Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Bánh Mì
A crackly baguette stuffed with pâté, pork, pickled daikon-carrot, cilantro, and chili, French bread reborn in Saigon.
Vietnamese · easy · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 10 min
~1119 cal · 57g protein · 133g carbs · 38g fat · 10g fiber · 18g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Bánh mì is Vietnam's iconic sandwich and a delicious record of its history, a crackly, airy baguette (a French colonial legacy) split and stuffed with pâté, cold cuts or grilled pork, pickled daikon and carrot, cucumber, cilantro, chili, and a swipe of mayonnaise. It is the perfect fusion of French and Vietnamese.
The genius is the balance: the crisp-light bread (made airy with rice flour), the richness of pâté and meat, the tang of the pickles, the freshness of herbs, and the kick of chili, all in one handheld bite. Every region and cart has its own fillings.
Sold from stalls across Vietnam and around the world, bánh mì is fast, cheap street food.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 baguettes
1 lb roast pork or grilled pork (or cha lua)
1 cup daikon, and quick-pickled
1 cup carrot, and quick-pickled
4 tbsp pâté
4 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 cucumber
a bunch cilantro
2 jalapeño
1 tbsp Maggi seasoning (or soy sauce)
Instructions
1
Quick-pickle the daikon and carrot in rice vinegar, sugar, and salt for 20 minutes.
2
Warm the baguettes until crisp; split without cutting all the way through.
3
Spread pâté (or mushroom pâté) on one side, mayo on the other.
4
Layer the pork (or tofu/mushrooms), pickled vegetables, cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeño, then dash the Maggi over so some of it soaks into the bread.
✎ Chef’s note
Maggi seasoning is what many Vietnamese cooks say defines a banh mi, and it goes onto the bread rather than the filling so the bread carries it.
5
Press closed and eat immediately, while the bread still shatters.
Saigon street-cart tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese baguette is not the French one. It is shorter and much lighter, usually with rice flour worked into the dough for lift and a thin shattering crust, and butter was swapped for mayonnaise because of the heat. A few drops of Maggi seasoning are standard rather than optional.
🗺️
Vietnam. Vietnam cooks differently along its length. The north is the most restrained, using less sugar and less chilli; the centre around Hue is the spiciest and the fondest of many small dishes at once; and the south is sweeter and richer, with more coconut and more fruit. Bun bo Hue announces the centre with fermented shrimp paste as much as with lemongrass.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Vietnam
Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho)A clear, star-anise-scented chicken broth over rice noodles, finished with herbs and lime at the table.
Bánh XèoSizzling turmeric-rice crepes stuffed with shrimp, pork, and sprouts, wrapped in lettuce and dunked in nuoc cham.
Bún Bò HuếThe imperial city’s fierce beef-and-lemongrass noodle soup, spiked with chili oil and shrimp paste, bolder than pho.
Browse all Vietnam recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best made to order. Prep the fillings ahead and assemble just before eating so nothing turns soggy.
Make it a Vietnam meal
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Chè Ba MàuDessert
Bún Bò HuếDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Bánh Mì?
A crackly baguette stuffed with pâté, pork, pickled daikon-carrot, cilantro, and chili, French bread reborn in Saigon.
Where does Bánh Mì come from?
Bánh Mì is a Vietnamese dish from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Can Bánh Mì be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Bánh Mì recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Bánh Mì safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Bánh Mì take to make?
About 35 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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