Lazy Slow Cooker Chicken Pho

The easiest way to make delicious chicken pho

Not sure exactly why, but the idea of attempting to make pho always intimidated me. Somehow I felt that all the delicious flavor had to the be the result of some ancient cultural magic I was not privy too. When I combined that with the idea of trying to translate it into an easy and workable slow cooker recipe, I shied away. I just couldn’t imagine being able to figure it all out.

But ultimately, curiosity got the best of me. So, I decided to do some research and conducts some trials. The result: this delicious and quite easy recipe. No ancient magic involved. At least not in my version. Can’t speak for what happen in the kitchens of some of the restaurants that make this delicious soup....

Either way, I feel confident saying that this is the easiest way to make delicious chicken pho

Lazy Slow Cooker Chicken Pho Hacks

In keeping with my usual lazy self, I put frozen chicken breasts right from the freezer into my slow cooker. Some people have expressed concern about the chicken fully cooked this way. I have never had an issue with it, but to be on the safe side, it is always best to have a meat thermometer on hand. Chicken must reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees before it is considered safe to eat. You can find my favorite meat thermometer here. There are even slow cookers out there that come with built-in thermometers which will automatically switch your slow cooker to the warm setting once your meat has reached its desired internal temperature! Click here to see. I don’t have one of these (just mentioning that in case anyone wants to buy me a gift 😂😂).
I like to use frozen prechopped onion. Just recently, I realized that this is available in the frozen vegetable section of the market, and (at my store) it was less expensive than fresh onion. Plus...no tears were involved! 😉
This recipe calls for dried shiitake mushrooms. Allowing them to re-hydrate right in the broth while it cooks adds an intense, earthy flavor. The mushrooms I used were so huge, that I wound up removing some of them from the finished product. The rest I cut up into smaller pieces.
This recipe calls for the cooked chicken breasts to be shredded after cooking. I prefer to shred with two large forks. I have read about some interesting alternative methods, though. One involved a potato masher. The other used the beaters on a hand held mixer. If you have any thoughts on this, please comment below. I am curious!

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