Traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for freshness of the ingredients and for healthy eating style. Rice is present at almost all meals.

Vietnam's ingredients reflect its geography and climate. Rice is the main component used in everyday meals, and is also made into different kind of cakes and noodles. Most Vietnamese dishes or meals are a combination of a variety of vegetables, herbs and meats. Common herbs include lemon grass, lime, garlic, ginger and chili. Popular meats are pork, beef, chicken, prawn and various fish. Less used are lamb, duck, birds, dogs and wild animals. Fish sauce and soy sauce are used for both flavourings and dipping sauces for nearly every dish.

Influenced by the Chinese, chopsticks and spoons are used in Vietnam. Many foods are wrapped in banana or coconut leaves. A typical Vietnamese meal will include a small bowl of steamed rice for each person, and a stir-fried or stew dish placed in the middle. Vietnamese do not eat in separate servings, each member of the family use their chopstick to take food from the table throughout the meal.

Vietnamese cuisine can be basically divided into three categories, each relating to a distinct geographical region. North Vietnamese tend to use less meat, fish and vegetables and has many stir fried dishes. Northern cuisine is more traditional and less diverse in choosing spices and ingredients. They use soy sauce, fish sauce and prawn sauce, and the taste is strict and less sweet, but more salty than in other regions. The cuisine of South Vietnam has historically been influenced by other nationalities due to immigrations, most distinct is the influence from Southern China, Cambodia, Thailand and French colonists. Southerners prefer seafood and use a wider variety of herbs, often the food has a sweet taste, created by adding sugar or coconut milk. The cuisine of Central Vietnam is quite distinct from the cuisines of both the Northern and Southern regions in its extreme spices and color of food and in its use of many small, complex dishes. For a while the country was ruled from Hue in Central Vietnam and the cuisine was created for kings and queens, emphasized on quality and quantity, but served only at small portions. Compared to its counterparts, the central cuisine is more spicy.