Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad (Bun Bo Xao)
This Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad of Bun Bo Xao is a classic Vietnamese noodle bowl. It includes the most addicting seared steak served with fresh veggies and vermicelli, then topped off with a super easy Vietnamese dipping sauce. Learn how to make this dish your own in the blog post below!
A couple weeks ago I put out a question on Instagram asking what people wanted me to make and many people said that they wanted more easy meals. Well I heard you. Here is an easy meal that feeds a small family. Luckily, so many Vietnamese dishes do make easy meals with little cooking involved. Some of my personal favorites include bun cha gio (a classic!), bun thit nuong, bun ga nuong, and my lemongrass shrimp vermicelli bowl. This dish Bun Bo Xao or Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad is a fresh take on normal comfort food. When I look at this dish, I think spring and sunnier days to come, and it just makes me happy when I eat it.
How I make Bun Bo Xao
Bun Bo Xao is a Vietnamese noodle salad made with marinated flank steak, vermicelli noodles and fresh vegetables all topped with toasted peanuts and Vietnamese dipping sauce (nuoc cham). The core flavor component of the dish revolves around the flank steak. The steak is marinated in oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, and oil, and then cooked with thinly sliced onions. This style of steak can be eaten in noodle bowls or in a spring roll (aka Beef Spring Rolls!). Lemongrass is also included in some recipes, but I didn’t have any, so I made due with what I had. It still turned out great!
Some details about key ingredients
- Flank Steak
- Flank steak – A traditional bun bo xao is made with flank steak, but I have made it with other cuts of steak as well like the sirloin, strip, and rib eye.
- Oyster sauce – This sauce is made with oyster extracts, sugar, salt, and water. It adds a distinct umami flavor to the marinade. I like using the oyster sauce from Lee Kum Kee.
- Brown Sugar – Personally, I like to use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar also works great. Note that using dark brown sugar will make the steak sweeter.
- Vegetable oil – Helps give the meat a good brown color. A great substitute for vegetable oil is olive oil or grapeseed oil.
- Lemongrass – Optional but recommended for more flavor. If you can’t find lemongrass, substitute with 1 tbsp of lime juice.
- Yellow onion – I would recommend using a yellow onion for this recipe. A good substitute would be a white onion or 1 shallot.
- Noodle Bowl Components
- Vermicelli – This dish works best with vermicelli noodles, but if you can’t find vermicelli, any kind of thin rice noodle should work. One brand of vermicelli noodles I like to use is the Three Ladies Brand vermicelli noodles. See my post on how to cook vermicelli for a detailed guide on how to properly prepare this ingredient.
- Toppings (Mint, Carrots, Cucumbers, and toasted peanuts) – These are the toppings I like to eat in my vermicelli bowls, but you can substitute in almost any vegetable or leave out any of these ingredients. I like to use pickled carrots and daikon as a topping.
Tips on how to make the best bun bo xao
Make sure to thinly slice your flank steak
I slice my flank steak really thinly against the grain to get the softest, chewiest texture. The thinner you slice the steak, the easier it will be to cook and eat.
Prep your toppings ahead of time
When I went to make it for this blog post, I spent about 30 minutes slicing all the toppings. It was honestly sort of exhausting lol. To make it easier on yourself when you’re trying to just get dinner on the table, prepare the toppings a day ahead of time and store them in the fridge. It helps with a quicker cook to table time.
Tips on how to cut your cucumbers and carrots
I didn’t learn how to cut my cucumbers and carrots appropriately til recently, and I want to share what I learned with you. To achieve the shape pictured above, thinly slice your cucumbers lengthwise. Then stack the thin slices on top of each other. Cut them width wise (straight across) into the length you desire. Lastly, cut them length wise again to get the thin strips. Repeat this process for carrots. I would recommend using a mandoline for the first cut to thinly slice the carrots. It’s difficult to do with a knife.
Add lemongrass to the steak marinade for extra flavor
I didn’t include lemongrass in my marinade because it’s not how I grew up eating it, and I couldn’t find any. Definitely include it if can because you can never have too much flavor! Use one stalk of lemongrass if you choose to include it.
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Get the Recipe:
Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad (Bun Bo Xao)
Ingredients
Lemongrass Beef
- 1 lb flank steak
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 stalk lemongrass, minced, optional but recommended
- ½ yellow onion
Vermicelli Bowl
- ¼ cup peanuts, roast & cut into small pieces
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 1 cucumber, julienned
- 16 oz vermicelli noodles
- 1 head lettuce
- 2 tbsp mint
- ½ cup Vietnamese dipping sauce
Equipment
Instructions
- Marinade your flank steak in 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp corn starch, 1 tbsp light brown sugar, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 pepper, 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1 stalk minced lemongrass. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
- While the steak is marinading, prepare the rest of your ingredients. Cook your vermicelli. Toast and cut your peanuts. Thinly slice your onion, cucumber, and carrot. Make your Vietnamese dipping sauce. Once you're done prepping the rest of your ingredients, the steak should be done marinading.
- Now it's time to cook your steak. Add a tablespoon of oil to a large pan. Cook your onions until shiny and soft. Add in your steak and cook for 5-10 minutes until your steak is cooked through.
- Assemble your noodle bowl. Add a handful of vermicelli noodles to a bowl. Follow that with lettuce, mint, cucumber, and carrot. Finally, top it all with peanuts. Drizzle Vietnamese dipping sauce over the top to taste and serve!
Notes
- Make sure to thinly slice your flank steak – I slice my flank steak really thinly against the grain to get the softest, chewiest texture. The thinner you slice the steak, the easier it will be to cook and eat.
- Prep your toppings ahead of time – When I went to make it for this blog post, I spent about 30 minutes slicing all the toppings. It was honestly sort of exhausting lol. To make it easier on yourself when you’re trying to just get dinner on the table, prepare the toppings a day ahead of time and store them in the fridge. It helps with a quicker cook to table time.
- Tips on how to cut your cucumbers and carrots – I didn’t learn how to cut my cucumbers and carrots appropriately til recently, and I want to share what I learned with you. To achieve the shape pictured above, thinly slice your cucumbers lengthwise. Then stack the thin slices on top of each other. Cut them width wise (straight across) into the length you desire. Lastly, cut them length wise again to get the thin strips. Repeat this process for carrots. I would recommend using a mandoline for the first cut to thinly slice the carrots. It’s difficult to do with a knife.
- Add lemongrass to the steak marinade for extra flavor – I didn’t include lemongrass in my marinade because it’s not how I grew up eating it, and I couldn’t find any. Definitely include it if can because you can never have too much flavor! Use one stalk of lemongrass if you choose to include it.
Really good and authentic!!!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I really enjoyed the way you describe the elements of the salad, esp your description of making the Nuoc Cham by tasting the elements as you make the sauce to dial it in. I would rather learn HOW to make a dish rather than just following a specific recipe. This was so delicious.
Thank you so much for the kind words! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 😊
I have made this twice now and I love it! This is one of our favorite dishes whenever we go to a Vietnamese restaurant and I thought I would try to make it. This is so easy and flavorful and my husband loves it! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Jenn. Thank you for making the recipe! I’m so glad you and your husband love it! 🙂
Wow! Thanks for this recipe! I would give six stars if I could – absolutely wonderful dish, I will definitely make this again.
I made a couple of adjustments to it, and I never add extra salt to a soy-based marinade, since soy sauce is already very high in salt. The meat still ended up very tasty, my husband loved it as well.
Thank you so much for the kinds words and for trying the recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, you mention using garlic in the text but it’s not in the ingredients or the recipe?
Hi Chloe. Thanks for pointing that out! It should be marinated with the beef. I updated the recipe.
I see vegetable oil as an ingredient in the marinade in the directions but not in the ingredient list. How much should we be adding?
It should be 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Thank you for pointing out the mistake. I updated the recipe.
Excellent recipe! I was surprised when shopping for ingredients that lemongrass wasn’t in this dish. But then I saw your written blurb about “definitely add lemongrass for extra flavour” and was raging a bit. I’m heading back out to grab some lemongrass. LOL
Can you consider kindly updating the ingredients list to say:
– Lemongrass, 1 stalk (Optional but recommended)
Yes I can definitely do that!
Prepped the beef with ribeye and let marinate 24 hours. So full of flavor. Used the leftover meat the next day and ate it cold. Delicious both ways! Love this salad. Light, refreshing, and filling. Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you so much for making this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.