s just a matter of assembling the fresh ingredients, adding the cooked noodles and grilled beef, and finishing the dish with fresh herbs and roasted peanuts.
Practice Those Knife Skills
Prepping ingredients for Bun is the perfect time to practice those knife skills! Pro tip: Buy the largest carrots you can find. You’ll need to ‘matchstick’ a lot of carrots to use in the dish and in the accompanying Nuoc Cham.
Begin by trimming chopping the carrot into 5 cm long pieces. Then trim each piece so that it has four straight edges like a lengthy square.
Next, thinly slice each piece into slices 2 mm thick. Gather up the slices and slice them again lengthwise at 2 cm intervals and you have matchstick carrots.
Once you start, you can’t stop. Make extra and keep them in the fridge (submerged in water) to add to all your salads.
Now for the Nuoc Cham
Now for the Nuoc Cham…this simple sauce is an essential component to Bun. Think of it as dressing to a salad because essentially, Bun Bo Xao is often treated like a salad and eaten cold.
My kids always add hoisin sauce to their bowls. However, we all view hot chili sauce as a necessary addition to Grilled Vietnamese Beef Bun. Add some fresh mint and cilantro, top with crushed peanuts and dinner is served!
If you make this Grilled Vietnamese Beef Bowl recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making! Thank you so much for reading my blog.
Grilled Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli Bowl
Everyone's favourite Vietnamese noodle salad...at home! Grilled marinated beef is a delicious topping to fresh vegetables and vermicelli noodles.
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef sirloin; thinly sliced
FOR THE MARINADE
- 2 garlic cloves; minced
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 red Thai Chili; finely minced
TO ASSEMBLE
- 1 large carrot; cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 cucumber; peeled, seeded, and cut into batons
- 4 cups mung bean sprouts; washed
- 4 cups shredded lettuce
- handful fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup crushed roasted peanuts
- handful fresh mint; chiffonade
- hoisin and hot sauce to taste
- 1 package thin vermicelli noodles; prepared as per package directions
FOR THE NUOC CHAM
- 2 cloves garlic; minced
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- handful of carrot matchsticks
Instructions
MARINATE THE BEEF
- In a medium bowl place minced garlic, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and minced red chili.
- Separate the beef slices and add to the marinade. Let sit for around an hour or so.
FOR THE NUOC CHAM
- Place garlic and sugar in a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup. Mash them together into a paste.
- Add fish sauce, boiling water, lime juice, vinegar, and matchstick carrots. Let sit.
ASSEMBLE THE BOWLS
- Arrange vegetables in the bottom of four large bowls.
- Top vegetables with prepared vermicelli noodles.
- Heat a lightly oiled barbecue wok (the kind with the holes in it) on high barbecue setting. Stir fry marinated beef in batches.
- Place cooked beef on top of vermicelli noodles and top with cilantro, mint, peanuts and Nuoc Cham. Add hoisin or hot sauce, if desired.
Notes
Buy your beef at a nearby Asian market or have a butcher slice it for you.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 547Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 4486mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 6gSugar: 27gProtein: 42g
Nutritional calculation was provided by Nutritionix and is an estimation only. For special diets or medical issues please use your preferred calculator.
[…] Grilled Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli Bowl […]
Just wanted to say thank you for this easy and tasty recipe. I’ve been craving this dish for months. Didn’t realize how quick and easy this could come together! Also made Beef Banh Mi with the same beef. My entire family loved it. Yummy 😋
Thanks Jo! Yes, once the meat is marinated and the components are prepped…it comes together quickly. Glad you enjoyed.
I miss our local Vietnamese restaurant during the pandemic. I’ve been craving their vermicelli bowl with the grilled beef and all the other tasty fixings that come with. I finally came across a recipe that sounded it could satisfy my craving.
I made your grilled beef recipe last night and was easy and delicious. I followed the recipe exactly. The only thing I would tweek would be the fish sauce in the Nuoc Cham. I would add half first, taste and adjust according to my taste buds.
This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Same here…I haven’t ordered Vietnamese the whole time and I’m definitely craving those flavours! Glad you enjoyed the recipe and that’s a good tip for the nuac cham and any kind of sauce as a general rule. Always taste and season according to your preferences.
Made this tonight and it was stellar. I made a peanut sauce to go on top. I will be making again and again.
Great to hear Leah. It is one of our favourites too. A little bit of prep but once you have everything handy, the dish comes together quickly.
I love Vietnamese food, but have only ordered in restaurants and haven’t made it at home. Thank you for all the tips…I’m going to give it a try!
Getting the meat pre sliced REALLY helps. It’s quick to marinate and once everything is prepped, the bowls are so easy to put together. Enjoy!
Gosh! Your Grilled Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli bowl certainly looks delicious and makes me want to gather ingredients to make it immediately, Bernice! I love Bun! You have made it easy for us to make this at home. I must admit that I have never thought to ask the butcher about slicing the beef for me – that is a great tip! Thanks so much for sharing.
Yes…kind of dangerous to be able to make it whenever you want it, isn’t it?!
This looks so fresh and filling but still healthy. Good job 🙂
Thank you, it really is!