Chicken broth is slowly steeped with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and other Asian pantry staples then poured over rice noodles and topped with shredded chicken.
This recipe represents everything I love at dinnertime: slow cooker recipes, chicken recipes, and Asian-inspired recipes. Vietnamese Slow Cooker Chicken Pho is the ultimate healthy weeknight dinner recipe that doesn’t taste a thing like health food.
Chicken broth is slowly steeped with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and other Asian pantry staples then poured over rice noodles and topped with shredded rotisserie chicken before serving. Of course, that’s just the beginning. Anyone who has ever ordered pho in a Vietnamese restaurant knows that this soup is all about the toppings!
Frequently asked questions:
What toppings do you add to chicken pho?
On this particular evening, I topped my bowl with cilantro, bean sprouts, lime wedges, thinly sliced onions, and jalapeño slices but the options are limitless. Try hoisin sauce, Sriracha, Thai basil or any other fresh herb you have on hand. This rich and flavorful Slow Cooker Chicken Pho is going to be your new go-to weeknight dinner recipe!
Can it be made in a stockpot?
You can definitely use a large stockpot in lieu of a crockpot. You won’t need to add too much water, but keep an eye on it. I would do it for at least 8 hours for the best flavor.
Recipe Substitutions:
If you don’t have coriander seeds you can use ground coriander. If you don’t have either of those on hand you can use Chinese 5 spice but would go sparingly on it.
Your spoon is waiting.
Slow Cooker Chicken Pho
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken stock (low sodium)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 inch piece lemon peel
- 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 teaspoon ground)
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 star of anise
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 8 ounces rice noodles (cooked according to package instructions)
- 12 ounces shredded cooked chicken breast (such as rotisserie)
- Optional Toppings: bean sprouts (cilantro, jalapeno slices, hoisin sauce, sriracha, thinly sliced onion, lime wedges)
Instructions
- Place the first 11 ingredients in a slow cooker (chicken broth through pepper) and heat on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, pour cooked chicken broth over a large soup pot to remove the lemon peel, cinnamon stick and other spices from the broth; discard remnants.
- To serve, divide noodles evenly between four bowls and top with 3 ounces of cooked chicken in each bowl. Ladle two cups warm chicken broth over each bowl and serve with optional toppings.
Recipe Video
Notes
Can I use a large stock pot instead of a slow cooker?
You can definitely use a large stock pot. You won’t need to add too much water, but keep an eye on it. I would do it for at least 8 hours for the best flavor.Can ground coriander can be used instead of the seeds?
Yes!Nutrition
Want more delicious Asian-inspired recipes? Check out my Pinterest board!
Love this recipe! It’s absolutely delicious- I doubled the recipe and added an extra 2 cups of chicken broth. I love having the extra broth- super easy to freeze and defrost once I am ready to eat! I am definitely sharing this one with friends and family- Thank you!!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s one of my favorites too!
Thoughts on cooking chicken breast in the broth as it cooks in the crockpot?
Yep that works too!!
Wow! I remade it today with ALL of the ingredients and can I tell you that this is so delicious. Sorry for my sass last night! What a beautiful meal this made! Thank you for the awesome recipe!!
Oh I’m so happy to hear it Matthew!!!
That was supposed to say fishy.
????????♂️
Ugh I am so disappointed. I cooked this for 8 hours and just sat down to eat- now I’m getting rid of all of it. It tastes so fishes I can’t taste anything else. What the pho! The only ingredient I didn’t have was soy sauce. Would that affect the taste that much??
Hey Matthew – I’m sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you! Soy sauce is a good way to balance the fish sauce. You can always use salt instead. Another option is to add lime juice. Of course more broth as well. :)
Is it too late to add some of those things?
No not at all!
What can I substitute the coriander with? Any other seeds?
Just leave it out. :)
Do you leave the spices in the entire time? I read that the flavors may become too overwhelming if cooked too long. Tho maybe that’s just when boiling on the stove as opposed to slow cooker.
Cant wait to try this. Pho sure! ~BC
Yes I do! :)
Liz,
I have a question about the cinnamon sticks. What is 1 tsp cinnamon sticks? Do I just grind up a cinnamon stick to make 1 tsp or can I use ground? It looks like it needs to be removed with the cloth, so just wondering if 1 tsp is one whole stick or what you would advise. Thank You!!!!
Should say 1 cinnamon stick or one teaspoon ground! Revised the recipe, sorry for the confusion!
Is out really 1 tsp ground cloves? Even 1 tsp whole cloves seems likes a lot.
Apologies Amy – it’s 1/4 teaspoon. Great catch!!
Thanks so much. I used a few whole cloves and added some coins of fresh ginger too. Turned out delicious and will be a regular meal grim now on!
So happy you enjoyed it!!
I don’t have a slow cooker. I do have a large stock pot. Should I keep it on low burner for the same amount of time? Should I add more liquid?
You can definitely use a large stock pot. You won’t need to add too much water, but keep an eye on it. I would do it for at least 8 hours for the best flavor.
SO. Good! My first time eating or making pho, and now I think I’m addicted. Such an interesting blend of flavors, and oh so comforting!
I’m so so so happy!!!!
This sounds great – we love pho! I was wondering if ground coriander can be used instead of the seeds, since that is what I have in the house. Or possibly 5-spice? Thanks!
Yes absolutely! You could also use 5-spice but go sparingly with it.
Love the idea of making Pho in the slow cooker!
This pho looks great!!
Looks perfect for this time of year!
It really is!
Hi Liz,
Would it work if I added 2-3 raw chicken breasts to the skow cooker at the beginning? Would I need to add more / less broth? Many thanks!
That would work great – no need to add more broth unless you want to have more!
Hi Liz, this one is awesome! I’ve featured it in my new post and I hope it’s okay!
Of course!!
I’m a little late to the party but just saw this pin. It sounds delicious and I’ve heard that Pho has a lot of health benefits. My question is about the nutrition facts displayed…is that seriously for one serving or is that for the full recipe?
Not late at all!! The 422 calories is for one serving including protein and noodles. It’s very filling and satisfying! If you want the sodium to go down you can use homemade chicken broth, unsalted chicken breasts or reduce the soy sauce/fish sauce.
Pho is a family favorite and this one looks much easier to pull off than typical Pho recipes. Thanks Liz!
I hope you try this and love it!
Excellent! That looks really delicious, love that!
Thank you!