Veggie Pho Noodle Soup | Backpacking Recipe
By Aaron Owens Mayhew, MS, RDN
Updated January 5, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links.
Have you ever looked back over several days of hiking and wondered if you’ve eaten a single vegetable? Bringing a few servings of this veggie pho noodle soup will completely solve that problem. Get all your veggies for the day in one cozy little package. Warming and delicious, this veggie pho noodle soup uses only grocery-friendly ingredients (no beef bones required). It’s a great choice for fall or winter hikes or for chilly summer evenings at high altitude.
Veggie Pho Noodle Soup to the rescue!
I don’t know about you, but there are certainly nights that I’m craving a healthy meal but am too tired to cook. This is when our veggie pho noodle soup recipe saves the day! Believe it or not, we eat this veggie pho noodle soup regularly for dinner at home. It’s tasty and quick enough to compete with whatever else happens to be in my fridge or pantry.
If you’re new to dehydrating foods for your own backpacking meals, this noodle soup recipe is a good place to start. We’ll walk you through dehydrating the tofu here and dehydrating green onions here. Not quite ready to purchase a dehydrator? Find quality dehydrated veggies from Mother Earth Products.
Veggie Pho Noodle Soup
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View Comments / Leave A ReviewNUTRITION (per serving)
INGREDIENTS
VEGETABLES
- 4 cup (284 g) broccoli, fresh florets, roughly 1 head of broccoli
- 2 cup (140 g) cabbage, fresh shredded, coleslaw mix works just fine
- 1 ½ cup (105 g) mushrooms, fresh white, sliced, approximately 8 oz container
- 1 small (70 g) onion, fresh yellow, thinly sliced
- 1 cup (57 g) carrots, fresh shredded, pre-shredded carrots in a bag work just fine
- ¾ cup (75 g) green onions, fresh, chopped, tops only
NOODLES
- 4 oz (112 g) rice noodles, thin
BROTH
- 4 tsp (16 g) bouillon powder
- 1 tsp (1.8 g) ginger, ground
- ½ tsp (0.3 g) cilantro, dried
- ¼ tsp (0.4 g) corriander, ground
- ⅛ tsp (0.3 g) cloves, ground
- 2 packets (12 mL) soy sauce, 1 packet = 1 tsp
- 4 packets (36 g) hoisin sauce
- ¼ tsp (1.6 g) sriracha
- 32 oz (960 mL) water
OPTIONAL
- 4 tsp (16 g) bouillon powder, sodium-free (substitution), reduced-sodium, heart-healthy option
- 7 oz (198 g) tofu, extra firm, dehydrated – see instructions in the meal prep tips below
- 2 packets (10 mL) soy sauce, gluten-free (substitution), gluten-free option, 1 packet = 1 tsp
- 2 packets (10 mL) soy sauce, low-sodium (substitution), reduced-sodium, heart-healthy option
INSTRUCTIONS (per serving)
HOME
- Bring a stockpot of water to a boil.
- Add the broccoli, cabbage, and carrots to the stockpot.
- Blanch the vegetable mix for 3-4 minutes after returning to a boil.
- Drain the vegetable mixture and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Spread the mixture onto two dehydrator trays.
- Spread the sliced yellow onion, green onions, and mushrooms onto separate dehydrator trays.
- Dehydrate vegetables at 125℉ (52℃) for 4-8 hours or until completely dry. The time required to dry the vegetables will vary based on the humidity in your home.
- Divide the dried vegetables into two servings and store them in two bags or containers to be used in the backcountry.
- Divide the noodles into two servings. Add one serving of noodles to each serving of vegetables.
- Divide the dry broth ingredients into two servings. Add one serving of broth to each serving of vegetables.
- Pack the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sriracha (optional) separately.
FIELD
- Bring 16 oz (480 mL) of water to a boil.
- Remove the pot from the stove and add the soup mixture, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sriracha (optional) to the pot.
- Stir to mix well and cover the pot with a lid.
- Let the soup stand for 5 minutes to allow the vegetables and noodles to rehydrate.
- Stir occasionally to make sure the noodles are completely covered with hot water.
- Once fully rehydrated, stir to mix well, and enjoy!
NOTES
MEAL PREP TIPS
- Dehydrated or freeze-dried tofu is a great way to add protein and calories to this meal.
- To prepare the recipe using already dehydrated ingredients, reduce the fresh measurements by half.
- To prepare the recipe using freeze-dried ingredients, use equivalent amounts of freeze-dried ingredients.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEHYDRATING TOFU & GREEN ONIONS
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- Here are detailed guides on how-to dehydrate tofu and green onions for backpacking meals.
NUTRITION
- Be aware that this recipe prepares two large, low-calorie servings of soup.
- Total sugar (per serving): 13 g, including 3 g of added sugar from the hoisin sauce
- For a heart-healthy recipe, use sodium-free bouillon and low-sodium soy sauce.
- This reduces sodium by 1048 mg.
Ready to see more ultralight backpacking recipes like this one?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aaron Owens Mayhew, MS, RDN is a registered dietitian and ultralight long-distance backpacker with over 20 years of nutrition and backpacking experience. She’s also the founder and owner of Backcountry Foodie, an online ultralight recipes and meal planning platform for backpackers. She also enjoys teaching hikers about backpacking nutrition via virtual masterclasses, YouTube videos, and podcast episodes. You can follow Aaron’s adventures in the kitchen and the backcountry via Instagram and Facebook.
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