Bun Cha - Vietnamese Meatballs

Recipe video above. Everything you know and love about Vietnamese food - fresh, healthy and full of flavour! Bun Cha in Vietnam is served slightly differently (read in post), but here I've made noodle bowls which are more familiar to those outside of Vietnam. See Notes for what this tastes like!

Prep time: PT20M

Cook time: PT10M

Total time: PT30M

Rating

4.98 stars (182 reviews)

Keywords

Bun Cha, Vietnamese Food, Vietnamese Meatballs

Ingredients

250 - 300 g/8 - 10 oz pork mince ((ground pork)(Note 1))
1 tbsp fish sauce ((Note 2))
2 tsp white sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions / scallions
1 clove garlic (, minced)
Pinch of white pepper and salt
2 tsp lemongrass paste or fresh finely chopped (, optional (Note 4))
1 1/2 tbsp oil (, for cooking)
3 tbsp white sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce ((Note 2))
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp lime juice
1/3 cup water
1 birds eye chilli (, seeded and finely chopped (Note 3))
3 cloves garlic (, finely chopped)
100 g / 3.5 oz vermicelli noodles (, dried)
Big handful beansprouts
Few lettuce leaves (, folded or shredded)
Julienned carrot and white radish ((daikon), optional quick pickle (Note 5))
Handful of coriander/cilantro sprigs (, mint)
Sliced red chilli (, lime wedges (optional))

Cuisine

Vietnamese

Steps

Sauce: Mix ingredients. Set aside 10 minutes+.
Noodles: Pour over boiling water and soak per packet directions. Drain, set aside.
Meatballs:
- Mix all ingredients except oil until combined.
- Shape into 6 mini hamburger patties with your hands.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add patties and cook for 2 1/2 minutes or until golden. Flip, cook 2 minutes then remove.
Assemble Bowls:
- Place noodles in bowl. Top with a handful of beansprouts, wedge in lettuce, carrots and radish in.
- Place meatballs on top, top with coriander and mint.
- Spoon over a generous amount of Sauce (it's supposed to be like a soup broth), eat and be happy!

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 540 kcal
Carbohydrates: 27 g
Protein: 23 g
Fat: 37 g
Saturated Fat: 10 g
Cholesterol: 90 mg
Sodium: 2903 mg
Sugar: 24 g

Reviews

Jennifer H on 2026-04-23 (5 stars):
Excellent!! My husband and I loved this recipe. Absolutely perfect as it’s written and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Thanks for sharing it
Richard Baum on 2026-03-23 (5 stars):
This came out fantastic!!!
Kathy on 2026-03-20 (5 stars):
Delicious
Bex on 2026-02-01 (5 stars):
So delicious. Go to summer recipe for us. I leave out the sugar and serve with konjac noodles.
Yvonne Böhm on 2026-01-28 (5 stars):
I grew up with my mom making this. This recipe brought back memories :) Thank you Nagi!!
Leah Karam on 2025-12-06 (5 stars):
Hands down favourite recipe of all time! Highly, highly recommend.
Naomi Blackburn on 2025-11-29 (5 stars):
Made this again today, doubled the meatballs to freeze. Added lemon balm and mint from garden to salad. So good
stumpy on 2025-10-30 (5 stars):
I’ve made this a few times and it has become one of my favs! I switched it up last night! I made crispy skin salmon, jasmine rice with stir fry baby corn, asparagus and broccolini and used the nouc cham as the dressing! Damn! 10/10!
Gina on 2025-09-20 (5 stars):
So frikkin delicious oh my god. It's on the weekly rotation. Easy to make and very yummy :) Thank you Nagi!
Mary on 2025-07-27 (5 stars):
Thank you as always for making the recipe so well written and straightforward to follow. My 12 year old made the meatballs all by herself. I assisted in cooking it on the stove. The whole family loved it! Even my 6yo who does not like trying new food. Thank you!
sue on 2025-07-03 (5 stars):
Thanks Nagi, this was really great: it came together quickly, was delicious and nutritious. I didn't have some things, like lemon grass, but It didn't seem to get us down. We enjoyed it very much.
Marie on 2025-06-03 (5 stars):
I loooooved this recipe! The meatballs are so flavorful.
KJM on 2025-02-16 (4 stars):
These are super tasty, but I did find mine fell apart during cooking. Perhaps I over-mixed or didn't use pork mince with the right fat content. But the flavour was great. They even taste great on baguettes. with the Vietnamese salad.
Debra Caroline McCallum on 2025-01-31 (5 stars):
Made this for the first time tonight - hubby raved about it! I added snow peas because we love them. As suggested I poured lots of "sauce" over the bowl, but next time I think I'll reduce the amount so that the vegs shine a bit more! It was a bit of preparation but worth it!
Gail Carr on 2025-01-31 (5 stars):
Tried this Bun recipe with ground turkey breast and turkey sausage, & it really kicked up the flavors. My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe and will be making more of the Nouc Cham sauce to keep in the frig 👌 We kicked up the heat a notch and 😍😍😍
Maria A on 2025-01-13 (5 stars):
This was the best recipe to whip up after getting home from the gym! I just did the meatballs in the air fryer while I threw a salad together. It was delicious and dinner on the table in 20mins
Cynthia on 2025-01-05 (5 stars):
These meatballs were 🔥. I used chicken mince which was a bit wet out of the packet so used a bit of flour and corn flour to coat. It made the fried meatballs have a nice crust. I think the meatballs in their own would make a good party snack. Or even a great filling for dumplings or spring rolls!