Healthy Vietnamese Recipes

This easy stir-fry explores the exquisite flavors of Vietnamese cuisine.

Rice papers are handy wrappers, commonly used in Vietnamese cooking. You can buy them at Asian markets or large supermarkets. They keep indefinitely on your pantry shelf.

Quick-pickled vegetables and an easy Sriracha-mayo sauce lend Vietnamese flavors to this meatball sandwich recipe. If you can't find long whole-wheat sandwich rolls, you can use 5-inch slices of a soft whole-wheat baguette from the bakery.

Here's a quick version of pho, a fresh and satisfying Vietnamese noodle soup.

This tangy Vietnamese dipping sauce--perfect for spring rolls--is flavored with lime juice, fish sauce, garlic and serrano pepper.

Here's a salad that showcases the Asian yin and yang philosophy of combining opposing flavors. Mild, crisp iceberg lettuce allows the exotic hot-sweet-sour-salty flavors of the warm dressing to shine.

This sweet-spicy salad pizza recipe tops a crisp pizza crust with a salad of crunchy cabbage, mango and chicken tossed with a Vietnamese-inspired dressing made with fish sauce and lime juice. Be sure to serve the pizza right after you add the salad on top to keep the crust from becoming soggy. Using bread flour gives the pizza crust a crisp and sturdy structure, but all-purpose flour works well in its place. For a gluten-free pizza crust variation, see Tips.

Fish sauce is the soy sauce of Southeast Asia--more pungent at first blush but very aromatic and malleable when combined with other flavors, like the chicken, vegetables and peanuts in this light, refreshing salad.

Crisp spring greens, crunchy carrots and cucumbers are tossed with plenty of fresh herbs (a signature of Vietnamese cuisine) and a savory lemongrass vinaigrette in this refreshing salad. Topped with slices of grilled, marinated flank steak that are reminiscent of the street food of Hanoi, this dish makes an excellent lunch or light supper. Add a few slices of crusty baguette (also a Vietnamese tradition) to finish the plate.

Tangy lime juice and salty fish sauce combine in a tasty and versatile dressing. Try it as a dipping sauce for dumplings or spring rolls.

Leftover cooked chicken breast or pork tenderloin combine with crunchy carrots and onion in this take on banh mi, a traditional Vietnamese sandwich.

For a pretty touch, tie a strip of blanched scallion green around each packet.

This Vietnamese-inspired shrimp salad is perfect if you're looking for something different to bring to a summer potluck or a light dish for warm-weather entertaining at home. This recipe calls for Asian hot chile sauce. The different styles and brands of sauce have varying heat levels, so taste as you go. Recipe adapted from The Summer Shack Cookbook by Jasper White (W.W. Norton, 2007).

This healthy pizza recipe is inspired by the Vietnamese sandwich called banh mi. Spread on the pizza dough, the curry sauce adds just the right amount of Thai seasoning and spice.