Pho: Calories, Nutrition & Healthier Swaps
50 kcal per 100 g · Nutri-Score B
sugar: low saturated fat: low salt: medium fiber: low
Pho is Vietnamese rice-noodle soup with herbs and thin-sliced beef — relatively light and protein-rich, though the broth is salty.
Pho nutrition facts per 100 g and per serving
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Serving: bowl, 500 g |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 50 kcal | 250 kcal |
| Protein | 3.8 g | 19 g |
| Fat | 1.2 g | 6 g |
| incl. saturated | 0.4 g | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 6 g | 30 g |
| incl. sugars | 0.6 g | 3 g |
| Fiber | 0.3 g | 1.5 g |
| Salt | 0.9 g | 4.5 g |
Values per 100 g as eaten, averaged from food composition tables (USDA FoodData Central and others) and rounded — a specific brand or recipe will differ a little.
Pho: nutrition highlights
A serving (bowl, 500 g) provides 19 g of protein — about 34% of the 56 g daily reference for a 70 kg (154 lb) adult (0.8 g per kg). It's light: 50 kcal per 100 g, so even a big serving barely moves your daily total.
On the open Nutri-Score algorithm, pho gets a B: one of the better picks in its category. The score weighs calories, sugar, saturated fat and salt against protein, fiber and the share of fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts.
What to watch
- A serving has 4.5 g of salt — 90% of the WHO's 5 g daily maximum.
How much movement is one serving?
One serving (bowl, 500 g) is 250 kcal — roughly 82 min of easy walking or 31 min of cycling for a 70 kg (154 lb) person. In the diary, minutes are worked out for your weight and the activities you actually do.
Healthier swaps for Pho
Swaps are picked the same way the app does it: from the same kind of food, with a serving matched to the same calories (±25%), and only when the swap is clearly better — not “salad instead of pizza”.
- Lentil soup — 430 g, 249 kcal: −1.9 g salt, +7.1 g fibre.
- Bean soup — 420 g, 252 kcal: −2 g salt, +9 g fibre.
- Bouillabaisse — 450 g, 248 kcal: −3.6 g salt, +8 g protein.
- Soup with rabbit — 490 g, 250 kcal: −4 g salt.