Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Pho Recipe

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Last Updated on March 24, 2024 by Leah Hall

We love meals that will warm us up in chilly weather, and this Slow Cooker Chicken Pho definitely fits the bill! With spicy and sweet flavors, this is great to warm up with and is super easy to make!

During the chilly winter months there is nothing quite as nice as coming home to a hot meal, and it is even better when the meal is super easy to make in the slow cooker! We are big fans of slow cooker meals as we can get a great meal even on days where we are super busy. For this recipe, we wanted to depart from some of our usuals, so we wanted to try slow cooker pho.

Some of our usuals are Stuffed Peppers, Veggie Tacos, Irish Hand Pies, Fried Cod Tacos with Rum Pineapple and Bourbon Shrimp.

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After a bit of research, we decided pho would be a good candidate for the slow cooker, as the flavors take awhile to build. We also wanted a slow cooker pho meal that took 8-10 hours to finish up to build some flavors. After an adventure to our local Asian Food Mart, we were ready to tackle this soup! This is definitely not an authentic Vietnamese pho, this is just our version and one that we enjoy eating.

What is Pho?

Pho is a popular Vietnamese street dish that essentially is a brothy noodle soup that has gained quite the following, with lots of restaurants that specialize in pho popping up all over the place. Filled with lots of rice noodles, herbs and typically beef or chicken plus a rich spiced broth, pho is a perfect meal for chasing away the chill of winter!

Interested in more Slow Cooker Meals? Check out the Shredded Chicken Tacos that we make using our slow cooker! These are a big family favorite!

What Ingredients are Needed for the Slow Cooker Chicken Pho?

• Chicken Stock – easy ingredient to come by. You can also use chicken broth or bone broth if you need to.
• Ginger – this is a best if fresh ingredient. Fresh ginger adds so much sharp flavor to this soup, that dried just isn’t the best option. Use fresh, peeled ginger to help build flavors in the broth.
• Cloves – cloves help add the spices needed in the broth. Use whole cloves, not ground.
• Star Anise – again, another spice that builds the flavor. Star anise gives a bit of anise flavor to the broth.
• Cinnamon – a cinnamon stick can just float in the broth and adds flavor, too.
• Fish Sauce – fish sauce has a lot of umami flavor needed when making pho. It’s sweet, salty, fishy and has a funk all at the same time. It’s an interesting and important flavor in this homemade chicken pho.
• Brown Sugar – this adds sweetness and richness to the broth.
• Chicken – chicken breasts work well, but you can also use chicken thighs.
• Bok Choy – fresh bok choy is also known as Chinese cabbage. It does taste similar to cabbage, with the stalks being crunchy and the leaves are soft and crisp. You can use regular bok choy or baby bok choy.
• Rice Noodles – rice noodles add body to the soup, being the carb component. But also helps soak up the broth some!
• Radish Sprouts – this is an optional ingredient, but we think it adds a lot of flavor and crunch to the soup recipe.
• Jalapenos – these add heat, and they are just a garnish for us. But, feel free to add the thin slices when you add the remaining ingredients at the end to infuse the spiciness.
• Lime Wedges – fresh lime juice adds a lot of flavor to the soup. Remember fresh squeezed lime juice is best!

With every place having its own version of pho, every recipe can be different so feel free to tweak the recipe as you see fit! For this recipe we chose to go with chicken, as we have had lots of success making chicken slow cooker meals in the past.

How to Make Homemade Slow Cooker Chicken Pho?

One of the best things about making your own pho is the great aroma that all the spices and herbs used to layer flavor into the broth. Lots of aromatics like cinnamon, cloves and star anise add a warm spice to the broth, while fresh ginger and jalapenos add a spicy bite. Just use what you find and like at the grocery store. A splash of fish sauce adds that umami flavor and gives the broth a real deep savory character.

Let the broth sit and cook with the chicken breasts on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5. You can strain the broth using a small fine mesh sieve to get out the whole spices.

Then, about an hour before wanting to serve it shred the chicken in the slow cooker, (or you can pull them out and do it on a cutting board) then add the bok choy and rice noodles, stirring to mix up the shredded chicken, too. Let the noodles and bok choy cook, ladle into a bowl and garnish before serving.

Crisp chopped bok choy and radish sprouts add a bit of green freshness and a pleasant bitterness that balances out the salty broth.  A garnish of fresh lime wedges brings just the right amount of acid to make the spices pop. Combine all these flavors and this pho will be sure to be a popular meal the next time you make a slow cooker soup recipe!

Tips & Tricks

• Broth Spices – also feel free to add other whole spices that you prefer to the pho broth. Some great ideas are cardamom pods,
• Garnishes – there are a lot more garnish ideas we have, and it’s really just up to you and your personal preferences. Try some chopped green onions, chili sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce or additional fish sauce. You can also add fresh herbs like Thai basil leaves, cilantro stems, or basil.
• Chicken – if you don’t want to let raw chicken cook in the broth you can use some already cooked rotisserie chicken and pre-shred it before adding it to the slow cooker. Just cut down your cook time to about 2.5 hours.

Cheers! And dig into a steaming bowl of pho asap!

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Like this recipe? Try these below, too!

Citrus Asian Chicken Wings

Guacamole Bacon Bites

Other Crock-pot Soups

• Slow Cooker Beef Pho – Fox & Briar
• Instant Pot Chicken Pho – Platings and Pairings
• Slow Cooker Paleo Chicken Pho – Wicked Spatula

Continue to Content

Yield: 1

Slow Cooker Chicken Pho

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 hours

Extra cook time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 11 hours

A very easy dinner in the crockpot, this Thai favorite, Chicken Pho. This slow cooker chicken pho is a tasty recipe.

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Ingredients

Slow Cooker Chicken Pho

• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 star anise
• 6 cloves
• 6 slices of fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 skinned chicken breasts
• 8 cups of chicken stock
• 6 cups of bok choy, chopped
• 12 ounces rice noodles
• 2 sliced jalapenos
• 12 ounces radish or bean sprouts
• 1 lime, quartered

Instructions

Add brown sugar, fish sauce, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and ginger to chicken stock in a medium bowl.

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker, then pour stock over.

Cook in slow cooker for 8-10 hours on low, or 5-6 hours on high.

Remove chicken breasts and set aside.

Remove spices from broth and throw away.

Add bok choy and rice noodles to broth, turn slow cooker to high and cook for another 30-40 minutes.

While noodles and bok choy cooks, shred chicken and slice jalapenos.

Just before noodles and bok choy are done, add shredded chicken back in.

Ladle into large bowls, add sprouts, jalapenos and lime juice.

Dig in!

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Whole Cloves 3.5 oz
• 
  Spicy World Star Anise 3 Ounce
• 
  Thai Kitchen Gluten-Free Stir Fry Rice Noodles, 14 Oz (Pack of 6)
• 
  Lucky Brand Thai Fish Sauce (1)
• 
  Rodelle Cinnamon Sticks, 8 Ounce
• 
  6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 97Total Fat: 1.3gSaturated Fat: 0.3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 949mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 1.5gSugar: 3.7gProtein: 7.6g

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Recipe adapted from Served from Scratch.

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